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I've known Swiss German is used by all social classes in Switzerland to hold conversations and on everyday life, which I find amusing. Even though it's not used in fields such as government and education, when German speaking cantons use Standard German instead. Does anyone know how someone can be fluent and hold intelectual conversations in a language they didn't learn at school? Are Swiss and Standard German that different?
Swiss German is an alemannic dialect, but not a language (although the definition of language is arguable). As far as I know Swiss children are taught in standard German from grade 1 or 2.
The same applies, in various degrees, to Germany and Austria where regional dialects are spoken by all classes of society.
I've known Swiss German is used by all social classes in Switzerland to hold conversations and on everyday life, which I find amusing. Even though it's not used in fields such as government and education, when German speaking cantons use Standard German instead. Does anyone know how someone can be fluent and hold intelectual conversations in a language they didn't learn at school? Are Swiss and Standard German that different?
Not in all of Switzerland but in the German speaking cantons. Remember, Switzerland also has French and Italian speaking cantons. Also, the Swiss German dialect differs quite a lot from one canton to another. For example, the dialect in the German speaking parts of Valais is quite different to that of Basel.
Everyone can understand what you call "standard German", and most people will speak it with you, except for some of the farmers and more isolated rural people.
Everyone can understand what you call "standard German", and most people will speak it with you, except for some of the farmers and more isolated rural people.
In my experience, while they will speak 'standard German', for non-German speakers, the Swiss German accent can make it very hard to understand. That is one of the reasons a lot of large Swiss companies (e.g. Nestle, Novartis, SGS) use English as their official language.
I lived and worked in Geneva, so the French speaking part of Switzerland. I generally used French as my daily language and I speak very little German. So, whenever I had to go to clients or our other offices in the German speaking part (on the other side of the 'rosti-graben' ), we almost always used English. I also understand that English is the 'lingua-franca' in the corridors of the Swiss Federal Parliament.
In many respects, English is the second language in Switzerland.
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The Swiss dialect is a Throat Illness !
How to learn it ?
Eat a potato, chew it a bit, try to swallow but let it hang halfway in your throat and then speak ... Some day you will get there !
8 years in Bavaria taught me to speak Bavarian, with an accent, and 3 years in Switzerland got me to a place to eat and order some food. The locals always reverted to English or as the above poster mention, Standard German ...
We lived a bit south of, what Jaggy lovingly calls the Rosti Graben, and there I usually spoke French. Easier in the long run.
How to learn it ? Eat a potato, chew it a bit, try to swallow but let it hang halfway in your throat and then speak ... Some day you will get there !
8 years in Bavaria taught me to speak Bavarian, with an accent, and 3 years in Switzerland got me to a place to eat and order some food. The locals always reverted to English or as the above poster mention, Standard German ...
We lived a bit south of, what Jaggy lovingly calls the Rosti Graben, and there I usually spoke French. Easier in the long run.
You're describing Danish, lol! But it's not a half-chewn potato, they say you pretend to have a mouth full of mush, you know--like oatmeal.
I've known Swiss German is used by all social classes in Switzerland to hold conversations and on everyday life, which I find amusing. Even though it's not used in fields such as government and education, when German speaking cantons use Standard German instead. Does anyone know how someone can be fluent and hold intelectual conversations in a language they didn't learn at school? Are Swiss and Standard German that different?
So, you are really discussing two issues here. Written and spoken language.
First, there is German Standard German, Swiss Standard German and Austrian Standard German. All of which are written variants of the same language. They differ from each other in phonology, vocabulary, syntax, morphology and orthography. All of those variants are fairly similar and, generally speaking, mutually intelligible. Kids usually learn the respective version at school and use it to write, say, their essays.
Second, there are various German dialects, which are usually just spoken but not written (with the exception of Luxembourgish, which has it's own writing system). Schwizerdütsch ("Swiss German") is an umbrella term for all the dialects spoken in Switzerland, which are of the Alemannic variant. Everyone speaks it in literally all situations. You'll find it in schools, at university, at work, in courts and in government offices.
Now to your questions. Swiss kids do indeed learn Swiss Standard German in school so they know how words should be pronounced without using any dialect. However, technical terms might sometimes get carried over into dialect. Intellectual conversations are definitely possible in dialect. Some kids in my Gymnasium were not able to do presentations in "proper" German even if they tried. The same is true in Switzerland.
Swiss and German Standard German (the written forms) are pretty similar and Germans do understand it, some words they use seem a bit off, though, if you are not used to them (eg "parken" vs "parkieren"). Swiss dialects can be really hard to understand, especially for Germans who didn't grow up speaking dialects themselves. Germans speaking Alemannic dialects themselves (Swabian, ...) usually understand some Swiss dialects.
Second, there are various German dialects, which are usually just spoken but not written (with the exception of Luxembourgish, which has it's own writing system). Schwizerdütsch ("Swiss German") is an umbrella term for all the dialects spoken in Switzerland, which are of the Alemannic variant. Everyone speaks it in literally all situations. You'll find it in schools, at university, at work, in courts and in government offices.
Now to your questions. Swiss kids do indeed learn Swiss Standard German in school so they know how words should be pronounced without using any dialect. However, technical terms might sometimes get carried over into dialect. Intellectual conversations are definitely possible in dialect. Some kids in my Gymnasium were not able to do presentations in "proper" German even if they tried. The same is true in Switzerland.
Wow, it's good to know about it. For once I thought Swiss German dialects were something more like slang and colloquial speech of the working class or so, because they weren't official or standardized as Luxembourgish.
Part of the difference, I think, is that words like "freund, heute, leute, deutsch, kreuz, neun", are pronounced with the "OY" sound in standard German, but as "OO" in Swiss........Also, words like "kinder, kino, kopf, klaus, kuchen, konnen" are pronounced with a "K" in standard German, but instead with a throaty "H" in Swiss......and some Swiss words end in "LI". Here is the USA, I have long known a family surnamed "Ruefly".
Of course, as Viribusinitis said, there are many other differences as well, including syntax, morphology, vocabulary, syntax, and orthography.
Last edited by slowlane3; 01-27-2017 at 07:32 AM..
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), we almost always used English. I also understand that English is the 'lingua-franca' in the corridors of the Swiss Federal Parliament.
