Sun, 22 November 2009
Amanda of Queso Suizo blog continues her top 20 things that Swiss people like. More cowbell, anyone?
Fill out an Expat Voices interview by 1 December and you can win a free bottle of whiskey!
Kerrin of MyKugelhopf visits Péclard, Zurich's new/old pastry shop and tea salon.
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Language teacher Christine Wälchli of SCW Sprachkurse in Zürich explains how to learn Swiss German and High German.Speaking Swiss German, reading High German
Some people believe that Swiss German is just a dialect of High German. But Swiss German is a spoken language with similar vocabulary and grammar to High German. In the German area of Switzerland, people read and write High German and speak Swiss German. Children learn High German when they enter school. Newspapers, books and official newscasts on TV and radio are in a ‘Swiss’ High German, also called ‘written German’ (Schriftdeutsch), which differs a bit from German in other countries. There are actually words that are only used in Switzerland, but not in Germany or Austria. Nowadays it is very trendy among teenagers to write SMS in Swiss German. This means it is absolutely not cool to write a SMS in High German!
Speaking good High German is very important for the upper class in Germany; aristocrats and academics do not speak a common dialect but a clear and pure High German. In Switzerland, however, everyone including the upper class speaks Swiss German. There are several different dialects within the Swiss German area; Bernese, Basel’s and Zürich’s Swiss German all sound completely different and have different vocabulary.
There are also several different dialects within the rest of the German speaking area, Germany and Austria. Nevertheless, most teachers in Switzerland recommend first learning good High German and then, with some improvisation, you may start to learn Swiss German. While living in Switzerland you will probably pick up quite a bit of Swiss German in daily life. And with the basics of German grammar it will be easier to transform High German into Swiss German.
Switzerland offers year-round sporting opportunities, from skiing in winter to swimming, golf and camping in summer.
How to open and close a Swiss bank account, plus information on confidentiality and security deposits.
How to obtain a licence, import vehicles and follow road rules in Switzerland.
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