The most notable linguistic fact about German-speaking Switzerland is the use of dialects (Swiss German, Schweizerdeutsch) for spoken communication and standard German (High German, Hochdeutsch) for written communication. Since I live in Zurich, I am in the German-area of Switzerland and so, that is what I have been attempting to learn! High German vs Swiss German

French is spoken in the west of Switzerland, while Italian is spoken in Ticino and in the south, and Romansh is only found in the Alpine canton of GraubГјnden. Where you live determines what you speak. In fact, the country has four national languages: German, French, Italian, and Romansh (spoken by less than 1% of the population). And when it comes to languages, Switzerland has quite a few. As you might have guessed, learning new languages does not come easily to me. IвЂ™ve now been in Switzerland for nearly a year, and picking up German has been no easy feat.

Those two words sounded exactly the same to me. It turns out I was a crazy-sounding American who was essentially shouting вЂњPlease!вЂќ at everyone on our hikeвЂ¦and at the store clerk, and the post office, and to the train ticket collector. вЂњAlex, they are saying вЂњ GrГјezi !вЂќ to you, notВ вЂњ bitte.вЂќ GrГјeziВ is theВ casual way to say hello to someone in German, and thus, makes a lot more sense as a greeting. MyВ friendВ stared at me for a minute, then doubled over laughing. вЂњItвЂ™s so weird, though,вЂќ I said, вЂњthat the Swiss say вЂ bitteвЂ™ to you as a greeting.вЂќ BitteВ means please, and while I thought it odd, whenever someone said it to me I went right along with it, responding with a cheery and triumphant вЂњBitte!вЂќ right back. While on a hike a few weeks after moving to Zurich, I commented to myВ friendВ that I was proud to be developing an ear for German. Learning a Foreign Language When Living Abroad

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