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Pimsleur Swiss-German
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LEFT: Pimsleur's Swiss-German language course is a CD with 10 basic lessons. |
by Durant Imboden
Switzerland has four official languages (German, French, Italian, and Romansh), but the country's dominant language is Schwyzertüüsch or Swiss German--a collection of regional and local dialects spoken by nearly two-thirds of the country's population.
Dialects such as Züritüüsch and Bärndüsch exist side by side with Schweizerhochdeutsch, the Swiss version of standard or High German. German-speaking Swiss typically use dialect at home, at work, in shops, etc., with local radio and TV programs frequently being in dialect as well. Standard German is used in school, in newspapers and magazines, in international business, and for broadcasts such as national news and imported TV shows.
One reason why dialect and standard German coexist is that Swiss German is a spoken language, not a written language (although various ways of spelling Swiss-German words do exist, mainly for use in reference and teaching materials, advertising, and such). If you were a German-speaking Swiss, you'd probably converse with friends and relatives in Swiss-German but send them e-mail or letters in the High German that you learned in school.
For the foreigner, standard or High German will work just fine as a spoken language in the German-speaking cantons. But it can be fun to learn a bit of the local lingo, and it's also convenient to understand a store clerk's request for drisg (30) francs or your hotel receptionist's comment that "Morn isch schöö" ("Morgen ist schön," a.k.a. "Tomorrow's weather will be nice."). And you can't help feeling a sense of accomplishment when a passerby asks you the time at 10:30 a.m. and you're able to reply, "Halbi Ölfi."
So where can you learn Swiss German? If you have time for an extended visit to Switzerland, you can take a course at a language school. And if you have a good knowledge of standard German, you can buy any number of books and cassette courses from a major Swiss bookstore like Orell Füssli in Zürich. But for most English-speaking tourists, students, or business transferees, the quickest and cheapest introduction to Schwyzertüüsch is Pimsleur's 10-lesson Swiss German language course on CD.
Next page: How the course works, and a free sample lesson
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