Language Barriers

Moving to Switzerland has been challenging. "…just there [in Europe] it’s a little different." said Vincent to Jules on their way to a job in Pulp Fiction.

The differences are too numerous to mention, but likely the biggest challenge to a migrant is the language. Switzerland has four official languages, three are widely spoken, and one is local to Switzerland. Swissgerman is the language of eastern Switzerland and is spoken by roughly 64% of the population. There are many dialect flavours and the Swiss pride themselves on being able to tell where a person is from by the way they say hello or "Gruezi".

The dialect is difficult, so difficult that even native German speakers can’t understand it. However, with pratice, time, and some understanding of normal (high) German, I can now understand about 70% of what is spoken depending on the context, who is speaking, and how loud the music is.

Swissgerman isn’t really required to live here. It’s rare that I meet somebody who can’t speak English, and even a rarer that they can’t speak high German. So conversing with the individual isn’t a problem unless we simply have nothing to talk about.

It’s with groups that I’m screwed. I don’t want nor expect everyone to switch to English or high German for me. It just won’t happen because it’s not natural for them to speak to each other in these languages. What does happen is that conversation flies over me, I understand the odd sentence without context, and look lost when people break out in laughter. The challenge is not to look bored. My helpless face will sometimes buy a translation, but by then the joke is already long past.

It’s an inevitable part of living here that will only subside once I master the language, and that will only come about by submersing myself in such situations where Swissgerman will be spoken. I realize this isn’t anybody’s fault, but will this take another 3.5 years?