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Language barrier in Switzerland

Language barrier in Switzerland

Old Jun 10th 2009, 12:14 pm
  #1  
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Default Language barrier in Switzerland

what are the best cities to live in for english-speaking expats? zurich/geneva/interlochen?
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Old Jun 10th 2009, 9:04 pm
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Default Re: Language barrier in Switzerland

Originally Posted by lastere
what are the best cities to live in for english-speaking expats? zurich/geneva/interlochen?
I would for one move to a French speaking area as it is much easier to understand than German for me anyway. I think German covers 1/2-2/3 of the country?
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Old Jun 10th 2009, 9:29 pm
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Default Re: Language barrier in Switzerland

Originally Posted by lastere
interlochen?
Interlaken ?
Unlikely , methinks !
Are you a worker , a retiree , a zillionaire , a tax exile , an enterpreneur ...on which basis are your queries to be understood and dealt with ?
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Old Jun 11th 2009, 6:34 am
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Default Re: Language barrier in Switzerland

Originally Posted by Robw4
I would for one move to a French speaking area as it is much easier to understand than German for me anyway. I think German covers 1/2-2/3 of the country?
They don't speak German, but a sore-throat-giving dialect. And, what's more, each of the "German-speaking" Cantons has a different dialect. Luckily they all learn High German at school and can communicate with outsiders!
I went to Interlaken once and was overwhelmed by the mountains. Beautiful, but to live there all year round...?
Geneva, with its international organizations, is very cosmopolitan. You hear more (American) English on the streets than French.
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Old Jun 11th 2009, 6:58 am
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Default Re: Language barrier in Switzerland

Originally Posted by dmu
They don't speak German, but a sore-throat-giving dialect.
Yupp : Schwytzerduutsch ! Endearingly referred to by the others as
" eine HalsKrankheit"...
Living in a French-speaking canton ( Geneve , Vaud , Valais...) and not speaking French wouldn't be that much fun , in the longer run ;
something akin to going to Ticino , no parla Italiano , disliking Italian food and without a single fur coat or a Fendi bag , tsk , tsk , tsk...
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Old Jun 17th 2009, 12:42 pm
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Default Re: Language barrier in Switzerland

I live in Zurich, from england and my german is very poor.

zurich is very international and full of expats, you can easily get by not speaking the language, not ideal but most people do speak English.

i have even managed to get a job in an english speaking company and its a really good company to work for. It was hard initially but the jobs do exist out there.

Hope this helps!
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Old Jun 17th 2009, 12:56 pm
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Default Re: Language barrier in Switzerland

And Zuerich consistently makes it into the Top 5 European cities to live in , on "quality of life" basis ( google : Mercer ) ,
however : beaten this year by Vienna as The Best city in Europe to live in ;
...
London came 51st , ot of 215 , brilliant , n'est ce pas ? ( But we all knew such truths already , anyway ...)
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Old Jul 1st 2009, 1:05 am
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Default Re: Language barrier in Switzerland

Having traveled to many cosmopolitan places around the world, including cities within the US, Canada, UK, Asia and Europe - I cannot say that Geneva falls into the 'cosmos' category. The only cosmo part of it is the central area around the station and that street where Starbucks is located, by the station (sorry, forgot the name of the actual street!) There is no variety on where to shop, eat or drink and I got so bored after my second day of being there, that I spent the rest of my time twiddling my thumbs! It is the headquarters of International Organizations such as the UN, however if i could help it, I wouldn't live there. There just isn't anything to do!
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