Swissgerman

Hello all, Just got back into studying my rocketgerman since I am back in Switzerland! Most of you may or may not know that they speak a totally different style of german which could be considered sland. It is incredibly difficult to catch on to; even after being here for 9 months. I play hockey here and my coach is from Slovakia who spoke normal Hochdeutsch (regular german). He retired and left the team and was replaced by a person from Switzerland who naturally speaks Swissgerman. Just wondering if anyone has experience with Swissgerman and how to approach listening to the people speak here. Dankeschoen, Andrew

Hello Andrew, I know your pain...my ancestory is Swiss. We make trips to Switzerland as often as we can. As you know Swiss German is quite different from High German. What makes it diffulculty in learning Swiss German, each town, each Canton has their own dialect. There is not a whole lot of learning material out there to help us. I do know Pilsner has a Swiss German course, but it is mostly geared toward Zurich dialect, which is better than nothing. Here is a website that may help you in some ways http://www.eldrid.ch/swgerman.htm What I do is to learn as much as I can, write down notes. Hope this help you in some way. Bis später Mark

hi mark! im cherry from Philippines.. I just want to ask you if you have any idea on what language they are using in a hospital setting.. is it high german or any other language.. because I will be working there as a nurse in Gumligen, Switzerland Im having confusion on what language I need to focus.. I thought its german but as what I have read from the previous post here swiss german is different from high german... thank you...:-)

Hallo Cherry, Congratulation on your new job in Switzerland as a nurse! I am sure they will be using the high german in the hospitail setting....I learned the high german and everyone I have ever spoken to in Switzerland had no trouble understanding me. I spoke to children and to old folks, they seem to understand. What makes Swiss German hard to learn.....is that there is not much learning material to learn Swiss German...plus there is no official Swiss German language for all Swiss to learn....each town or villiage has its own dialect....learn all the high German you can learn...and once you get to Switzerland and make friends, slowly learn the Swiss German used in your area. Good luck to you and enjoy your stay in Switzerland.

hallo geys iam new i need help because i cant understade things.