I am visiting Zürich and I don't speak any German. I do speak though both English and French. Which one should I use to communicate with the locals? How about the rest of German-speaking Switzerland?
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6What about asking the locals themselves which language they would prefer?– NeusserJun 12, 2017 at 15:46
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2Trying to avoid such awkward situations.– LambrosTuringJun 12, 2017 at 15:54
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5There's nothing awkward in asking, it's normal. Do you think it would be less awkward for you if you'll communicate in a language which your conversation partner does not understand well enough?– NeusserJun 12, 2017 at 15:57
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2Instead of asking "Do you speak English?" and make them feel like you're examining their knowledge, you should better say "Hello, may I ask question?" and if they reply positively, then ask the actual question.– LambrosTuringJun 12, 2017 at 16:14
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3 Answers
Which one should I use to communicate with the locals?
As of the December 2010 census, 69.3% of the population speaks diglossic Swiss German/Swiss Standard German as their mother-tongue at home. Some 22.7% of inhabitants speak Standard German in their family environment ("at home"). Dramatically increasing, according to the last census in 2000, 8.8% now speak English. Italian follows behind at 7.1% of the population, then French at 4.5%. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Z%C3%BCrich#Languages
That read it seems to be more likely to successfully communicate in English than in French (which coincides with my experience).
How about the rest of German-speaking Switzerland?
I would say that the Zurich conclusion is applicable for the rest, except for the following regions
In the cantons of Bern, Fribourg and Valais, French is co-official; in the trilingual canton of Graubünden also Italian is. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_Switzerland#German
Enjoy Switzerland!
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1I've read that all Swiss-German students are required to learn at least one of the other national languages of Switzerland and the vast majority of them picks French instead of Italian. In contrast, learning English is completely optional. So 4.5% seems way too low. Also i think that the 22% who speak Standard German at home, are immigrants from Germany. Jun 12, 2017 at 22:16
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2@LambrosTuring Those statistics are for the mother tongue, not second languages. Jun 13, 2017 at 22:18
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Student do learn another national language (and pick in majority French), but learning English is for most students also compulsory. So yo'll have no problem with English in cities.– DjanaJun 14, 2017 at 12:54
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English skills are definately higher than French skills in Zurich. It's also compulsory at schools, just not by the constitution. The reasons include that students are more motivated to learn English than French, people use it more and it's more similar to German.– Philip FAug 27, 2017 at 23:38
Switzerland is a multi-language land, and quite small, so it's a natural consequence that the foreign language skills are much higher than, for example, Germany. Starting from the fact, that 'Hochdeutsch' is de-facto foreign language which children have to learn.
Generally children in German-speaking Switzerland learn at least 2 foreign language, 1 Switzerland one (usually French) and 1 extra (usually English). But generally, English skill are much higher, even to the extend that many Swiss people will switch to English if you ask something in 'Hochdeutsch'.
Here in Switzerland switching between languages is something very natural, so you can start conversation in the language you are more comfortable with and switch to another if needed. It's nothing awkward with it here.
answered Jun 13, 2017 at 21:38
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As far as I know, Germans speak much better English that Swiss people. Am I wrong? Jun 14, 2017 at 14:11
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Young Germans are now speaking English as well as Swiss-German did 20 years ago.– Willeke ♦Jun 14, 2017 at 18:29
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Swiss people will switch to English whereas many Germans will switch to German mid-sentence if you ask them in English:)– PavelMar 13, 2019 at 7:39
I often travel to Zurich as my fiance lives there- my german is still horrid but usually you can get by using English. Zurich is part of the german speaking section of switzerland, so you won't get by as well with French unless you travel closer to the french border. However, you can say merci to thank people, as it's common in Swiss-German! But yeah, most people speak english.
