World Languages: Switzerland

Posted on: November 6th, 2013 by paul

In a recent blog, we took a deeper look at the languages spoken on the island of Hispaniola (consisting of The Dominican Republic and Haiti). Today we will take a look at one of the world’s most diverse countries when it comes to languages: Switzerland.

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The Swiss owe much of its cultural influence to its centralized location within Europe. Bordering Italy, France, Germany, Liechtenstein, and Austria, Switzerland absorbs some of the cultural and language traits of each county. For example, the area near Lugano in the southern Lake region speaks predominantly Italian while in Geneva or ‘Genève’ there is a large French influence and in Zurich you will find a lot of native German speakers.

It’s no wonder why Switzerland is a country that boasts 4 official languages: French, German, Italian, and Romansh. The Romansh language is similar to Ladin or Friulano and is maintained mostly as a spoken language.

English is also spoken by most inhabitants of Switzerland so if you find yourself lost, or lost for words in one of the many official languages of the Suisse, feel assured to know you can easily get by speaking solely in English.

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Switzerland is not a member of the European Economic area so it does not use the Euro Dollar currency. It still maintains use of the Swiss Franc. So if you plan on traveling in this culturally diverse country, be sure to change your money over to local currency. Also, be prepared to spend a lot of that money. Switzerland has a well earned reputation of having a high quality of life as well as high cost of living.

For you Canadian hockey lovers, be sure to check out the action in the Swiss hockey league known as the NLA. It hosts some of the best hockey outside of North America. With teams in Zurich , Bern, Lugano, Bern, Ambri-Piotta, Biel, Davos, Geneva, Gotteron, Kloten, Lausanne, Rapperswill, and Zug. The league exhibits a physical North American style game. The local Swiss players are exceptionally talented and the imports generally have NHL experience.

Whether you are visiting to see the Alps, work on your languages, or catch some hockey, Switzerland has lots to offer.


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