Fewer Swiss are learning another of their national languages, which is why there is a move to defend multilingualism in Switzerland. Is this in vain since English continues to gain ground at the expense of German, French and Italian?
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French has been relegated to a second foreign language in most German-speaking cantons, after English. And Italian is even worse off with only canton Ticino as a stronghold. Meanwhile English is being used more often in public and universities.
Would it make sense to adopt English as the first foreign language taught in all Swiss schools, making it the lingua franca between Switzerland’s various language groups? Or is multilingualism truly indispensable for national cohesion? Does it create more problems than it solves? Which path do you think should be taken?
Switzerland has four national languages: French, German, Italian and Romansh.
German is spoken by about 64 per cent, French by about 20 per cent and Italian by about seven per cent. Romansh is spoken by less than one per cent of the total population.
The most notable linguistic fact about German-speaking Switzerland is the use of dialect for spoken communication and standard German for written communication.
French is spoken in the west of the country, while Italian is spoken in Ticino and the south of neighbouring Graubünden, and Romansh is spoken only in Graubünden. However, there are language minorities from elsewhere in all the major cities.
The three main languages are, accordingly, shared with the surrounding countries. Even Romansh is not really unique to Switzerland – there are similar Rhaetoromanic languages spoken by minorities in the South Tyrol and the Friuli region of northern Italy.
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English challenges multilingual Switzerland
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German-speaking cantonal governments have been responding to what they say is pressure from the globalised economy by gradually giving English priority over the national languages at school; English – not French – is taught as a second language in 14 of the 17 cantons. Coupled with that, large Swiss companies now tend to use English…
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Called “FIDE – learn, teach and assess French, Italian and German in Switzerland”, the training system will become the nationwide norm for immigrant language training. Its focus will be on giving immigrants the language competence needed to undertake such ordinary tasks such as consulting a doctor or attending parent-teacher meetings. “Mastering the language is an essential…
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That is one of the key findings of a National Science Foundation study looking at political debates on language issues over the past five decades. From the 1960s until the 1990s, discussions in parliament focussed on ensuring equality among the official languages, German, French, Italian and Romansh, as well as dialogue between the language groups.…
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This is the first time the economic value of a country’s linguistic skills has been calculated, according to a Geneva University research team which looked at the role of languages in the economy. The advantage is equivalent to nine per cent of gross domestic product (GDP). Switzerland has four national languages: German is the most…
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English has become part of the daily Swiss vocabulary, particularly in marketing and advertising, although the language is not always used correctly. (Christoph Balsiger, swissinfo)
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