Switzerland Today

Dear Swiss Abroad,

How many languages do you speak? Do you find you have a different personality depending on which one you’re talking in? In today’s briefing, we take a closer look at this phenomenon.

This content was published on October 12, 2023 - 18:00

4 minutes

Born in London, Thomas was a journalist at The Independent before moving to Bern in 2005. He speaks all three official Swiss languages and enjoys travelling the country and practising them, above all in pubs, restaurants and gelaterias.

In the news: A shot lynx, some auctioned jewels, and a newcomer to the Swiss burger scene.

One of the two lynx relocated from Switzerland to the Italian Alps in spring to boost the species’ population in the region has been shot by poachers. Sofia was found dead in Carinthia, southern Austria, having crossed the Italian border.
Emeralds and sapphires discovered on the Mont Blanc massif half a century after the crash of an Indian plane have been sold at auction. An Indian jadeite stone with a starting price of €150 (CHF145) went for €1,100.
I’ve frequently moaned about the lack of decent burgers in Bern, if not Switzerland. A few years ago I spoke to a fellow Brit who agreed – but who actually did something about it, founding the Holy Cow! chain. Anyway, today the US burger chain Carl’s Jr. announced it would open a restaurant in Switzerland by the end of the year, although it didn’t say where. I’ve never heard of Carl’s Jr., but it turns out it was founded in California in 1956 and now has some 4,000 restaurants in almost 40 countries. Are the burgers any good?

Hall of mirrors — © Keystone / Urs Flueeler

Most polyglots apparently also switch personalities when switching languages: they argue more reservedly in Mandarin than in Swiss German, are more emotional in Albanian or prefer to solve problems in English. What’s behind this phenomenon?

In this article, we speak to a mother in Bern – “when I have to push my children in the morning, I switch to Swiss German. Then I’m less strict with them than in Italian” – and a professor of applied linguistics who has studied the topic but who also has experienced it personally. “I read and write poetry almost exclusively in French. In the family we speak a lot of Dutch. But as an academic, I’m British: in my choice of words as well as in my attitude and habitus,” says Jean-Marc Dewaele.

Keller-Sutter with piglet — © Keystone / Gian Ehrenzeller

The 80th OLMA Swiss Agricultural Show has opened its doors in St Gallen. Switzerland’s largest trade fair open to the public runs until October 22.

“OLMA is an event of which eastern Switzerland is justifiably proud,” said Finance Minister Karin Keller-Sutter, herself from St Gallen, in her opening speech. She praised agriculture’s contribution to Switzerland’s food security.

Keller-Sutter compared federal finances to bacon, which can be fat or lean depending on the year. The fact that the coming years will be lean is not the fault of the government, she added. It is “primarily the consequence of spending too much, without thinking about how to finance it”, she said.

After the opening ceremony Keller-Sutter toured the fair and, as is tradition, posed with a – surprisingly calm – piglet (pictured).

Busted! Politicians in Bern, celebrating the last evening of the autumn parliamentary session, made such a noise that their neighbours called the cops!

“If you want to celebrate a party in Bern, the last place you probably think of is the Federal Palace,” newspaper Blickreported todayExternal link. “But our parliamentarians recently proved one thing: they can party loud. For more than 30 of them, September 28 was their last evening in the Federal Parliament. They won’t be running again,” it said, referring to federal elections next Sunday.

This, it reckoned, was reason enough for drink or two and a performance by the cross-party house band “Fraktionszwang”, featuring, among others, former president of the House of Representatives Christa Markwalder and vice-president of the Green faction Aline Trede. Energy Minister Albert Rösti apparently took turns on drums, according to the Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ).

Things heated up so much that the windows had to be opened, Blick said, “and that didn’t go down well at all” in the riverside Marzili quarter below the parliament building (pictured). Shortly before 11.30pm residents called the police. Two officers promptly turned up investigating a “high suspicion of disturbing the peace”, the NZZ wrote. According to the newspaper, the police threatened to take action if the noise level wasn’t reduced. Afterwards, no further complaints were received.