Switzerland Today
Dear Swiss Abroad,
What were your experiences of living with a new language after emigrating? Do you think and dream in the new language? The latest episode of our emigration podcast “Ade merci, Schweiz” centres on this topic.
Today’s briefing also looks at Elon Musk’s success in Valais and a delayed night train.
Listen to the third episode of the Swissinfo podcast “Ade merci, Schweiz”, in German and French, in which we dive into the world of multilingualism.
Our guests in the latest episode are Swiss expat Angela Herren and linguist Giulia Berchio from the Institute for Multilingualism at the University of Fribourg. Both talk about how living between several languages changes the way we think and feel. What nuances of meaning are lost along the way – or do new ones emerge? What happens in the brain when several languages are present at the same time, sometimes even in our dreams? And what is the best way to learn a new language?
Angela Herren talks about mixing up Spanish, English and Bernese German, about cultural misunderstandings that are funny in hindsight, and about how dialects, accents and regional idiosyncrasies can make even familiar languages seem surprisingly foreign.
Giulia Berchio explains how language learning can work from the couch – and how multilingualism can delay memory problems that arise in old age.
Watch or listen to the podcast in our free SWIplus app or on your favourite podcast platform. And don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast so you never miss a new episode.
The mountain municipality of Leuk has given Elon Musk the green light to build 40 Starlink antennas. Local opposition was unsuccessful.
Elon Musk has scored a success in canton Valais, southwestern Switzerland: Leuk has rejected objections from residents who wanted to prevent his antennas, reports Swiss public broadcaster SRF. The tech billionaire is now allowed to install 40 antennas for his SpaceX project in the mountain municipality.
The antennas are around 2.5 metres high and are protected by white domes. They are to become a ground element of the Starlink satellite network, which aims to use satellites to connect remote locations to the internet. The installation in Leuk would be the largest in Europe.
Musk’s company currently has a licence from the Federal Office of Communications to test the radio system, but a regular licence is still pending. The population of Leuk reacted with concern and opposition to the planning application, partly due to fears of the consequences of radiation. But Musk’s antennas are not the first satellite stations in the municipality: huge dishes – the so-called ears of Leuk – have stood above Leuk since the 1970s.
Night train to Malmö derailed: the Swiss parliament is against subsidies of CHF10 million ($12.4 million) for the night train – but the Swiss Federal Railways has already sold tickets for the route.
Travelling by train from Basel to the Swedish city of Malmö while you sleep – a dream that is now over. After the Senate, the House of Representatives has also spoken out against the subsidies for the Basel-Malmö night train. Without the CHF10 million, the Federal Railways won’t be able to put the train on the rails.
However, the Federal Railways has been campaigning for this train – and has already sold tickets from April 2026. The booking figures were “very pleasing”, it said, according to 20 Minuten. Adverts for the night train to Malmö, which should have run three times a week, could still be seen on the Federal Railways website this morning.
In the House of Representative’s budget debate, it was also decided to cut foreign aid (CHF34.5 million less). However, there is more money for cyber security (CHF10 million) and for the Federal Police (CHF1.8 million). International Geneva will be supported with CHF130.4 million over the next four years and, finally, viticulture in Switzerland will also be supported with an additional CHF10 million.
Court ruling against discrimination: Zurich University of Teacher Education must admit visually impaired student.
Zurich Administrative Court has ruled that a visually impaired woman can study at the Zurich University of Teacher Education, the Tages-Anzeiger reports.
The woman is blind in one eye and can only see a little in the other, which is why the university did not want to admit her to study. However, the woman had previously worked as a primary school teacher. The Administrative Court has now ruled that she cannot be discriminated against. Visually impaired people can teach if they have an assistant, according to the judgement.
In autumn, a nationwide debate broke out in Switzerland because a primary school teacher was dismissed before taking up her post. The reason was her headscarf. The woman has since found a new job in canton Lucerne.
The Advent calendar of Swiss Oddities
Every day until December 24, our newsletter features a surprise article from our Swiss Oddities series – interesting, unusual and sometimes bizarre stories from Switzerland.
Click here to read today’s story.
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