There is no Swiss language. Depending on where you are in the country the locals might speak Swiss-German (Schwyzerdütsch), French, Italian, or, in the hidden valleys of Graubünden, Romansch, an ancient language related to Latin. All four are considered official languages (except that Standard German and not Swiss German is official). Some cities such as Biel/Bienne and Fribourg are officially bilingual, and any part of Switzerland has residents who speak something besides the local vernacular at home, English, German and French being the most widely spoken second languages. Note that you are unlikely to hear Romansch, as essentially all the 65,000 Romansch speakers also speak Swiss German and standard German, and they are actually outnumbered in Switzerland by native English speakers!
Around two-thirds of the population of Switzerland is German-speaking, located particularly in the center, north, and east of the country. French is spoken in the west, around Lausanne and Geneva, while Italian and Romansch are spoken in the far south. The Swiss themselves learn one of the other Swiss languages in school. In French-speaking Switzerland, this is typically German, so English is less commonly understood there. In any of the larger German-speaking cities you will have no trouble finding people who speak English. In the countryside, it is less common but hardly rare. People under the age of 50 typically speak more fluent English than older people. Generally speaking, in the past when two Swiss meet for the first time, they would first address each other in French, and then switch to a language both are most comfortable with once they have established each others native language. English, however, has now clearly become the most important second language in German-speaking Switzerland (as on much of the continent) much to the dismay of Francophone Switzerland including a debate if French or English should be taught in schools. Most offer both.
Swiss German is no dialect group itself, but just another word for the Alemannic (Alemannisch) dialects as spoken in Switzerland. Often considered a separate language, Alemannic and especially Highest Alemannic (spoken in southern Switzerland) is very different from standard German so don't be surprised if you can't understand the locals even if you are fluent in standard German. On the other hand, all German-speaking Swiss learn standard German in school, so in the major German-speaking cities (e.g. Basel, Berne and Zürich), almost all people will be able speak standard German very well. In smaller towns and countryside, it should still be spoken moderately to fluently by anyone educated in a modern day school, so if you don't approach someone old, you should be fine. A small portion of Swiss German speakers spill over into northern Italy, but Italian is universally spoken in this region of Italy as well along the frontier. The Swiss media still makes regular use of Swiss German, which is a special case in the German speaking world, showcasing Switzerland's desire to maintain its special cultural identity in the German-speaking world. Generally, the Swiss German speakers are the most likely to see themselves as distinctly different and unique in general context of German speaking Europe. Swiss German dialects may correspond closely to the dialects of German spoken in neighboring regions of Alsace (France), Germany, Liechtenstein, and Austria (Vorarlberg).
Swiss French (officially Romand) is essentially standard French with some differences. It is spoken more slowly, with more of a drawl. The numbers are not the same. Though anyone will understand you when you use soixante-dix, quatre-vingt, quatre-vingt-dix (70, 80, 90), the use of these vanish as you proceed east along Lac Léman: in Geneva soixante-dix becomes septante and quatre-vingt-dix becomes nonante. — quatre-vingts and huitante are both acceptable ways to say the number eighty. However, by the time you reach Lausanne, quatre-vingts has given way to huitante, and in the Valais it is possible to hear the almost Italian octante.
Another difference is that you may encounter people using the word cornet to define a plastic bag (as opposed to the word sachet that would be heard in France). French has also had a significant impact on Swiss German vocabulary, making it different from the German heard spoken in Austria or Germany. Remember even in German, a streetcar is a "Tram", not a "Strassenbahn"!
Swiss Italian is basically standard Italian with German and French influences and is the native tongue of most people in Italian-speaking Switzerland, although old and rural people often speak the related Lombard language instead, though in this case Italian is most often spoken in addition to this.
The Most Frequently Asked Travel Questions about Switzerland
Where To Stay & Best Hotels in Switzerland - updated Apr 2024
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Switzerland Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.
