EDUCATION
Learning the language of the country in which you live
When I first arrived in Switzerland, speaking the language of the country seemed
really easy as I lived in the French-speaking part and I was French. However,
I soon realised that my vocabulary wasn’t the same one as the Swiss French
speakers. I started to take their words and expressions in order to assimilate
myself.
When I started teaching French to immigrants, the problem recurred: Did I have
to teach them French like in France or like in Switzerland? The answer was simple:
I had to teach them the language of the country in which they lived!
When I moved to Bern, I learnt Berndütsch. Not that I was able to speak it very
well, but I understood it really well. Two years later, when I arrived in Zürich,
I had problems to understand the local dialect! It drove me crazy! Nevertheless
I can now understand Züridutsch even if I am not really able to speak it,
except the really easy sentences of every day life.
My daughter, who is in a special playgroup to learn German, didn’t want
to speak a word of it. With my husband, an English speaker, we realised that
we don’t promote enough German to our kids. Although we speak German outside
of the house, German is not used at home: no DVDs in German, no TV in German,
few books in German, and few German-speaking friends. We placed a greater importance
on the kids learning our cultures and native languages: English and French.
In order to encourage our daughter to learn German, we had to show her that mommy
and daddy are speaking German, and that it is important to be able to speak with
people outside of the house. Now she is beginning to accept to say some words.
It will come.
But how would you encourage your kids to learn another language if you don’t
speak it at all? Of course, speaking English in Switzerland could be enough to
get by. However, do you really want to be excluded from the life of the region?
Can you feel good in a country where you can’t understand what they say
in a shop, you can’t order a coffee in the local language, and you are
not able to explain yourself to a doctor without thinking that maybe they don’t
understand you and you don’t understand them?
Integration starts by speaking the language of the country in which you live.
And as parents, this is what we want for our children. In playgroup, day-care
or school, we ask them to speak Swiss German, French or Italian. We know how
important it is for them to make friends, not to feel overwhelmed, to be part
of the society. And as parents, what examples are we showing them? Do
we live
in an expat ghetto? Would it come to your mind to go live in the United States
without learning English? The excuse of a lot of expats is that French is too
difficult to learn, and Swiss German and German are not languages that are widely
used in the world. On the other hand, Italian… well I never heard anybody
complaining about learning Italian.
Yes, French is difficult. I can’t deny it. And it is true that nobody speaks
German in the world apart from 80 million people in Germany, plus a big part
of Switzerland and Austria. Yes, it is only in this big part of Switzerland that
you could also speak Swiss German. But after all, learning a language is the
key to understanding the culture: like knowing that a bratwurst is always eaten
with a beer in your hand, grilling is a part of announcing summer, and Sundays
are made to rest… But I am sure we can still open a language book on Sundays…it
is not against the law! Understanding the language is a step to understand
the
way Swiss people think… it’s only then that we can decide whether
or not we like a country. It’s not by staying in our communities with our
prejudices that we can bridge the cultural gap. Isn’t that enough to make
us want to learn the language… even if you only plan to stay for one year
or two?
NEW IN JUNE:
Learning
from our kids – adapting to a new environment
Swiss German, French, Italian or Romansh?
Do
you speak - sprechen Sie - parlez-vous - schwätzt du…?
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