[Culturechat] English in CH

[Vance Roy]

After just returning from the USA, where English seems about to become 
a second language, I was surprised to see information on the Swissinfo 
site about the language in CH.

It seems that parents in some areas of CH are paying upwards of 14,000 
US$ per year for their children to receive schooling in private schools 
that teach equally in German and English. In Kanton Zuerich, English 
has replaced  French as the first "second" language taught in 
elementary schools. Of course, the French Swiss had a cat about this, 
saying that this would be divisive. In any event, this practice is 
being copied by several other kantons.

Because CH has really four languages already (German, French, Italian, 
and Rhatio-Romansich), English is becoming the "common" language 
between these groups of speakers. Where a German Swiss may not be at 
ease speaking French to a French or Italian Swiss, he will be better 
with English as a communication medium. This  holds true with 
French-German, and Italian speakers too. Some Swiss corporations have 
English as their language in business, and the government translates 
most of its documents into English as well. Their seems to be a dialect 
of "Euro-English" developing, where certain terms are used that native 
English speakers wouldn't use. One rarely hears the word "agenda" in 
the USA. Most of us use "schedule' or "calendar". Infinitives are also 
over used since conjugations are a hard part of any new language.

In advertising, English is frequently the main or partial language of 
ads. This is especially true if the ad is aimed at the younger people. 
The Swiss post office recently used all English to promote a savings 
account for young people. They had an excellent response of thousands 
of new accounts. Students have motivation to learn English, while that 
to learn French, German, or Italian is not so great. Everyone 
recognizes that English is the language of business and success in 
tourism.

Barbara just started teaching classes of English in the business school 
in Sarnen. They specifically wanted a native speaker and were not 
bothered that she spoke "American" English at all. She has been 
impressed with the quality and motivation of her students who are 
mainly in the adult business world. Expect to see more and more English 
spoken and written here.

For me, one who is trying to learn more German, this is a paradox.

Vance Roy
gigli.saw@dplanet.ch
http://homepage.mac.com/fredch