Caitlin: "I remember in the supermarket I didn’t even understand when the cashier offered me a bag (Säckli), as I was expecting to hear Tasche or Tüte."
In this series, New Town Zurich asks expats living in Zurich about their experiences and challenges since they moved here. Today’s interviewee is Caitlin from Newcastle, England, who moved to Zurich with her family for job reasons. Meanwhile, Caitlin has been living in the city for more than five years. She recently started a Swiss German course and we want to know how she is progressing.
New Town: Caitlin, when you moved to Zurich you already knew German but then you experienced what most expats experience when settling in: Despite knowing some or even a lot of German you couldn’t understand what Swiss people say as the language spoken is Swiss German. Do you remember any difficult or funny situations because of that?
Caitlin: I was really surprised at how different it was – having studied German at university I didn’t think I was going to have a problem, but to be honest I couldn’t understand a word at first. I remember in the supermarket I didn’t even understand when the cashier offered me a bag (Säckli), as I was expecting to hear Tasche or Tüte. And I had to look at the figures on the cash register every time to see how much I owed because I couldn’t understand the numbers.
New Town: You told us that you recently started attending a Swiss German course. Why did you sign up? And: Have you had a few “aha”-experiences since you started?
Caitlin: I signed up for the course because I recently changed jobs. I previously worked in a very international environment where the main language was English, but in my new job most of my colleagues are Swiss and converse in Swiss German. In meetings, they switch to High German for my benefit but then they forget and switch back, and anyway I feel bad that they have to make a special effort for me.
Before I began the course, I thought I knew very little, but actually, when I got started and the teacher explained things very slowly and clearly I realized I knew a lot more than I thought.
New Town: What is the biggest challenge for you when it comes to Swiss German?
Caitlin: The biggest challenge is when a group of people is talking and they all speak very quickly – then I find it hard to follow. It’s also difficult that the dialects from different places are all slightly different so you often hear the same word pronounced differently, or even a completely different word. And it’s really difficult to understand people on the phone. I also don’t have the confidence to try speaking it myself yet.
"Now my daughter’s nearly 11 I really need to know if she and her
friends are plotting something behind my back!"
New Town: To finish the interview: Your children speak Swiss German fluently as they go to local school and just picked the language up from classmates and friends. What does it feel like for a parent not understanding what your children say when you hear them talking to their Swiss friends?
Caitlin: That’s another reason why I wanted to learn! I could manage fine with the little kindergarten kids, but now my daughter’s nearly 11 I really need to know if she and her friends are plotting something behind my back! It’s very weird having children who can speak fluently a language that you don’t speak.