Sechseläuten (Sächsilüüte) is a spring holiday in Zurich, Switzerland, celebrated on the 3rd Monday of April since the early 20th century. After a parade of the guilds (Zünfte), everyone gathers around the Sechseläutenplatz (Bellevueplatz) in Zurich to burn the Winter. The Winter is symbolized in form of a […]
(updated in 2020) Some time ago I read an interesting article from a mum raising multilingual children in a multicultural environment. She told her multilingual mothering story in a very positive and encouraging way. I would like to encourage mothers, fathers, caregivers to not be afraid to speak […]
The Rumantsch is one of the Rhaeto-Romance varieties, and the Rhaeto-Romance is a sub family of the Romance languages spoken in Switzerland and north and north-eastern Italy. The family of the Raetho-Romance is closely related to French, Franco-Provençal, Occitan, Gallo-Italian (of the Italian regions Piemonte, Liguria, Lombardia and […]
Swiss Italian is the name given to the dialect spoken by about 500,000 Swiss in the canton of Ticino and in the southern part of Grisons (Canton Grigioni). Swiss Italian is also the term used to signify the Italian-speaking autochthonous population in Switzerland.
Swiss German (Schwitzerdütsch, Schwyzerdütch, Schwitzertüütsch, Schwizertitsch) refers to the Alemannic dialects spoken in Switzerland. In 17 of the 26 Swiss cantons, German is the only official language: Aargau, Appenzell Ausserrhoden, Appenzell Innerrhoden, Basel-Stadt, Basel-Landschaft, Glarus, Luzern, Nidwalden, Obwalden, Schaffhausen, Schwyz, Solothurn, St. Gallen, Thurgau, Uri, Zug, Zürich.
(©wikipedia, Savoyerli) The Suisse romande or Romandie is the French speaking part of western Switzerland. It inlcudes the cantons of Fribourg, Geneva, Jura, Neuchâtel, western Valais, Vaud and the northern part of Berne (cfr. Jura Bernois or the Bernese Jura).
Some people don’t know that Switzerland is multilingual. I’ve often been asked if I was able to talk „Swiss“, as I’ve lived there for a long time. Even if this kind of comment seems funny to those who live in or close to Switzerland, it is quite a […]
This is the first post of a series called „Switzerland“, where I will write about the multilinguality, interesting facts and habits of this country. I will start with the name of Switzerland. It often happens that people ask me where the name of Switzerland comes from. Especially those […]
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Expat Since Birth – A Life spent "abroad" 