What languages do the people in Switzerland speak?

Question

What languages do the people in Switzerland speak?

Answer 1

Switzerland has four official languages: German (64%) in the north and centre; French (20.4%) to the west; Italian (6.5%) in the south; and Romansh (a Romance language), that is spoken locally by a small minority (1%) in the southeastern canton of Graubünden. (Some dialects of Franco-Provençal have speakers in rural communities in the region where French is spoken. This language has no legal status.)

The federal government is obliged to communicate in the four official languages. In the federal parliament, German, French, Italian and Romansh are the official languages and simultaneous translation is provided. The German spoken in Switzerland is predominantly a group of dialects collectively known as Swiss German, but written communication and broadcasts typically use standard High German.

Answer 2

German, French and Italian. Depends on the part of the country you are at.

Answer 3

Swiss-German in the German part (Zurich, Bern, Lucerne, St. Gallen, most of Graubunden, which is southestern Switzerland) about 65%

French in the French part (Geneva, Lausanne (canton Vaud), Fribourg) about 25%

Italian in the Italian part (Ticino and parts of Graubunden) about 10%

Romansch in a little bit of Graubunden--Romansch is a "national" language but not an "official" language. Kids in the area learn it in school but I don't think it's spoken in the legislature.

Swiss-German is quite distinct from Standard German. The Italian and French spoken in Switzerland are pretty close to their standard varieties.

A lot of people in international companies and in tourism speak English. (Also some French-speakers and German-speakers would rather speak English together than decide between their two languages--plus the French-speakers would have learned standard German, not Swiss.) Zurich and Geneva have lots of immigrants who speak Turkish, Albanian, Spanish, Thai, etc. Even English

Answer 4

FYI Swiss-German is not a written language...it is only spoken and the dialect for Swiss varies between Cantons.  Print is written in High German.  I speak German and I have a very difficult time understanding Swiss...esp. the dialect from Bern :)

Answer 5

french, german

Answer 6

german,french,italian language are mostly speaking.

Answer 7

Swiss-German, French, Italian, often English at work, lots of Albanian, Croatian, Spanish and Portuguese, even some standard German and Romansch.

The official languages are German (standard), French and Italian. Romansch is a national but not an official language. Government documents are not necessarily available in Romansch.

Answer 8

French and German, but they have a high standard of English there too.

Answer 9

German (official) 63.7%, French (official) 20.4%, Italian (official) 6.5%, Serbo-Croatian 1.5%, Albanian 1.3%, Portuguese 1.2%, Spanish 1.1%, English 1%, Romansch 0.5%, other 2.8% (2000 census)

note: German, French, Italian, and Romansch are all national languages, but only the first three are official languages

Answer 10

german (64%), french (20%), italian (6.5%) and a small amount speak romansch.

Answer 11

German, French, Italian, and Romansh.  They don't have their own language so instead, all four of these are official.  Most people speak German.  Second comes French then Italian then Romansh.

Answer 12

Some speak German. Some speak French. A few speak Italian.

From the CIA World Facts website:

Languages: German (official) 63.7%, French (official) 20.4%, Italian (official) 6.5%, Serbo-Croatian 1.5%, Albanian 1.3%, Portuguese 1.2%, Spanish 1.1%, English 1%, Romansch 0.5%, other 2.8% (2000 census)

note: German, French, Italian, and Romansch are all national languages, but only the first three are official language