Would Switzerland Be A Good Place To Live In?

Question

I am an American who is learning German. I hope to be fluent someday. I am also considering moving to a German-speaking country someday with Switzerland being a top option.

Any personal advice about this? How does the politics of Switzerland differ from the USA?

Answer 1

I live in the United States, and if I were to live anywhere else in the world it would be switzerland. i have dual citizenship with switzerland and have been there atleast 15 times in my life. personally, i like basel to live in the most. it is right on the border of germany and france, but is german speaking. if you have any questions at all about switzerland you can ask me.

Answer 2

hi there, my personal advice is, book a trip to Europe and go visit some German speaking countries before you pack your  the first stuff. I lived in Zurich for 3 years and even though it is rated asor second best place to live in, it-s not my cup of tea... that is indeed very personal, but I could not wait to leave that country.

Positive aspects of CH: clean, organized, good social system in terms, stability, beautiful cities with historical buildings and nice landscape if you like countryside, mountains and lakes, safe, in the heart of Europe so easy to travel around, easy to find a job if you work in the banking or insurance industries, good level of salary but also hight living cost...

Negative aspects: weather, you will have  about 8 months of considerable cold weather, it may be very foggy in the cities too, people are in general serious, formal and cold as well, difficult to socialize and meet people, the language is quite a negative as well, as you learn German and they speak Swiss German or Schwizer Duetch which is quite different from High German.

Never heard anyone describing Switzerland as an exciting vibrant or place, but as a stable and neutral country. I decided to come back to my country because I wasn't happy there at all, but met many foreigns that liked living there as they had a different background and personal situation. Just think of your priorities and see if they match a bit....

Answer 3

Switzerland is intensely conservative, and traditionally neutral. Living there is a bit like living in a 5-star hotel - it's great, but you have to follow the "rules".

Answer 4

Switzerland is a perfect place to live in! Just last week, Switzerland's largest city, Zürich was named the "best place in the world to live", by Mercer Consulting. In second place is Geneva, Switzerland which tied with Vienna, Austria. Even Switzerland's "slowest" city, the capital Bern is #9 on the list.

Quite frankly, for German learning, my country is a fascinating experience. Most people here speak a dialect of German called Swytzerdütsch (Swiss German) which at first will pose challenges comprehension-wise, but once you understand Swiss German all other forms of German (Austrian German; Hochdeutsch, or "normal" German; Tyrolean German etc.).

But don't be afraid that your current German skills will be useless in Switzerland - all Swiss Germans speak "normal" German and many Swiss Germans can speak English to a level that could lead you to believe that they were actually English/American!

If you want to be in area that has an Anglophone (English-speaking) community, I would try and live somewhere in Geneva or its surroundings. Because Switzerland is so small, to go from Geneva to the nearest German-speaking town (Bern) takes one hour by train (another advantage of Switzerland: Trains are on time, as opposed to a certain American company...)

Politics in Switzerland is similar (to a certain extent) as Politics in the USA. We elect candidates to represent us in the National Council (like the House of Representatives) and the Council of States (like the Senate) - these two chambers are assembled in the "Federal Assembly" (Congress).

However we do not elect our Presidents. The Federal Assembly elects a seven-member Federal Council of Ministers who lead the country. Of these seven members a President is chosen - the term of a President is one year when he/she is succeeded by the Vice-President who becomes president for a year and so on! As opposed to the USA, where there are pretty much two parties: the Democrats and the Republicans, Switzerland has a paraphenelia of Parties. Of these, only four are present in the Federal Council:  the right-wing, nationalist SVP/UDC party (who made the famous "Black Sheep" political poster); the PDC, a centrist political party that promotes Christian values; the SSP, the center-left Socialists and last, but not least: the "Radicals", a party that has quite a Liberal Ideology.

I could rant on and on and on about Switzerland but I won't (for fear of boring you to the death), but I hope this has helped.

If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to ask them (just inform me of them!)

Jean-Paul J

Answer 5

this is what I found, "Switzerland's Zurich is rated number one place to live followed by Austria's Vienna in a tie with Geneva, in Switzerland again, at number two.

However, I had heard many people say once there, they could not wait to leave. Switzerland thrives on the arts. It is also quite a diverse country, that can have pluses and minuses. The weather is very unpredictable and can change instantly. It is also said that the pollution is so bad that it not harms people but building. How scary is that! And if you don't like smoking, you should know that  one third of the population smokes. The country is also densly populated. If you are rich, it may be ok, but know that Switzerland is the has the 3rd highest cost of living in the world. On the good side, education is great.

It is really a personal choice however, I think you should do some investigating. Good Luck!