What language do they speak in Switzerland?

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  • Опубліковано 26 чер 2024
  • The Awful German Language by Mark Twain
    Audio book.
    • The Awful German Langu...
    While I was recently in the USA a whole bunch of people ask me. What do they speak in Switzerland and are you going to learn it? Well here's your answer. Here is a picture of Switzerland over the US. it is tiny. And in that tiny country, they actually have 4 different languages. French, Swiss-German, Italian, and Romansch. Swiss German is the most common language spoken by about 63% of swiss. And a spoken primarily along The northern part of Switzerland. Along with Germany and Austria both German-speaking countries. But it's also spoken in central Switzerland and a little bit in the South. The next language is French spoken by about 23% of the Swiss. And is primarily spoken along with France On the Western side of Switzerland. Next, we have a Italian which is spoken by about 8% of the Swiss. And is spoken on the Southern side of Switzerland like where Italy is. And the next language is Romanish. It is a pretty cool language that was Left Behind when the Romans occupied Switzerland. So it is a mix of from the Latin that the Romans spoke but also takes a lot of grammar from German. And also take some words from the languages spoken before the Romans. However, there are only about 40000 people that speak It makes up about 0.5% of the people in Switzerland

КОМЕНТАРІ • 736

  • @jurilamprecht3643
    @jurilamprecht3643 3 роки тому +621

    As a Swiss i have to say he is very accurate😂 the only thing i dont agree is the Part where he says that we cant understand each other.

    • @trudidolder6122
      @trudidolder6122 3 роки тому +58

      o.K. Have you ever tried to listen when ein Walliser und ein Zuercher versuchen einander zu verstehen?

    • @DramaQueenMalena
      @DramaQueenMalena 3 роки тому +52

      I'm from Bern so I speak Bärndütsch. Once I had a job where I had to go and have Workshops/classes in every Canton. In St. Gallen, Thurgau, Appenzell about 50% of the people couldn't understand and I had to switch to Hochdeutsch. In Zürich there were a lot of Germans living and working there who told me they have no problems understanding Schweizerdeutsch but they understand Züridütsch, not Bärndütsch😅.
      Many understand every dialect but many don't.

    • @rogerschmid6860
      @rogerschmid6860 3 роки тому +14

      @@DramaQueenMalena weil sie zu faul sind, ganz einfach...

    • @DramaQueenMalena
      @DramaQueenMalena 3 роки тому +9

      @@rogerschmid6860 Es sind nicht alle gleich sprachbegabt, denke ich.

    • @trudidolder6122
      @trudidolder6122 3 роки тому +14

      I am from the Berner Oberland and was working in Bern. Our Main office was in Zuerich. Well, I was talking to the Main office and the guy didn’t
      say anything for a long time. So, finally he asked me: vous parlez francais? Offensichtlich war mein Oberlaender dialect nicht grad einfach zu verstehen….. Schriftdeutsch hilft.

  • @UliMeyer
    @UliMeyer 3 роки тому +342

    Don't worry about messing up the "Artikels". Everyone here is going to admire you for taking the challenge speaking German. Enjoy.e

    • @AmericameetsSwitzerland
      @AmericameetsSwitzerland  3 роки тому +18

      Yes! I have found that to be true. People don't seem to care if the article is correct when I try to speak.

    • @derbar7928
      @derbar7928 3 роки тому +4

      @@AmericameetsSwitzerland In Solothurn its "härdöpfel" so basiccaly a ground apple.

    • @m.m.4718
      @m.m.4718 3 роки тому +9

      Exactly, what I was thinking about the "Artikels". People can understand you anyway - maybe they can recognize you as a foreigner - but who cares? As a native, I know the "Artikels" make no sense at all and even I stumble form time to time - especially when I was younger - over some stupid differences between german and swiss german (die Giraffe - dr Giraff). Keep going learning German!

    • @pedrobento03
      @pedrobento03 3 роки тому +1

      @@m.m.4718 yeah, as a foreigner in switzerland i've learned that it's much easier to just be proud of being different instead of trying to fit in

    • @DaferrFN
      @DaferrFN 3 роки тому +1

      Agreed. I have been here for 20 years and still have a problem with the Artiklen... screws up the entire conversation.

  • @anthonywhitehouse5669
    @anthonywhitehouse5669 3 роки тому +527

    The odd thing is that the Swiss French and Swiss Germans communicate together in English.

    • @alyssia7239
      @alyssia7239 3 роки тому +38

      Well i never managed to speak German, even with 8 years of German in school soooo 😅😅

    • @trudidolder6122
      @trudidolder6122 3 роки тому +18

      Well, Anthony, that is a new one for me. We learned French in School and I have always communicated in french with all my french customers, friends and acquaintances. . …

    • @trudidolder6122
      @trudidolder6122 3 роки тому +10

      @@alyssia7239 so, you need to practice to really learn it. I was in the french part of Switzerland to practice my School french and I am in the US where I am practicing my School english, (which is somewhat different from the English we learned in School)

    • @trekadouble757
      @trekadouble757 3 роки тому +19

      Depends where you are from... People from bilingual region do not necessarily speak english... What I have seen happen most often here is one person speaking german and the other one answering in french, because we kinda all understand french and german, we just can't necessarily speak the other language. That makes for bilingual conversations

    • @S_O_O_C
      @S_O_O_C 3 роки тому +10

      I live in lucerne and go to geneva every weekend, and i absolutely cannot be bothered to learn french, and the people in geneva dont want to learn german, so i can confirm.
      Hey, at least it keeps the two cultures from mixing too much

  • @swissladydriver8980
    @swissladydriver8980 3 роки тому +195

    People definitely do write in Swiss German, especially on social media, etc.

    • @pedrobento03
      @pedrobento03 3 роки тому +18

      yeah but everything formal is in german, swiss german isnt an official language

    • @swissladydriver8980
      @swissladydriver8980 3 роки тому +7

      @@pedrobento03 True, but it would behoove you to learn Schweizerdeutsch because that is what will be spoken at government offices, the library, at school and even in court (believe me, I was there).

    • @pedrobento03
      @pedrobento03 3 роки тому +1

      @@swissladydriver8980 yea i know i live in switzerland lol

    • @swissladydriver8980
      @swissladydriver8980 3 роки тому +1

      @@pedrobento03 Then you should know that what's official is not necessarily what's important in day to day life.

    • @pedrobento03
      @pedrobento03 3 роки тому +5

      @@swissladydriver8980 i dont remember saying that tho?

  • @thomasw4709
    @thomasw4709 3 роки тому +197

    I’m an extremely weird case. I grew up in Canada with Swiss parents (I’m actually Swiss). I can speak decent Swiss-German and understand it perfectly. I rebelled against German School as a kid, so I never learned German. It freaks people out that I can speak passable Swiss-German but I can’t speak German.
    When I’m in Switzerland and I stumble with words people automatically switch to German which is worse for me. Even my relatives forget themselves and do it and then they switch back.
    I’m really good at a language that is only useful in central Switzerland.

    • @MarsOhr
      @MarsOhr 3 роки тому +3

      Then you can't read German?

    • @thomasw4709
      @thomasw4709 3 роки тому +9

      @@MarsOhr not really. I can fumble through it, but it is not easy.

    • @christofabt8958
      @christofabt8958 3 роки тому +8

      @@thomasw4709 You miss a lot. Live is more interesting if you speak a foreign language and people treat you differently.

    • @Rico-oz4ct
      @Rico-oz4ct 3 роки тому +3

      @@christofabt8958 he speaks another language though lmao

    • @ireyonmoya
      @ireyonmoya 3 роки тому +4

      You're a funny weird case 😅😂

  • @TheTravelingSwiss
    @TheTravelingSwiss 3 роки тому +171

    I studied German for years in University, even did a semester in Berlin - I just moved to Zurich and am having a TOUGH time understanding Swiss German lol!

    • @ebenenchef4560
      @ebenenchef4560 3 роки тому +27

      I'm a german native speaker and I dont understand a word they're saying, so much for that. I thinks it's like if americans went to rural scotland

    • @Mage_co
      @Mage_co 3 роки тому +16

      when i notice that someone doesn't understand the dialect, i switch straight to high german. Actually everyone does it that way

    • @jolutien0435
      @jolutien0435 3 роки тому +1

      @@Mage_co Yes I am also Swiss and do the Same but, there are Stil a lot of People in Switzerland who just Continue to speak in the Dialekt

    • @Mage_co
      @Mage_co 3 роки тому +4

      @@jolutien0435 That could be because not all of them speak High German well and are shy. since i sometimes have to speak high german myself with swiss people ;-) so that they understand me i am used to high german

    • @jolutien0435
      @jolutien0435 3 роки тому +1

      @@Mage_co No everyone learns high german in school

  • @danilo9401
    @danilo9401 3 роки тому +93

    its funny because in school during class we always speak german, sometimes if there is a special program (like workshops or smth like that) you know its gonna be chill if the person that leads the workshop asks if everyone understands swissgerman 😂

  • @Damian-ek7mw
    @Damian-ek7mw 3 роки тому +119

    Really funny as a swiss person 😂👍🏻👍🏻 very well explained

    • @AmericameetsSwitzerland
      @AmericameetsSwitzerland  3 роки тому +6

      Thank you. I appreciate that.

    • @aliam7546
      @aliam7546 3 роки тому +7

      Jede schwiizer wo da uf youtube vorgschlage becho hett hett sich denkt haha yeah lueged mer mol ob er s im griff hett 😂

    • @stargazer0016
      @stargazer0016 2 роки тому

      @@aliam7546 ganz genau haha

  • @loutsch1367
    @loutsch1367 3 роки тому +167

    dude what u mean we need to learn 1 language?!?!?😂 we need to learn english and french too☠

    • @AmericameetsSwitzerland
      @AmericameetsSwitzerland  3 роки тому +29

      😂 I know. I feel terrible for you. Haha

    • @sirijaw
      @sirijaw 3 роки тому +7

      My sister had to learn German, English AND Italian

    • @swissskillsp8933
      @swissskillsp8933 3 роки тому +13

      You only need to learn English and French too?? I had to learn not only German, English and French in school but also Italian and even fxcking Latin...

    • @gianluscher1159
      @gianluscher1159 3 роки тому

      @@swissskillsp8933 haha same It truly is pain

    • @bayu7017
      @bayu7017 3 роки тому +1

      @@gianluscher1159 I feel too😫😆 at school I learn English , Japanese, sometimes Chinese, and still learning Balinese language

  • @andreasmetzger7619
    @andreasmetzger7619 3 роки тому +67

    Most germans do have trouble understanding the Swiss but if you're from the south it's easier (especially when you're from the border region like me) bc the dialects are similar.

    • @christofabt8958
      @christofabt8958 3 роки тому +1

      Andreas, you say "gsi" instead of the German word "gewesen".

    • @ax6356
      @ax6356 3 роки тому

      @@christofabt8958 gewesen ist verwesen

    • @qh5163
      @qh5163 3 роки тому

      @@christofabt8958 gsi isch au deutsch. wie die badenser, als schwob weiss mer des.

    • @smileyxd6240
      @smileyxd6240 3 роки тому

      @@christofabt8958 Des sagt man im Schwäbischen au😊

    • @marieluiseweiss879
      @marieluiseweiss879 3 роки тому +2

      Es kommt drauf an manches Schwitzerdütsch( schreibt man das so?) kann man recht gut verstehen aber manchmal rafft man auch gar nichts , aber ich verstehe auch kein Schwäbisch...

  • @jonathanfraga3771
    @jonathanfraga3771 2 роки тому

    Thank you for the explanation, very interesting!

  • @user-er8sh4ye3x
    @user-er8sh4ye3x Рік тому +1

    Your video is very funny and well written! Go on! Good luck!

  • @hanspeterpitsch
    @hanspeterpitsch 3 роки тому +27

    I can only imagine how frustrating the article thing must be, because there's no rhyme or reason to it, you just have to brute force learn them, so to speak.

    • @ax6356
      @ax6356 3 роки тому +2

      in old German they did make sense: just like today in modern Italian these words had suffices from which it was easy to determine the article used in them. such features survive to this day in some spoken dialects and in a small selection of words.

    • @fast1nakus
      @fast1nakus 2 роки тому +2

      Not really. It kinda clicks in you're head after some years spent with the language. Similar to slavik languages you just need to remember that words have genders, most of which make some sense.
      ...unlike English language where you need to remember not only the meaning of the world, but also it's spelling, which can be completely unnecessary complicated - that's frustrating

  • @trekadouble757
    @trekadouble757 3 роки тому +47

    Just one thing about the langage barrier. There are also biliingual ans trilingual regions in Switzerland. A french speaking person who comes from Fribourg/Freiburg will probably has a better level in german than someone who comes from Geneva, because Fribourg is a bilingual town. It's not like the four bilingual regions are nicely cut off each other.

    • @leon4719
      @leon4719 3 роки тому +2

      As someone coming from Geneva, I agree

    • @Lolo-tz8sz
      @Lolo-tz8sz 3 роки тому +1

      @See you soon boi fribourg is also bilingual / 80%french 20%german

    • @joachim1292
      @joachim1292 2 роки тому

      Well the roestigraben cuts in the middle of the city of Fribourg, so the town is technically and practically bilingual

    • @Lolo-tz8sz
      @Lolo-tz8sz 2 роки тому

      @See you soon boi offical its only french but in reality you can have everithing in german(schools, official papers, road signs) so for me it is bilingual.

    • @Hugo-cn9no
      @Hugo-cn9no 2 роки тому +1

      @@Lolo-tz8sz Been there you do all in french tbh and i'm from Québec, they understand pretty well my accent lol

  • @studiomiroa
    @studiomiroa 3 роки тому +1

    Very well explained. And funny! Thank you!

  • @F4aXxZ
    @F4aXxZ 2 роки тому +10

    one of the big differences between german in switzerland and german in germany is that in switzerland we use so many french words instead of german ones: for example a bicycle is typically called a velo (french) here in switzerland. In germany it's Fahrrad. They're called Helvetismen if u are more interested in it. Swiss german on the other hand is the wild west.

  • @AlexanderOnFire
    @AlexanderOnFire 3 роки тому +87

    It's like a secret language only there to mess with people from germany

    • @AmericameetsSwitzerland
      @AmericameetsSwitzerland  3 роки тому +7

      😂 You are probably right.

    • @nonexistentcomedychannel5136
      @nonexistentcomedychannel5136 3 роки тому +8

      people I Switzerland also mess with themselves because many cities have different Swiss German accents. and even for me, who lived his whole live in Switzerland, there are still accents that. are hard to understand for me

    • @DasAntiNaziBroetchen
      @DasAntiNaziBroetchen 3 роки тому

      @@nonexistentcomedychannel5136 It's a tradeoff.

    • @jurilamprecht3643
      @jurilamprecht3643 3 роки тому +2

      @@nonexistentcomedychannel5136 also ich cha zwar alles versta aber nd nahmache

    • @hanshaller2893
      @hanshaller2893 3 роки тому +2

      @@jurilamprecht3643 Es gelingt den wenigsten Ausländern die Schweizer-Dütsche Sprache wirklich korrekt sprechen zu können. Jeder echte Schweizer merkt es rasch einmal, dass es offensichtlich seine Muttersprache sein kann. - Selbst Deutsche aus Deutschland haben damit Mühe und so selbige es dennoch versuchen, so klingt das für uns Schweizer eher fürchterlich dämlich und schon fast lächerlich. - Aber keine Sorge, wir verstehen das sehr gut.

  • @michaelkrauer1286
    @michaelkrauer1286 3 роки тому

    Your explanation is very exact. Greetings from Basel

  • @marcmonnerat4850
    @marcmonnerat4850 3 роки тому +43

    This is the good thing about the German language, you may butcher it, nobody cares. Insider trick: use the diminutive -li and a word turns neutral.

    • @Flugs0
      @Flugs0 4 місяці тому

      that's true, and it must also be why "mädchen" (little girl) is neuter instead of female, it uses a diminutive.

  • @beatrixmeier4466
    @beatrixmeier4466 3 роки тому

    Very well explaind and true. I love it

  • @catwoman_7
    @catwoman_7 3 роки тому +26

    There are no official rules for Swiss German (because it‘s only a spoken language), but there are a lot of *patterns* . F. e. tenses:
    - only 1 past tense: present perfect simple
    - no future tense: present simple + when/time
    Etc. 😊 Greetings from Switzerland 🇨🇭

    • @swissladydriver8980
      @swissladydriver8980 3 роки тому +2

      Agree. I don't know what he said there were no rules if he doesn't even know how to speak the language.

    • @ninoslanguagejourney6002
      @ninoslanguagejourney6002 3 роки тому +5

      @@swissladydriver8980 Many swiss people believe that we have no rules because spellingbis basically anarchy but we have fix grammar rules

    • @swissladydriver8980
      @swissladydriver8980 3 роки тому

      @@ninoslanguagejourney6002 yes.

  • @sachinbhattarai636
    @sachinbhattarai636 3 роки тому +35

    I find the Swiss people really amazing. They are a perfect example of a multilingual. I have a friend, who is Swiss, she can of course speak Swiss German, the high German, Perfect English, French, Italian (Perfectly), and could understand everything about Dutch. I mean, most of Swiss people can at least understand and speak 3 languages depending where they come from. It’s truly remarkable 🤩

    • @trishaelizabeth7570
      @trishaelizabeth7570 3 роки тому +4

      I'm from switzerland as well. And because my Mom is from the philippines and my parents speak English, I grew up hearing and learning Swissgerman, German, English + a bit of Filipino (Tagalog). And then in elementary school I was being taught English (which was of course pretty easy for me) and French as well. Later on, in High School (or Gymnasium how it is called here) I chose Italian as my main subject (idk if one can call it like that) and Spanish as an additional language subject. So yeah it's really nice and I love to have had the opportunity to learn so many languages and being able to talk to so many people from so many places and countries.

    • @killerpussy84
      @killerpussy84 3 роки тому +7

      No, I can assure you, most Swiss people can barely speak a secong langugae, except for english.
      Swissgerman speakers hate to learn french, and swissfrench speakers hate to learn german. We have to learn it in school, but I'd guess about 80% can't speak the language after that. Not even remotely. Which is why they talk in english with each other.
      Not to speak of italian, because that part almost always just gets forgotten by the others. 😅😂

    • @trishaelizabeth7570
      @trishaelizabeth7570 3 роки тому +1

      @@killerpussy84 yeah that's actually pretty sad, I never understood all my classmates who hated french or italian. I've always loved all my language subjects..

    • @trishaelizabeth7570
      @trishaelizabeth7570 3 роки тому

      I mean we have the opportunity to learn other languages but most people are just not interested in really learning and speaking another language, you know, well

    • @sachinbhattarai636
      @sachinbhattarai636 3 роки тому

      @@killerpussy84 Really? This is something new I am hearing. I thought everyone knew the official languages. (at least the three) Thank you for letting me know about this. 😄

  • @edwinsteiner3695
    @edwinsteiner3695 3 роки тому +1

    Cool Video. I really enjoyed watching it, even more because we live in the same town. Don't worry about the articles too much. We will understand you, even if you don't use them correcly... or just add a "li" as others have already mentioned and it turns neutral.

  • @magedabdulaziz
    @magedabdulaziz Рік тому

    that was really fun video

  • @III-jk4dz
    @III-jk4dz 3 роки тому +35

    I live in the french speaking part of Switzerland (more precisely in Neuenburg), and all of the residents of the french speaking part has to learn german.
    I have studied it since 10 years, and I still hate it.

    • @AmericameetsSwitzerland
      @AmericameetsSwitzerland  3 роки тому +8

      Thank you for the words of encouragement.

    • @III-jk4dz
      @III-jk4dz 3 роки тому +2

      America meets Switzerland 😂😂😂

    • @waynebrady1819
      @waynebrady1819 3 роки тому +17

      Well, I can assure you swiss germans feel the same about french. A terrible language to speak and to pronounce the words. The writing is made by Lucifer himself with all the silent letters and the total misspronouncing of the vowels. I mean my wife is from a french speaking african country and I chose to learn and speak their native language over french...

    • @sirijaw
      @sirijaw 3 роки тому +6

      @@waynebrady1819 I'm from Vaud, my native language is French and it's really a pain in the ass. I struggle a lot with German but it's quite an easy language to speak

    • @gamerdrache6076
      @gamerdrache6076 3 роки тому +1

      @Bengal PG3D sad taht teh parst from belgium whos peak neherlandish and german has to lean french

  • @bliblablubb9750
    @bliblablubb9750 3 роки тому +3

    this is the funniest thing 😂 im so glad i found this

  • @catwoman_7
    @catwoman_7 3 роки тому

    I like your video! 🤗🇨🇭 Good job! 😎

  • @melinabossart7234
    @melinabossart7234 3 роки тому

    I really like the research and effort you put together in this video.
    I also like to be heard as a Swiss, we're kinda special.

  • @naturerey1845
    @naturerey1845 3 роки тому +1

    Great video!

  • @nicolaspaiva4790
    @nicolaspaiva4790 2 роки тому

    One of the funniest videos I have seen. Thanks mate

  • @trudidolder6122
    @trudidolder6122 3 роки тому +2

    this is the best rendition of our language I have listened to ..... You really hit it just perfect. Schwyzer duetsch isch ae schwaery Sprach.... And my dialect is one of the hard one to understand...

  • @jessicalocke
    @jessicalocke 3 роки тому

    This video is spot on! Our German teacher gave us the Awful German language book when we first started lessons. 🤣

  • @mikemateescu1541
    @mikemateescu1541 3 роки тому +1

    Very well explained! :)

  • @lifeyang2
    @lifeyang2 3 роки тому +1

    Very interesting

  • @handsupbud
    @handsupbud Рік тому +1

    Thanks for talking me out of trying to learn Swiss.

    • @Lilouu1706
      @Lilouu1706 Рік тому

      Its the best german learn it pls

  • @taghiabiri3489
    @taghiabiri3489 3 роки тому

    Very funny, happy you came to Switzerland 😁 Greetings from Basel

  • @b_l_e
    @b_l_e 2 роки тому

    Thanks

  • @flololo
    @flololo 3 роки тому

    cool video and you seem like a great guy. greetings from a fellow swiss ;)

  • @pedrobento03
    @pedrobento03 3 роки тому

    yo i feel you dude 😂i moved to switzerland when i was 10 years old, first i focused on learning german, then when i mastered it i began to speak in like a mix of swiss german and german until after like 6 years i finally began speaking swiss german fluently

  • @Naschalovesmusic
    @Naschalovesmusic 3 роки тому

    sympathischä Duude! :) i wünsche dir viu Erfoug

  • @supersam1914
    @supersam1914 Місяць тому

    Thanks I never knew that

  • @philippfrei8848
    @philippfrei8848 3 роки тому +1

    its soo funny to see your sights of my language 😂😂😂 and you are right with „there are no rules“
    its all about the melody 👌

  • @catwoman_7
    @catwoman_7 3 роки тому +49

    In Switzerland it‘s a boy potato because Härdöpfel = Erdapfel (potato of soil) -> *der* Apfel (apple). 🤓

    • @melusineshaw
      @melusineshaw 3 роки тому +7

      Erdapfel = pomme de terre... It comes from French.

    • @danielgstohl9993
      @danielgstohl9993 3 роки тому +5

      And further east it's called a Grumpra/Grundbira = Grundbirne = ground pear. Everyone seems to have looked at potatoes and had the same thought: "It's looks kinda like this fruit we have a lot of and it grows underground"

    • @eliaelirko9849
      @eliaelirko9849 3 роки тому +6

      As a child I always thought of it as a "Herdöpfel" stove apple because unlike apples you cook potatos

    • @catwoman_7
      @catwoman_7 3 роки тому +1

      @@eliaelirko9849 Mee too! 😄😅

    • @Daan03
      @Daan03 3 роки тому +3

      Dutch: aardappel 😎

  • @yvesbarbezat8605
    @yvesbarbezat8605 3 роки тому +2

    Hilarious 😂 well done mate

  • @marcoroth7879
    @marcoroth7879 3 роки тому

    So funny, you made my day...! I never saw our language through your eyes, but you're absolutely right!

  • @ihrekompaktheit7958
    @ihrekompaktheit7958 3 роки тому

    I can unterstand your troubel with the articels in german. I am swiss and i love your video. Specally the part with the potato. 👍
    I have also a problem in english. Do you have any rules for the pronaunciation of your vocals? I don‘t get it all theese years. 😅

  • @justafriend5361
    @justafriend5361 3 роки тому

    2:25
    I recommend Baseldyytsch.
    We have a dictionary (German-Baseldyytsch), and a grammar book, both newly released about 5 years ago!

  • @matis9562
    @matis9562 3 роки тому +2

    I've been learning german for over 10 years and still get the articles mixed up. This video really represents how I feel about German. Eager to learn but pretty much hopeless

  • @davidholiday4494
    @davidholiday4494 2 роки тому +2

    I can understand your frustration - German can be a very difficult language to learn. I went to Germany at age 17 from the States. However, I was always very curious about sound and meanings, written words (adverts, newspapers, magazines etc.) and just tried to figure them out from the context. At one point I shared an apartment with 2 German friends and one day at breakfast they said..."It is too difficult to speak in English - you have to learn German"... I cried!!! But it was the best favor they could have done for me - they spoke only German to me and within a month or two I could speak general conversational German. I also watched a lot of tv and read comic books (simple language constructions) and soap operas on tv are also very useful. It can be a difficult language but it's not "awful" - it has quite a lot of beauty in it when you get to know it better. Good luck!!

  • @wjk4
    @wjk4 3 роки тому

    Dude the fact that you have 673(now 674 subs) is beyond reason. Keep the vids coming

  • @Basic-Reviews
    @Basic-Reviews Рік тому

    Grüezi Mitenand!

  • @travislittle7620
    @travislittle7620 4 роки тому +6

    Das gut. Fiel gluck mit dem project! Im sure the spelling is wrong but good luck!

    • @stuckclamp
      @stuckclamp 4 роки тому

      Der Apfel [ fiel] vom Baum und [ viele ] Äpfel liegen am Boden.
      The apple [ fell ] from the tree and [ many ] apples lay on the ground

    • @AmericameetsSwitzerland
      @AmericameetsSwitzerland  4 роки тому

      Sehr gut! Du kannst besser deutsch als ich.

  • @THEBIGGESTSCUMBAG
    @THEBIGGESTSCUMBAG 3 роки тому +1

    THIS WAS LOWKEY FIRE SO I SUBBED

  • @pati4871
    @pati4871 3 роки тому +9

    I'm so happy to have Swiss German as my first language, it's much easier learning other languages 😂

  • @elviskuyttv5964
    @elviskuyttv5964 3 роки тому

    I love you video I have to subscribe asp

  • @raylenminecraft8403
    @raylenminecraft8403 3 роки тому +6

    Him: this is a kartoffel🥔
    **Meanwhile in Denmark** That is a kartoffel😂🥔

  • @plung3r
    @plung3r 3 роки тому

    Just out of curiosity, do Swiss people from different regions speak English with each other to understand each other?

    • @diedampfbrasse98
      @diedampfbrasse98 2 роки тому +1

      Swiss high german is the common and official fallback.
      Should be noted that unlike the video is suggesting swiss high german (the German learned in schools he is refering to) is not the same as high german from Germany ... neither spoken nor written. But the similarities are so great that people from both nations can understand each other with a little bit of effort.

  • @mva6044
    @mva6044 Рік тому

    As stated, a lot of languages have gendered nouns. From my knowledge of at least 4 (2 romance, 1 slavic & german) languages, there seems to be a pretty good overlap as far as what nouns one language considers feminine vs. masculine, slightly less perfect overlap for neuters. Is there an academic study on the subject?

  • @Pingusirup
    @Pingusirup 3 роки тому +5

    Herd öpfel is actually the french style directly translatet... herd = earth öpfel = apple thats why. its DER herdöpfel (der apfel)
    french : pomme de terre (apple of/from earth)
    the articles are actually more of a "feeling" thing you have to get, but mostly determined by the ending of the word..
    female endings : -in / -heit / -schaft / -ei / -keit / -ung / -ion
    male -ig / -ling / -ich
    time/date and weather related things are mostly male(except die Wolke =the cloud)
    Lastly the MOST IMPORTANT in German : No rule withouts exception !
    just too complicated :))

  • @helennethers9777
    @helennethers9777 Рік тому +1

    What language do they speak in Grenchen, Switzerland?

  • @ArendellianDisnerd
    @ArendellianDisnerd 3 роки тому

    I feel you when it comes to the Artikel😂

  • @ivanduc72
    @ivanduc72 2 роки тому

    Ahahah! Your videos are amazing. I was born and grew up in Ticino, so I speak italian, swiss-italian (dialekt!), german and understand swiss-german, french and english. To be a polyglot it's good! :-D

  • @mysticspartan9448
    @mysticspartan9448 3 роки тому

    05:42 ouuu man this made my freakin day xD

  • @alexandrameister3430
    @alexandrameister3430 Рік тому +3

    😂😂. My husband (American) and I (Swiss) had quite the same discussion about the articles.
    And side note, we do understand eachothers dialects 😉 unless it's very specific words that are only locally used but this you have in every country and their dialects

  • @willythebluebear
    @willythebluebear 3 роки тому +7

    even as Belgian, i think life is too short to learn German! :)

  • @brucebuescher920
    @brucebuescher920 3 роки тому +5

    After living in La France depuis 20 years...Accepte that...C’est Comme Ça...I started buying 2 baguettes because there was no problem avec deux baguettes

  • @thedogman7846
    @thedogman7846 3 роки тому

    Ooh you live in Einsiedeln? I did my apprenticeship at the Marstall behind the monastry which is the oldest horse studs in Europe.

  • @mickeyprindiville3790
    @mickeyprindiville3790 3 роки тому

    Subscribed

  • @gabrielmenghini1781
    @gabrielmenghini1781 3 роки тому

    You can find he artlices also in Italy. There are some words that have a sound male or female. Like Tavolo(table) it's finish with a O, so it will be a male word. Also Tovaglia whitch is Tablecloth, it's finish with A so it will be a Female word.

  • @99Ctube
    @99Ctube 3 роки тому +10

    In Fribourg a potato is a "Häppere" xD

    • @AmericameetsSwitzerland
      @AmericameetsSwitzerland  3 роки тому +3

      😳 I've spent a year trying to learn German. Pretty much just learned how to say potato many different ways.

  • @Swisshots
    @Swisshots 3 роки тому +1

    Great Channel and videos! Hope your success will increase ! You just understood what is painfull for Swiss french speaking part of the country to learn this awfull and difficult german ! We start ton learn it when we are 10 years old but it’s so frustrating to always majong mistakes ! Include the gender part which is also existing in french. For exemple the sun in french is male (le soleil) but female in german. Invert for the moon. But the worst are those cut-verbs with particules that you never know with witch verb it belongs... a nightmare ! So swiss-german citizen dislike the « clean-german » from germany so its hard when a Swiss french-speaker try to speak the german and that your swiss-german fellow answer in how dialect or better in french ( because They prefer french instead of german). So bit by bit the english become the 5th non-official language beetween swiss citizen. If you want a place to sleep to discover the Suisse Romande please contact me you’ll be welcome ! I will be your guide !

  • @QueensCurryKitchen
    @QueensCurryKitchen Місяць тому

    So I’m planning to visit Switzerland in a couple of months so what on earth should I learn😢

  • @NoName-uy2hr
    @NoName-uy2hr 3 роки тому

    just to confuse you a little bit more: button is not only die schaltfläche button is also der Knopf

  • @701983
    @701983 3 роки тому +8

    Since you mentioned "Heidi": That's pretty special: In the Swiss German dialects, the name "Heidi" is neuter, despite it's a girl's name. It's " 's Heidi" (das Heidi) in Swiss German dialect, not "d' Heidi" (die Heidi).
    In the famous "Heidi"-novels of Johanna Spyri, it was "das Heidi", at least in the original version.
    I know a similar case in my parent's dialect (Bregenzerwald, Vorarlberg, Austria): The girl's name "Mikle" (short for "Maria Katharina") is also neuter. I know of girl of this name. She moved to Vienna. She got tired of explaining "das Mikle" to each new acquaintance, so she is called "die Mikle" in Vienna now and still "das Mikle" in her home country and by relatives.

    • @Someone-wh8hi
      @Someone-wh8hi 3 роки тому

      hends ned früener oft de Meitli "s" gseit?

    • @stupidcomment6571
      @stupidcomment6571 3 роки тому

      @@Someone-wh8hi s'Meitli = Einzahl , d'Meitli = Mehrzahl

    • @sksaddrakk5183
      @sksaddrakk5183 2 роки тому

      I think in this particular case it is das heidi because she is ein mädchen which has das as an article. If we only knew Heidi in her grown up form we would call her die Heidi.

  • @Sai-dr4qe
    @Sai-dr4qe 3 роки тому

    Can you translate this "Hello old friend"

  • @Mage_co
    @Mage_co 3 роки тому +8

    People from Zermatt will understand all other Swiss Germans ... but not always the other way around

  • @nickyg7557
    @nickyg7557 4 місяці тому

    6:23 haha well yeah, it's because "Apfel" (Apple) is written with "der". And "Erdapfel" just means "Earth Apple" if you will. So an apple that grows beneath the ground/earth. It's similar to french "pommes de terre" which means the same. So maybe there's a french influence here, idk. But well....I don't know either who came up with the articles. Sometimes they're important because the meaning of the words can change depending on which article you use. I can't think about examples right now where the words are written exactly the same, except for one, but I can give some examples of phonetically similar words:
    • Der Wal (The Whale) - Die Wahl (The Vote/Choice/Election/...)
    • Das Rad (The Wheel) - Der Rat (The Advice/Council)
    • Die Leiter (The Ladder) - Der Leiter (The Conductor)
    But at least the article for plural is always the same (Die Leitern, Die Räder, Die Wale, Die Wahlen,....)
    But sadly it gets problematic again when you are confronted with the cases:
    • Der Mann, aber...
    Das Haus *des* Mann*es*
    • Der Mann, aber...
    Das Auto gehört *dem* Mann
    • Der Mann, aber...
    Ich rede über *den* Mann
    It's tough 🥲 but most of the time people will understand you, even if you use the wrong articles. Just give it a try when learning. Germans are mostly very polite in that regard

  • @piushalg8175
    @piushalg8175 3 роки тому +2

    Linguistically the swiss german dialects are part of the alamannic dialects which used to be spoken until quite recently everwhere in the Southwest of Germany, in Alsace and in Western Austria and of course in nowadays Switzerland. In fact it is a mixture between middle high german and early new high german. These dialects are therefore older than standard German (new high German) which started to develop in the late 14-hundreds.

  • @wildchildhd2374
    @wildchildhd2374 3 роки тому

    Kannst du "chochichäschtli" sagen?

  • @Domi-F-23
    @Domi-F-23 2 роки тому +2

    I have laughed so hard because it's so accurate! 🤣

  • @Trollo-h7m
    @Trollo-h7m 3 роки тому

    Say they in Canada very mercy or in Italy mille dank?? At least both have more then one language or only Swiss do mix so sh.t?

  • @cseblivestreaming
    @cseblivestreaming 3 роки тому +3

    Happy to answer any questions if you have them, I speak romanish natively as well as a bit of french and fluent Swiss German

    • @ParietalCell1492
      @ParietalCell1492 2 роки тому

      Is your language actually similar to Romanian?

    • @cseblivestreaming
      @cseblivestreaming 2 роки тому

      @@ParietalCell1492 it’s a bit similar but i for example could not understand it fully, perhaps a little

    • @ParietalCell1492
      @ParietalCell1492 2 роки тому

      @@cseblivestreaming I heard Rumantsch is closer to Romanian than other romance languages.

    • @cseblivestreaming
      @cseblivestreaming 2 роки тому

      @@ParietalCell1492 that’s true, however there are smaller dialects of italian spoken in the dolomites which are more similar still

  • @benotyourboss
    @benotyourboss 3 роки тому +6

    A comment on the “der” “Herdöpfel/potato”, the article changes because “Herdöpfel” is a form of “Erdapfel” which is a combination of the words “Erde” and “Apfel” so it means literally ‘apple from the ground’, however in the Swiss German and regular German the article for words consisting of two or more words will always address the last word in the combination. So it is “die Kartoffel” but “der Herdapfel/Erdapfel”, because it is “der Apfel” even tho it would be “die Erde”... side note: the word “Erdapfel” is an old German word, however it is these days only used in Switzerland as “Hardöpfel” or “Herdöpfel” or “(Erd)bolle”...

    • @mick-berry5331
      @mick-berry5331 3 роки тому +1

      Austrians also use Erdäpfel, but in some part of the country it turns into 'Grumbirn' which is a combination of Grund=ground and Birne,which is pear.Since a pear is female in german, the 'Grumbirn' turns female. :-)
      Most people ,though, use Kartoffel which is male in Austria.

    • @benotyourboss
      @benotyourboss 3 роки тому

      @@mick-berry5331 'Grumbrin' sounds so harsh, I like it! thanks for your answer, I like those small details within similar speaking countries! Greets from Switzerland :)

    • @mick-berry5331
      @mick-berry5331 3 роки тому +1

      @@benotyourboss Grumbirn sollte es sein, von Birne... Es ist immer wieder erstaunlich,wieviele Dialekte sich auch in kleinen Ländern herausbilden. Ich habe das auch z.B.in Haiti gesehen.

    • @benotyourboss
      @benotyourboss 3 роки тому +1

      @@mick-berry5331 Ah ja macht Sinn, hab da wohl etwas schnell gelesen :-)
      Definitiv, das glaube ich Ihnen gerne. Ich finde es einfach herrlich und edel sich damit auseinander zusetzen, weil sich gerade eben viele, vor allem jüngere Leute, nicht so damit beschäftigen. Als Beispiel zählen da bsp.weise Flurnamen und so.

  • @gigiduvan3197
    @gigiduvan3197 Рік тому

    Confused 😅

  • @madeartayasadiary3238
    @madeartayasadiary3238 3 роки тому

    Wow!!

  • @happygimp0
    @happygimp0 3 роки тому

    0:30 You forgot Lichtenstein.

  • @beatlanzendorfer6727
    @beatlanzendorfer6727 3 роки тому +1

    Hello, thank you for your video. It is worth noting, that Swiss German (i.e Bernese Deutsch, Zürich Deutsch have their own grammar. A typical example of this matter is that the dialects only have one past, that is, for example present perfekt. Also, Berndeutsch for example has also a few aspects in common with the English language, for example "Tue nid so dumm! " which means almost literally do not behave so stupid if freely translated. It is to say that many folks find actually Swiss German easier to learn instead of High German. Berndeutsch shares also many french words for ex. merci, adieu etc. Also, Walliserdeutsch is one of the oldest Swiss German dialects. It is true that, depending of the location where you are coming from, you will or will not understand Walliserdeutsch. We Bernese and the people from Wallis understand each other without problems, if one is willing to so. In Berndeutsch and Züri-Deutsch there are even dictionaries and grammar books available. Greetings from Bern, Beato

  • @jona_tee
    @jona_tee 3 роки тому +1

    'Artikels' are somehow by the ending of the word determined, it's kinda hard to explain but after a lot of time you get a feeling what grammatical gender a word has. (And of course there are special cases to make it more complicated) e.g. most words that end with e are feminine :]

  • @oriwan3786
    @oriwan3786 2 роки тому +1

    Hi, Germanspeaker here relocated to Switzerland. About your question why the article for "Kartoffel" in german is "die Kartoffel" is because of an old tradition. The farmers have the tradition to name their potato variety (eg. sweet potato, soft potato ..) by the name of their daughter. You can google all the German "Kartoffelsorte" and you will find potato variity such as Linda, Sieglinde and so on. Thats the reasion why in German it is DIE Kartoffel. I hope this answers your question.

  • @DramaQueenMalena
    @DramaQueenMalena 3 роки тому

    I think even harder than the articles are the Plural forms. No rules and about 9 ways to put a word in plural: -e, -n, -en, -er, -s, Umlaut and Umlaut combined with -e or -er... or the word just doesn't change....

  • @levinskki3825
    @levinskki3825 2 роки тому +4

    Actually I Feel like it was very natural to learn german and swiss german at the same time, growing up.

    • @marmotarchivist
      @marmotarchivist 2 роки тому +2

      I agree, with a Swiss German dialect as my mother tongue, I learned it pretty naturally in school but also while reading books and watching TV, where 90% was in Standard German. I even remember playing Superhero as a kid and everyone switching to Standard German as a way to differentiate our “secret identities”. But of course while reading and writing Standard German is second nature to me, I don’t have the same fluidity in Standard German, because I use Swiss German in my daily live. It’s also very hard to speak it without any Swiss accent. Therefore I sometimes even prefer speaking English or French to Standard German.

    • @levinskki3825
      @levinskki3825 2 роки тому +2

      @@marmotarchivist Yeah, very accurate description :) I remember playing in standard german too, to feel more dramatic or adult I guess😅

  • @Marzelmusik
    @Marzelmusik 3 роки тому

    I am not a germanist linguist, but i think the articles follow some kind of logic. From what i observed it has to do with how the word feels to the speaker. And this feeling, i think, depends on the ending of a noun. Nouns with the same endings have the same gender.
    But there are also foreign and loan words which are not of german origin, then it even comes to discussions among germans on "how the word feels".
    i believe once you watch out for the endings you will get the right feeling of a word :)

  • @derbar7928
    @derbar7928 3 роки тому +4

    short answer: YES

  • @arisbariffi
    @arisbariffi 3 роки тому +2

    I come from the Italian speaking part of Switzerland (Canton Ticino). During the middle school and high school years we learned French and German (Hochdeutsch). Romansh is not a language taught, at least in my region. Now I work in Italian and I have little to no contact with the other regions. I speak fluent French but with my Swiss German friends I only speak English 😂

    • @Naschalovesmusic
      @Naschalovesmusic 3 роки тому

      zum Glück ist englisch und Deutsch verwandt. Bald kannst du es schaffen!

  • @meinefantasie
    @meinefantasie 2 роки тому

    hahaha just love the "Das" with the Swiss flag

  • @kaiserlich3
    @kaiserlich3 3 роки тому +26

    I would recommend to learn swiss german first and not make a very common mistake to learn "high german" first. It seems logic to learn "high german" instead of swiss german with the explanation in the video. However, i can tell you from experience with many people all over the world working in Switzerland that those who first started learning swiss german, were much quicker and more succesful in their approach to learn german. I guess there are a few reasons for that: for one, swiss german is less complicated and has less rules eg. times and therefore makes it easier to learn. Second, to learn german after swiss german is easier. The best examples are the swiss themselfes, where we have no problem understand german, but the germans have trouble understaning swiss german (not only single words, but the way the language is spoken). And third, it is much easier to find somebody to talk to if you speak the language that the actual people surrounding you are talking.

  • @platin2148
    @platin2148 2 роки тому

    Erd ae pfl, I’d just learn tirolerisch. A button is bit necessarily a Schaltfläche but actually a Knopf.

  • @simonepeverelli883
    @simonepeverelli883 3 роки тому +22

    Swiss German is a dialect. In Ticino, like in Italy, we have many differents dialects. We speak Italian, but dialect too. A man from Milano, who speaks dialect, can't understand a man from Genova or Napoli.

    • @AnaS-of8ri
      @AnaS-of8ri 3 роки тому

      You can‘t compare Italian to Swissgerman and say it’s a dialect tho- Swissgerman as a whole has again a lot of dialects which literally is why Swissgerman is a language.

    • @darkkestrel1
      @darkkestrel1 2 роки тому +1

      @@AnaS-of8ri I think he's talking about the Lombard language (often referred to as dialect) which has several dialects and is quite different than standard Italian
      In Romandie we also have our own local language (Arpitan) closely related to French, but not mutually intelligible with it, and unfortunately it's been massacred. It's only spoken by a few thousand in the Valais. Still quite alive in Aosta, Italy tho and struggling in the parts of France where it's been spoken historically

    • @AnaS-of8ri
      @AnaS-of8ri 2 роки тому +1

      @@darkkestrel1 thanks for clarifying!

  • @suzsuzie8412
    @suzsuzie8412 3 роки тому

    🤣🤣omg !! that what I thought same as all the time since I begin learning German!!

  • @exposingproxystalkingorgan4164

    Giving the button a tap is very awkward and feels weird. 🤣