5 ms·

Regarding making friends, I think quite a lot of that comes to language. Swiss kind of expect expats to learn the local language when they want to be integrated

by steve1977 2y ago

Regarding making friends, I think quite a lot of that comes to language. Swiss kind of expect expats to learn the local language when they want to be integrated. Otherwise we kind of assume they are just “in transit” I guess. To make matters worse, the local language in Zurich is Swiss German which is different enough from German to probably count as its own language (which will be completely useless outside of Switzerland). And we’re not even easy to make friends with on our own. ;) Source: I’m Swiss, originally from the agglomeration of Zurich and have worked in many international companies/with many expat colleagues.

082349872349872 2y ago
> And we’re not even easy to make friends with on our own. ;) Hint: there is an "english-speakers' Verein" > (which will be completely useless outside of Switzerland) And even within switzerland, it will probably be more useful in Ticino than in western switzerland, where the kids learn standard german in school.
- steve1977 2y ago
  You could even argue that you’re better off speaking standard German in Basel than Swiss German with a Zurich accent ;)
  - 082349872349872 2y ago
    Swiss german: a language spoken by ~5 million people, who fail to agree on what the personal pronouns are or how to conjugate basic verbs like "to be" and "to do"...
    - david927 2y ago
      But Swiss German isn't a language, it's the name for a collection of languages, which don't need (nor try) to agree.
      - 082349872349872 2y ago
        ebe
david927 2y ago
I tried to learn Zuridootsch as much as I could. I would translate when my German friends would visit. :-) My understanding (what I was told) was that the Swiss make their deep friendships pretty early on, in school, and there's kind of a wall after that. I should have clarified that I didn't find it unfriendly but sometimes hard to get close to people, and it seems that expats tend to find each other for that reason. I would say it's a bit introverted as a culture, as opposed to say, Italy, which is an extroverted culture, for example. Not a judgement, just an observation.
TheAlchemist 2y ago
> And we’re not even easy to make friends with on our own. ;) I think that's generally true around the world. Is there actually a country where it's easy to make friends with people, especially when you're an expat ?
- e1g 2y ago
  I moved to NYC and London and both were great for integration because so many “locals” were not born there, and do not fall back on their college friend group.

082349872349872 2y ago

> And we’re not even easy to make friends with on our own. ;) Hint: there is an "english-speakers' Verein" > (which will be completely useless outside of Switzerland) And even within switzerland, it will probably be more useful in Ticino than in western switzerland, where the kids learn standard german in school.

steve1977 2y ago
You could even argue that you’re better off speaking standard German in Basel than Swiss German with a Zurich accent ;)
- 082349872349872 2y ago
  Swiss german: a language spoken by ~5 million people, who fail to agree on what the personal pronouns are or how to conjugate basic verbs like "to be" and "to do"...
  - david927 2y ago
    But Swiss German isn't a language, it's the name for a collection of languages, which don't need (nor try) to agree.
    - 082349872349872 2y ago
      ebe

david927 2y ago

I tried to learn Zuridootsch as much as I could. I would translate when my German friends would visit. :-) My understanding (what I was told) was that the Swiss make their deep friendships pretty early on, in school, and there's kind of a wall after that. I should have clarified that I didn't find it unfriendly but sometimes hard to get close to people, and it seems that expats tend to find each other for that reason. I would say it's a bit introverted as a culture, as opposed to say, Italy, which is an extroverted culture, for example. Not a judgement, just an observation.

TheAlchemist 2y ago

> And we’re not even easy to make friends with on our own. ;) I think that's generally true around the world. Is there actually a country where it's easy to make friends with people, especially when you're an expat ?

e1g 2y ago
I moved to NYC and London and both were great for integration because so many “locals” were not born there, and do not fall back on their college friend group.