neckervd

" Who said "Zurich borders Germany?' FIRST mistake"

I agree. Zurich is miles away from the German border, namely 7 miles (between the airport and the German village of Hohentengen).

suze

Hmmm... ok so my experiences were all in the Lac Leman area where French is spoken. I most definitelly did not find that "everyone speaks English" not even close! I'm surprised to hear Zurich is so different in this regard.

kja

IME, English was widely spoken in Zurich. It was also widely spoken in the parts of Switzerland that I visited around Lac Leman, but I might have visitied different areas than suze.

Hambagahle

English is far more widely spoken in the German speaking part of Switzerland - la Suisse alémanique - than here in the Suisse Romande (where I live...) . Probably the basic reason is that for German speakers English is a far easier language to learn than it is for French speakers.* In schools here in Romandie ALL children study German, starting at age 8.* They then start English at 10.* I am not sure what the ages are in the German speaking part of the country but I do know there are places where English is taught first, then French (which I happen to think is more logical since English is a sort of "bridge" between the two...but this offends people here who think Federal languages should come first)

I often have to call a business in the German part of Switzerland.* I speak both French (fluently) and German (well).* I always start my conversation by asking - in German - if the person I am speaking with would please speak to me in French or English, being careful to put French first as this is obviously one of our national languages.* 99.9% of the time the answer comes back "English".* *And I then proceed to have a conversation with someone who speaks very good English indeed.* *If this process were reversed and I were calling someone down here, asking if they could speak German or English to me the chances are I would be offered neither and would have to speak French.* *It is quite a remarkable difference.* *

I cannot imagine going into a shop here in Martigny and expecting to find someone to speak English to me.* I am sure there would be such a person but s/he would be hard to find.* It would be a lot easier to find an Italian or Portuguese speaker around here.* Things undoubtedly would be different in the larger cities - and totally different in Geneva where English is very widely spoken.* *

As a general rule though everyone, everywhere in the country who has anything to do with tourism - hotels, trains, even post buses - speaks English and most of them very good English.* So tourists don't have to worry about not being understood, especially in the German speaking part of our country.* This also results in tourists getting an impression that everywhere everyone speaks/understands English...which is not true.