What language is spoken in Switzerland?

Each canton decides which official language or languages it uses. Most cantons are German-speaking. Geneva, Vaud, Neuchâtel and Jura are French-speaking, and Ticino is Italian-speaking. Bern, Fribourg and Valais are bilingual, with German and French.

Graubünden is the only trilingual canton: German, Romansh and Italian. Its southern valleys, such as Mesolcina and Valposchiavo, speak Italian. The map shows the official languages of the cantons, not individual municipalities. Tap a region to hear it.

German, French, Italian and Romansh are national languages. The federal government works in German, French and Italian. Romansh is an official language when the federal government deals with Romansh speakers. Asked about their main language, about 62 % name German, 23 % French and 8 % Italian. Romansh is the smallest, at around half a percent. English already comes up for about 6 % as one of their main languages.

In German-speaking Switzerland, people speak dialect in everyday life: Bernese German, Zurich German and many more. Written texts, however, are in standard German, more precisely Swiss Standard German, which does not use the letter ß. Even Germans often find the dialects hard to follow. With visitors, most Swiss switch to standard German.

A few Swiss words are everywhere: a bicycle is a "Velo", a mobile phone a "Natel", people greet you with "Grüezi" and say thank you with "Merci", even in German.

"Röstigraben", the rösti ditch, is the informal name for the language border between German-speaking and French-speaking Switzerland. It is also used for the way the two parts of the country often vote differently in referendums. Two bilingual towns sit right on this border: Biel/Bienne is the largest bilingual town in Switzerland, and Fribourg lies directly on the language line. In both, you hear German and French in the street.

The French of western Switzerland is the same language as in France, with a few local features. People say "septante" for 70 and "nonante" for 90. In Vaud, Valais and Fribourg, 80 is "huitante"; elsewhere it is "quatre-vingts" as in France. Meals have different names too, as in Belgium: "le déjeuner" is breakfast, "le dîner" lunch and "le souper" dinner.

In Ticino, Italian is the official and everyday language, as it is in the Italian-speaking southern valleys of Graubünden. It is the same Italian as in Italy, with a few Swiss words: even in Ticino, a mobile phone is "il natel".

Romansh is spoken only in Graubünden, and it is not one uniform language. There are several varieties, called idioms, such as Sursilvan and Vallader, and they differ noticeably. Rumantsch Grischun serves as a common written standard. A typical greeting is "Allegra". Almost all Romansh speakers also speak German.

It depends on where you are going. For Zurich, Basel, Bern or Lucerne, learn German, though the dialect will take some getting used to. For Geneva, Lausanne and the rest of Romandy, French is the right choice, and for Ticino, Italian. English goes a long way in cities like Zurich, Geneva and Basel, where many international organisations are based, and most Swiss learn English at school. You can learn German, French and Italian for free on Langula, with audio for every word and sentence.