Is it better to learn Swiss German or High German?

The short answer to this question is that it depends! It depends on what your purpose is in learning your new language. It’s of course better to learn both, so perhaps the question can be rephrased: Is it better to learn Swiss German or High German first?

Learning German can be daunting. Let us show you the way to improve your German more quickly. Take Swiss German or High German lessons tailored to your needs!

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Advantages of Swiss German 

The main advantage of learning Swiss German first is that you will be able to speak with and understand your Swiss friends and acquaintances. Although all Swiss German native speakers can understand High German, they almost always prefer to speak Swiss German. This is, of course, perfectly understandable, because Swiss German is the mother tongue of the majority of people living in the “German-speaking” part of Switzerland.

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Advantages of High German

The main advantage of learning High German first is that you will be able to read and write the language. Swiss German is very infrequently used as a written language. Newspapers, magazines, books and online materials are almost always written in High German. Many programmes on radio and television are in High German, as are many films. You have the added benefit of accessibility to a wider world, as High German is also the official language of Germany and Austria. Many Germans will struggle to understand Swiss German.

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Your decision

So your decision on which language to learn first may be dictated by what your purpose is in learning the language. Let’s imagine you have frequent contact on a day-to-day basis with Swiss German speakers in your job. In that case, it may be a considerable advantage to learn Swiss German first.

On the other hand, if your contact with Swiss German is mainly in a social setting, it may be better to learn High German first. As an English teacher, I chose to learn High German first, as I was advised by many people to take this route. This means I can now enjoy reading a newspaper and can write German (admittedly with some mistakes!). Once that basis of language knowledge has been acquired, you can branch out into Swiss German.

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Understanding rather than speaking

With Swiss German your first goal may be to understand the language. That way your Swiss friends will be able to speak Swiss German with you. They won’t mind so much if you can’t reply to them in Swiss German. This may come later for you. The first goal is understanding.

Take some German lessons with nativespeakers.ch and you’ll be pleasantly surprised at how quick your progress can be. Good luck and enjoy your language learning experience!

This blog post was selected for inclusion in the Swiss German Learning Guide of the educational resource publisher Twinkl. So why not check it out and learn some of the basics before jumping into one of our courses at nativespeakers.ch.

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