A close-up and personal look at Switzerland
English is my mother tongue. I like to think I speak it and write it correctly, too. About 360 million people speak English as their first language. Add that to the population who speak English as an additional language and… Read moreLanguages and Dialects
In Bernese “Zwee”, “Zwo” and “Zwöi” translate into two, two and two. That many, no more and no less. When Ben explained this peculiarity of Bernese he stated that it was “Hohe Schule” [higher education] which I promptly misunderstood. For… Read moreTwo, Two or Two?
Formal or informal? I’ve looked at this question from the Swiss side a couple of times. It’s pretty clear-cut; formal uses Mr. and Ms, informal is first name. After our last trip to the States I realized the American first… Read moreAre we on a First Name Basis?
What sounds good and has meaning in one language is often not understandable when directly translating into another. Soon after I learned Swiss German, Ben and I realized how silly some sayings sound when translated directly into English. Sometimes even… Read moreTranslating German Sayings into English
I try not to annoy people, you know, I want to be the kind of person my dog thinks I am. I’m working hard on it but I think I’m light years away from my goal. Considering how many different… Read moreAnnoyed and getting Mad
Hands down. Once you’ve learned the basic rules, the pronunciation of written words in German is easier than in English. Learning German guttural sounds may take time, but it’s doable. In English, sometimes, okay, quite often even Americans have problems… Read morePronunciation of Written Words
Languages and cultures. The more you learn, the more you see the similarities and differences. Swiss German and English both use figures of speech or metaphors to say something. More times than not the metaphors are similar but sometimes not…. Read moreMetaphors and their Meanings
This is going to be a tough post to write because I don’t like to swear and seldom do it. I’ve always thought that swearing was wrong. It is vulgar and is only used when people were not smart enough… Read moreSwearing in Other Languages
I know I have it good with English as my mother tongue. All the advertisements that use English (which are abundant) are easily understood. I can read and understand HTML code, if need be, I can write it, too. Granted,… Read moreWhat’s with my English?
I talked about Swiss names before (First Names). I’ve been here for ages but some of them still sound strange to my ears. Names are something very personal, you call it your own and identify with it. Unless, of course… Read moreNon-Swiss Swiss Names
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