If you’re wondering what the Swiss speak and are fairly sure the answer is “Swiss,” you’re not entirely wrong. Because there is a small group of people in Switzerland who speak what’s known as Romansh—and virtually no one outside of Switzerland speaks it—so it’s the closest thing to what you might have imagined. But generally, everyone in Switzerland speaks either German, French, or Italian.
Switzerland’s unique mix of languages comes from its equally unique geography. A small country, bordered directly by Germany , France , and Italy , it’s probably not a shock that its neighbors took over the spoken and written word. And while the Swiss variant of each of these languages has its own accents and eccentricities, they’re all quite close to their root languages.
Now, whether you’re headed to Switzerland on vacation, for business, or to start a new life—and want to learn the most useful language—the key is to consider where you’ll be staying in Switzerland. Cities and towns closer to France will tend to speak French, just as cities close to Germany or Italy will tend to favor their nearest neighbor.
Particularly if you’re planning a vacation, getting down the basics of a new language can completely change your days, weeks, or months abroad. Not only will it make it easier to connect with people in everyday situations, but feeling secure in some of the fundamentals will significantly smooth your interactions with people in stores, hotels, restaurants, museums, and beyond.
Rosetta Stone’s Dynamic Immersion® methodology teaches you the language, not just the words. What makes it effective is that we prepare you to use your new language in your everyday life. So it’s not just about the features, but what you’re able to do because of them. It helps you get ready to handle situations with confidence.
How Rosetta Stone Can Help
Learning a language can be an experience that transforms your life. Not only does it open you to a world full of both professional and personal possibilities, but it also expands your thinking and can prime your confidence. As technology like the internet shrinks our world and we become members of a global community, the ability to learn a language becomes an essential part of how we interact and succeed.
Perhaps you’ve hesitated to learn a new language because you’re worried about the time commitment. Or maybe you’ve heard it’s more difficult to learn a language as an adult. Set these common misconceptions about learning languages aside because research suggests that your ability to learn a language is mostly a matter of practice, building confidence through speaking, and contextualizing your learning.
After you decide on which language to learn and begin to pick up its basics, developing accurate pronunciation depends on getting immediate feedback on your pronunciation efforts. Feedback will help you to make needed corrections to your pronunciation. Then you can practice until your mouth is able to readily shape the sounds that make up the language.
Rosetta Stone helps you dial in your pronunciation with our TruAccent™ speech-recognition engine. TruAccent compares your voice to native and non-native speakers—in real-time—so you get the feedback you need for the most accurate pronunciation. It’s also adjustable, which allows you to tweak your accent as needed. TruAccent is a powerful tool for helping you learn and speak the Spanish language.
After beginners have acquired basic words, short phrases, and their proper pronunciation, it’ll be a natural transition to learn the longer phrases that make up so much of everyday conversation. Rosetta Stone’s brief, 10-minute lessons are built in exactly this way, teaching the basics first, then moving onto longer phrases. This approach helps you acquire the skills to speak Swedish confidently.
Try Our Award-Winning App
Surround yourself with Swedish whenever, wherever with the Rosetta Stone app .
Download a unit and knock it out on the train or a flight. Select a 5-10 minute lesson and sneak it in while you wait in line or for your ride to show up. And explore dynamic features, like Seek and Speak, where you can point at an object in the real world and get a translation .
The best part? You don’t have to choose between app or desktop. Both come with your subscription and sync, so you can switch between devices seamlessly.
