In Switzerland, there are many different dialects. I’ve been living in Graübunden for the last 4 years. I live and work here.
BettinaD, I noticed a few words were not what 90% of Swiss people speaking one form or another swiss dialect. No One says Ich bin for I am in Swiss German. That’s High German. No point in learning something when it’s wrong.
Also, it would be nice to know in the title, which region the dialect is coming from. Wallis, St. Gallen, Bern, Zurich, Aargau, Graübunden etc.
which course exactly do you mean? and you mean that in dialect is “I bii” or sometimes “I bin” or sometimes… ? because your have more then one single Schweizerdeutsch dialect, as you mentioned in editing your message …
There is only one Swiss course by BettinaD that I’m aware of, and yes, i bii, or i bin is a dialect. Ich bin is High German… even in Graübunen, go over the mountain to a different valley, and they’ll say schmaltz for butter, or hunk for jam or jelly, etc etc.
I don’t dare try to make my own course I’m working on German… which is like going to Mexico to learn English I have a family member who told me they were using this lesson to learn Swiss, so when they visit me they can use it a bit, so I checked it out and see it would be better if they just learned High German.
If you want your family member to understand you they better learn swiss. I was living about 2 hours away from the swiss border and we received the swiss TV channel. I understood swiss dialect for I grew up with it on the TV. It did not matter what swiss dialect they were talking as long as it was not Rätoromanisch But if you go north past Stuttgart they do not receive swiss TV and are not able to understand swiss at all. We had family members from Middle and North Germany for visits and that’s how I found out that they are not able to understand swiss at all.
LOL, thanks Gabriele, my family and I speak the same ol’ american language purdy good ;-), my brother in law likes languages, and came to visit, he did a pimsleur audio swiss course (Zurich) area dialect, and actually did amazingly well. He wants to come back and visit more often, so he signed up to memorize, and started the swiss course and suggested I take a look. I started it for grins, (I have a wife and child and coworkers that speak it nonstop). I’m working on my German, and now after 4 years, I don’t understand German as easy as I do the dialect. I must always say “Wie bitte” when I’m talking with my German friends , Anyway, I started BettinaD’s course, and was given High German words, I am of a belief that a course description that says “learn Swiss German” should be only Swiss German.
@Darinwade: please edit your first message by adding the link to that course… @BettinaD does not seem to be active in this forum… “Regulars” cannot contact inactive creators, nor can they correct mistakes in various courses. It is the choice of the creators/contributors to do that.
However, you know that for working in die Schweiz one has to pass usually a “telc” - which is Standard German (what you refer to as “high German”). Any Swiss can produce any time Hochdeutsch Even in Geneva … well, with a strong accent
Thank you very much for being helpful @Hydroptere, I will edit it.
well, so far, it’s been HochSchweizerdeutsch LOL. I studied Rosetta Stone, Pimsleur and several other programs before moving here. And took a year long course, starting a month after getting here and settling in, the teacher grew up in Switzerland, and didn’t sound much like the German tapes and CD’s I was earlier learning from. Heavily accented , but it’s ok, after 4 years here, I actually like it better, and understand it better than Hochdeutsch now. I’m a lucky one concerning the telc, my wife is Swiss, and I work for her. I just need to get busy learning how to write grammatically correct so I can pass my B1 to get a Swisspass.
Prättigau… now there’s a language that’s strongly accented LOL
As a “regular” I keep an eye on certain threads to try to clarify the meaning of some titles. Some titles are obscure as many people just want a quick fix and a quick result when posting.
You used the word “German”, which I do study, so I came to have a look at the post. And it was not clear to me what its aim was. And it did not link or name the course before you edited it. This forum is trying to organize all threads relating to courses with the structure I gave you.
Creators are supposed to create the post in relation to their own course but many, like you did, create a thread to get the attention on a course with questions.
So now you know why I am here and why I interacted with this conversation. Carry on having fun and interacting but be aware that this is a community and we all have a role to play. Even I, with my tone.
I do apologize @sircemloud, I am very new here, and I misread your comment… It was not clearly written for a newby such as myself, and appeared to me as a snarky jab that I must rename the post to @Darinwade, as all the comments thus far were nothing about the actual course modifications. I will delete my earlier reply. The way Hydorptere stated it, I understood what he meant very quickly.
I did take offence to some words used in the first non edited post, I must confess (I received by email the message as a notification).
I will try to elaborate a little more next time, to be less commandeering. I learn everyday too.
I added the course forum tag to the title. Ideally it still needs [Course Forum] in the title, but we are having a bit of a debate about this actually.
@sircemloud, yeah, it was early this morning, coffee not consumed, I misinterpreted, and I’m just so use to flack from the peanut galleries (youtube, englishforum, etc), felt attacked and responded, as I thought more, I edited and edited, glad you are of calm and peaceful spirit
lol, @Darinwade, then you’d better go digging into any Standard German grammar course you can find. Btw, the B1 is not that difficult, I’d say it is easypeasy, but, you know, I don’t need to learn that language
good luck with your studies, and btw, maybe you could try the German Swiss courses of @Baas; the creator is nice, responsive, for short alive and kicking (on memrise as well, I mean), his courses had many users over the years, so there are virtually no mistakes in these courses
(btw, I’m a “she”, at least according to the latest look in the mirror )
oh, mercy me… Tut mir leid @Hydroptere … I guess now I’ve completely established my inability to read… I put your name in my head as HydroPeter … my excuse is ADHS, or ASPIE spectrum… different doctors/specialists, different opinions
Danke vielmals für die Hilfe und Vorschläge. Es kommt, aber langsam.
@sircemloud, this is offtopic small talk among learners, I know I know
@Darinwade there is nothing to apologise, really, I was just confused about my “Wirkung” of my avatar The Hydroptère, which is of course a Latin word for “water wing” or “wing on water”, is a French catamaran, was the fastest sailboat on earth at a certain moment in time, maybe the updated one still is, (see http://www.hydroptere.com/), I am mad for this one and the J-class Velsheda.
I’m working on German… which is like going to Mexico to learn English 
I have a family member who told me they were using this lesson to learn Swiss, so when they visit me they can use it a bit, so I checked it out and see it would be better if they just learned High German.
Even in Geneva … well, with a strong accent 
)
The Hydroptère, which is of course a Latin word for “water wing” or “wing on water”, is a French catamaran, was the fastest sailboat on earth at a certain moment in time, maybe the updated one still is, (see 