This is excellent! I recently moved to Switzerland without knowing any French, and while using Google Translate to figure out how to ask basic questions works fine in a pinch, I'm usually at a loss if the person responds by speaking too fast or using complex vocabulary. Though I can get by in French now, I'll definitely bring this with me when I'm Taipei and Tokyo later this year. Keep it up!
- Parlez-vous anglais?
- No
- Je ne parle pas bien le français, mais ... [followed by
English with French-style word mangling and descriptive
gestures and sounds]
Once they know you suck at French, they will spe-ak slo-o-o-w-e-r and cut you a break in general.
As a Brit who lived in St Gallen for a couple of years, I never found any problem, the Swiss all speak perfect Swiss, English, French and German. My schoolboy French was useless because the moment I would open my mouth they would instantly switch to English, even in rural areas.
> the Swiss all speak perfect Swiss, English, French and German
What do you mean by perfect Swiss? (To be honest, as a German I am inclined to classify Swiss German as its own language. Especially since we already grant Dutch to be a different language from German.)
Yes. It's always fun to bring that up, because people generally see Switzerland as trilingual only. Haven't met a speaker of that language, yet, though.
Yeah, I've found it really depends. Shortly after I came here, I had one Swiss person say in a huff (and in perfect English!), "You've been here for three months, and you still don't speak French?" How long ago did you live in St. Gallen? These days it seems like there's a bit of anti-foreigner mentality, so I've noticed I get a warmer reception if I at least try to speak the language.
