Wednesday, October 13, 2021

Multilingualism in literature and supermarkets in Switzerland

Today in "Republik", Daniel Graf  addresses multilingualism in Switzerland beyond the four official national languages (German, French, Italian, and Romansh): "Wie viele Sprachen spricht die Schweiz?" He considers writers in Switzerland working in other languages, including Persian, Serbian, and Portuguese. But the article also reminds me of something that fascinated me within my first few months here: at the supermarket I went to regularly, I heard one cashier regularly speaking multiple languages, from ones I recognized (German, French, English, and Italian) to others I had to guess at (Turkish, one or more Slavic languages, and perhaps others). Even at the supermarket, Switzerland speaks many more languages than the four official ones. (Andrew Shields, #111words, 13 October 2021)

 


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