Can you live in Switzerland if you only know English?

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b2bhandshake

Switzerland has a large Expat. population, including temporary hi-tech workers, diplomats, UN employees and others. Therefore you will not have much problem in major cities.

This said, most of the government documentation, notifications etc are in one of the official languages - and not English - depending on where you reside. Most of the websites are in German or French too.

Bottomline: In the long term, it will help if you can converse in the local languages but in the short run, you should be able to manage with English

madonna_toller

In big cities you'll get around with no problem but on the long run it's better to learn (at least the basics) of one of the swiss languages.

Luki

As most of the swiss population is able to speak a good english there is no problem with that, i am originally from there and worked with many irish and americans and that not in big cities. they all got very good along and encountered no problems. but of course it would be better to try and learn at least a bit german, simply out of respect to the nation you are immigrating to. but none the less you'll be fine.
But this counts mostly just for the german speaking part of switzerland, if you go to the romandie ( the french part ) or the ticino ( the italian part) you will encounter some difficulties, as they don't really bother to speak other languages and can be a bit snobby if you don't speak their language.

Great62

I don't think so. You should know either German or French, at least the beginner level.

1st Lady09

Yes they will help you just ask please do you speak english and they will help you but you have to say please 2 times and get on your knees and say it

Nella15

You will be fine in the German speaking part of Switzerland (Zurich, Basel, Bern etc.) since the majority of people speak English (it is a requirement in schools to be able to form small conversation in English).

However, In the French speaking part (Geneva, Vaud, Valaise, Montreaux etc.), there is barely any English and knowledge of French is vital.

I assure you that after a couple of years in Switzerland, you will pick up the local language and all will be good!

Bonne Chance!

kiwi

yes, most people speak english very well and are willing to speak it with you!

tester23

Virtually all Swiss speak English, however you might struggle speaking to the older generation.

There is a large swiss thread on the following forum:

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