Switzerland is multilingual, and its citizens?

Switzerland is a multilingual country. In this country, German, French, Italian and Romansh are spoken. There are, of course, besides these official languages also other languages that contribute to this multilingualism. We know that one in five of the Swiss population has a completely different mother tongue than the well-known national languages in Switzerland.

However, we also know that only a few Swiss people know the four official national languages or multiple languages. Only 7 per cent of the population is able to speak the four national languages or even more languages.

Compared to other countries, this is of course an incredible achievement. These people mean a great deal, above all to Switzerland's culture, economy and science, and contribute enormously to its positive reputation at an international level.

However, when we consider the possibilities in this country, it immediately becomes clear that Switzerland can actually achieve more with regard to multilingualism. We do know that 38 percent of the population can speak two languages at least once a week and 19 percent of the population can speak three languages.

Nevertheless, it is a shame that about a third of the population speaks only their mother tongue and cannot benefit from the country's official multilingualism. The country's education system is also responsible for this coexistence of languages. The state could promote pupils' multilingualism more and ensure that all Swiss people speak at least four languages.

Of course we cannot expect either the state or the Swiss to all learn Romansh. Instead, however, very good English skills or very good language skills in other languages spoken in Switzerland can bring Switzerland to an unsurpassed level worldwide.

There are many countries in the world that have a linguistically homogenous population or officially recognise only one language. People in these countries do not have neighbours, classmates or colleagues who have a different mother tongue. In such monolingual countries, it is enormously difficult to be a multilingual citizen.

To learn a language, alongside a good language course, you need people who speak the language and communicate with you in it. This country is one of the few countries that offers this unique opportunity. Being Swiss is therefore a sufficient reason, German, French and Italian to learn and also to have a Swiss Army knife linguistically at one's disposal.

Therefore, it is a shame to miss this opportunity and to have language barriers in one's own country just because one has travelled to another region of the country. The stress that one has on holiday in distant countries due to language barriers should not be experienced in the Italian-speaking or French-speaking part of the country.

At SLA Basel we place great emphasis on all citizens speaking the four official national languages and English fluently. That will certainly and clearly put our homeland ahead. We offer corresponding language courses for German, French, Italian and English.

On the other hand, we are aware that people who speak French or Italian can, very easily Spanish be able to learn. Spanish is the fourth most spoken language in the world and anyone who has learned this language has countless opportunities in life. This Spanish is also part of our language programme. Our partners include Tutor Academy, Kulturlegi, Eduqua, temptraining and SVEB FSEA.

Our partners include Tutor Academy, Kulturlegi, Eduqua, temptraining and SVEB FSEA.