What language is most common in the swiss banking world?
I am interested in studying abroad in Swizterland and maybe work there far later in my career. I've looked around, but couldn't really find a definitive answer. What language is commonly spoken in the Swiss financial world. Swiss-German? or Swiss-French? or is English common there. I know it's an odd question, but I couldn't think of a better place to ask.
Hi - I partly grew up in Switzerland.
There is not just "one" language which is used in the population - there are 4: German, French, Italian and Romansh (the first 3 are official languages) plus the dialects which depend on the region you will be.
The common language in written texts would be German.
In the financial world English will be perfectly fine, in some situations it would be beneficial to have German/Swiss German skills. It depends on the company/client whether you will need anything on top of English or not.
Please note that spoken Swiss-German appears considerably different than German spoken in other countries, i.e. Germany, Austria, Netherlands, etc. - I had a hard time in my childhood in understanding everything and had to learn the "new" language.
Feel free to send me a PM if you have specific questions!
Not to be annoying or anything but Romansch is also an official language and is even on the passport. It just happens to be spoken by very few people. Realistically, someone seeking entry to Swiss finance should be comfortable with German and French.
It depends on which part of CH you'll be working in. If you're on the German side - Zürich/close-by - German would be beneficial. Normally being a requirement in banks (Credit Suisse, UBS, Julius Baer, etc.).
Not sure about the French side, but I assume it shouldn't be very different in Geneva.
german/english in the german part, french/english in the french
As it has already been stated, the four national language are: Swiss-German, French (not Swiss-French, the french is exactly the same as in France), Italian and Romansh.
Depending on your region, the language will vary. In the western part, people speak french and it is practically always a requirement to speak english (not necessarily German or Swiss-German) for the economical sector(banking, commodities, etc). The same thing applies in the "biggest" part, where people speak either german or swiss-german and english.
Depending on the university you chose, the language will be different.
Edit: I also forgot to mention that (at least in the French part), some companies (often big multinationals) don't even need you to speak french. I know many people who have been living in Switzerland for many years and can not say a french sentence without making at least 1 mistake.
In the end, it depends on the sector and the company.
It's the only minor difference that comes in my mind right now.
The "speak really slow" is just a stereotype. Maybe it's true for the other parts of the french part but in Geneva, it's fine.
Haha! You mean they say 70 (septante) et 90 (nonante) instead of 70 (soixante-dix) and 90 (quatre-vingt-dix).
Same in Belgium.
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