If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart. Nelson Mandela

If I am selling something to you, I speak your language, if I am buying, dann muessen Sie Deutsch sprechen. Willy Brandt

Presentation of the Results for Switzerland

Quelle est la situation des langues nationales dans l’enseignement scolaire face à la position forte de l’Anglais? Wie behaupten sich die Landessprachen angesichts der starken Stellung des Englischen im schulischen Sprachunterricht?

Find out what the Language Rich Europe research results for Switzerland are on 23 May 2012 at the University of Bern. For more information please see www.language-rich.eu. For a personal invitation to the 23 May 2012 event in Bern, please email us.

The Language Rich Europe results for Switzerland are now available in draft form. You can download the German version here, the French here and the Italian here.

The Project

The debate regarding the role and place of Swiss German is part of a bigger debate in Switzerland and Europe regarding the role of languages. We could not wish for better timing for our new British Council project - Language Rich Europe. The aim of the project is to strengthen and develop the richness and diversity of languages in Europe whilst recognising their role in social cohesion and integration. Switzerland would be a much poorer place if English became the lingua franca in Switzerland; we are committed to enhancing and developing the linguistic richness in Switzerland and the Language Rich Project is part of this.

What Is Language Rich Europe?

Through fresh research and a pioneering new measurement tool we will engage policymakers, businesses and organisations on the importance of multilingualism in creating more prosperous, creative and stable societies. Language Rich Europe will create an informed dialogue with leaders in government, educational institutions, public services, business and the media across Europe, highlighting the importance of multilingualism in achieving more prosperous and stable societies. It aims to encourage and enable these leaders to take a more strategic approach and increase investment in language education and use of languages across society.

How Will This Be Achieved?

We will pull together information already available, and conduct new research. We will organise and present it through a pioneering new European Languages Index, which will measure the language environment in each country, capturing:

• Language policy
• Language teaching methodology and teaching structures
• Language competence achieved by learners
• Languages and intercultural competence in the workplace and service delivery
• Languages in the media and in public spaces

Several language types will be analysed:

• Official state language(s)
• Foreign languages
• Regional minority languages
• Immigrant minority languages

We know that an index will not capture everything. We will therefore commission essays written by journalists highlighting specific national contexts which will complement the data collected in each country.

A brief summary of Language Rich Europe can be found here

Language Rich in Switzerland

The Europe-wide programme is being coordinated by our colleagues in Berlin. In Switzerland  we are working with a range of specialists including the Institute of Multilingualism in Fribourg and Bienne Bilingualism Forum.

With kind support from our sponsors Rosetta Stone

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