English is becoming Switzerland's second national language (2024)

For Simon König (name changed), buying a pair of glasses from an optician in Zurich's city center proved to be an unexpected challenge. The sales staffers, he found, didn't speak a word of German. König had to discuss the issues with his vision and the advantages of progressive lenses in English, for better or worse. This was because no German-speaking staffers were immediately available, and employees from a branch in London had to step in.

The «English only» trend, which started a few years ago in trendy Zurich restaurants, is today spilling over into more and more areas and regions. It is now almost commonplace for customers in Swiss cities and tourist areas to be addressed in English. Nor is this phenomenon limited to Zurich, Geneva, Zermatt and St. Moritz. On the contrary, the place where English is spoken most frequently in Switzerland is probably Walchwil, in the canton of Zug.

Canton of Zurich only in fourth place for English

There are no exact statistics on exactly how many inhabitants of a municipality speak which language. However, as part of its 2022 structural survey, the Swiss Federal Statistical Office collected data on the language spoken by residents. On the English issue, the canton of Zug leads the way, with 14.1% of the population stating that they primarily speak English. No other canton is as heavily Anglicized as this tax haven in central Switzerland. It is followed by the cantons of Basel-Stadt (12.5%), Geneva (11.8%) and Zurich (10.8%).

Breaking down these Zug figures by municipality offers an even more dramatic picture. In tranquil Walchwil, with its population of just under 4,000, almost one in three people aged 15 or over – a total of 27.3% – primarily speak English. At second glance, however, this is less surprising. The exclusive residential locations with the best views of Lake Zug can be afforded mainly by high-earning expats. In the cantonal capital of Zug, English is the main language for one in five people. In the city of Zurich, 12.5% say that English as their main language.

The pace at which English is spreading is striking. Within 22 years, the share of residents identifying English as their first language has increased more than sevenfold. In 2000, less than 2% of Zug's population spoke mainly English. By 2012, this figure had risen to over 8%. Since 2012, this share had increased again by around six percentage points. Although this trend seems particularly impressive in Zug, it fits a broader picture: English is also marginalizing the other national languages in other cantons.

English becoming a standard

However, the seemingly unstoppable advance of English is by no means solely due to immigration. More important are the dominance of English on social networks and on Netflix – as well as the influence of foreign language lessons. In a 1997 NZZ article headlined «How much English does Switzerland need?» French literature scholar Marco Baschera warned against the introduction of compulsory English lessons before French lessons at the primary school level in the canton of Zurich. «Unfortunately, my fears from the time have been confirmed,» says the now-retired professor of literature.

The most recent figures from the Federal Statistical Office support this conclusion: Almost three-quarters of 15- to 24-year-olds speak, write, read or listen to English at least once a week. In 2014, this figure was only 62%. The most current figures come from survey conducted in 2019. The proportion is thus now likely to be even higher. In contrast, significantly fewer older people use English with comparable regularity.

Among the population 75 or above, only 15% use the language at least once a week. Across all age groups and all language regions, English was the most commonly used nonnational language in Switzerland in 2019, with 45% of the population reporting that they regularly used it. In contrast, only 39% of the population said they regularly used French, and only 15% Italian.

Few things illustrate this trend toward English better than the list of young people's slang words from recent years. Although the youth word of the year has been chosen by German publisher Langenscheidt since 2008, the observation is just as valid for Switzerland. For 2023, this word was «goofy.» English expressions have frequently topped this list in previous years: In 2022, the winner was «smash,» in 2021 «cringe,» in 2020 «lost» and in 2016 it was «fly.» Meanwhile, older students – who are more familiar with Switzerland's national languages – risk drawing attention to their (cringeworthy) shortcomings in English.

«I can nothing say to this issue»

The CNN appearance by former Federal Councilor Ueli Maurer after his visit with Donald Trump in 2019 remains unforgettable. Maurer's head of communications had to translate the moderator's questions into Swiss German for the audience, and convey Mauer’s answers to the moderator. Maurer stumbled and stammered, although he hardly had anything substantive to say. His statement at the end of the interview is legendary: «I can nothing say to this issue.»

Candidates for the Federal Council are now also regularly tested on their English language skills. This proved no problem for the newly elected Beat Jans, who was appointed to head the Federal Department of Justice and Police in December. The Basel native is married to an American – not an uncommon relationship in the city with the second-highest proportion of people with English as their mother tongue. In the Jans household, English is regularly spoken at the family table.

English has penetrated deep into the intricate web of relationships between the four national languages, says Baschera, the former professor of literature. «Not least because of the significant increase in immigrant languages, it is becoming a kind of common foreign national language,» he says. He adds that this is a dangerous development for a country «in which the practice of multilingualism is an important identity-forming element.»

A study recently published by the University of Geneva also confirms that English is dominant, at least in university-prep secondary schools. «The train for the national languages in schools has more or less left the station,» says study author Daniel Elmiger. In the monolingual German-speaking cantons of Switzerland, only about 13% of students graduating from university-prep secondary schools with a bilingual qualification have French or Italian as their second language. Elmiger says that there is a creeping Anglicization within the curriculum. This also applies to vocational schools, he adds.

Putty for Switzerland?

So when a young woman from Zurich and a young man from Jura meet at the P!nk concert in Bern this summer, there is a good chance they will be talking in English. A conversation that might once have taken place in French – if it still takes place at all today – will now become English practice for both. It has also long been taken for granted that exhibits in museums will be labeled in both the locally used national language and in English. Theater performances are regularly subtitled in English, gatherings of employees are called «meetings» even in German-speaking areas, and the language spoken is English. In many companies and research teams, the spoken language is no longer German or French, but English.

Many pessimists worry that English is slowly dividing the confederation formed from four language regions. For optimists, it is the glue that binds them together even better.

But the time when language purists found this development «shocking» is definitely over.

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