True. When we are in Switzerland, we cannot live in an Indian bubble entirely, we need to integrate with the local culture. One big barrier to this is not knowing the language. But after 5-10 years, if we dont try to learn more than Tschüss and Adieu, then who is to blame :-). There are also many customs which are interesting, share your information, share few common German words, or any information, experience which you feel is important for integration.
Monday, November 23, 2015
SWISS INTEGRATION
When in Rome, be a Roman. 
True. When we are in Switzerland, we cannot live in an Indian bubble entirely, we need to integrate with the local culture. One big barrier to this is not knowing the language. But after 5-10 years, if we dont try to learn more than Tschüss and Adieu, then who is to blame :-). There are also many customs which are interesting, share your information, share few common German words, or any information, experience which you feel is important for integration.
True. When we are in Switzerland, we cannot live in an Indian bubble entirely, we need to integrate with the local culture. One big barrier to this is not knowing the language. But after 5-10 years, if we dont try to learn more than Tschüss and Adieu, then who is to blame :-). There are also many customs which are interesting, share your information, share few common German words, or any information, experience which you feel is important for integration.
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"When in Rome, be a Roman" is very true caption... Being in Switzerland we have to be Schweizer.....Swiss Integration is really very important and difficult at the same time because of the typical Schweizer Deutsch. Here are few possibilities by which we can integrate and know more about Swiss society and culture.
ReplyDelete1) Join German Course (may be Schweizer Deutsch) :- To integrate with the society its very important to know basic German (atleast upto B1).
2) Speak, speak and speak :- Swiss people are very welcoming, friendly and talkative (not like Germans). They really appreciate the efforts(speaking Deutsch) taken by the foreigners. They always support by correcting the grammatical mistakes and dictions. So just SPEAK GERMAN and make friends. Speak to your neighbours, collegues, course mates, at grocery shops etc and etc
3) Join Meet up and other social groups :- Meetup is a very nice group and group of people who conduct various interesting activities time to time. Attend their events and getogethers, make friends.... and know more about European culture.
4) Read Newspaper :- Read newspapers whether its 20 minuten or its Blick. There are many more like Aargauer Zeitung, Zürcher Zeitung etc
5) Watch Swiss Channels :- Better to start with cartoon channels (easy to understand) and news channels. Watch SRK's Movies in Deutsch at RTv😆. In order to better language skill.
6) Kid's School :- Kids help alot in integration. By attending school events, functions we can learn more about culture. By making kid's frenz family friend we can learn more about their diversity.
Another tip, which I got from my husband years back, is a DW website (no cost German online classes). Unless you are a victim of 'procrastination', learning German is quite an urgent task for all of us. As soon as your child starts going to Kindergarten and School, you shall feel the urgency of 'talking in German' more:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.dw.com/en/learn-german/s-2469
Listening to the radio also helps... When you are on a long drive Energy hit music is not bad folks!! Short span of German conversation and a welcoming break of some English number..
ReplyDeleteRead the book 'In Other Words' by Jhumpa Lahiri, how she not only studied a foreign language (Italian) but also wrote a book in Italian!!!
ReplyDelete