Speaking Swiss German earns quite some respect from the Swiss. I think in general in Europe, if you’re English and you can speak one or more languages other than your own, you are a rarity and you’ll have it quite easy, simply because people are not expecting you to have bothered learning any other language.
I would like to somehow map the languages in my head (and others), in terms of proficiency, fluency, complexity and how each language influences the other. I think that polyglots build for themselves a complex linguistic tapestry, with each word learnt in one language perhaps uncovering something in another, or intermixing languages depending on who they’re talking to.
Going back to the Swiss German, (which I have learnt by surrounding myself with it and stubbornly refusing to allow the generally linguistically able Swiss to practice their English with me), I notice how it is affected by the sociology of English. The concept of ‘speaking properly’ is very apparent in British English, where children are often told to pronounce their ‘T’s and not to use ‘like’ at the end of every sentence and to say isn’t instead of ain’t. I think because of this conditioning, I find myself in Swiss German switching to High German when I am in a formal situation. Which is daft, as Swiss German isn’t less formal in Switzerland. It’s a bad habit that I’d like to change. If you look at it from another perspective, it’s a bit weird, akin to me switching from British English to American English.
And seeing as the Swiss would often rather speak English than High German, I probably loose a bit of respect when I switch. I guess its a case of trying to apply Swiss socio-linguistic rules to Swiss language, and leaving the English rules for English.
Jo Goes 