The Frau can read Swiss German

Attention, yodelers. Here is something The Frau had lost hope for…and yet, guess what? The Frau is reading...and getting the double meaning...of...wait...you guessed it...a Swiss German magazine headline! Not bad, since Swiss German isn’t even supposed to be a written language.

A South African colleague at her office in Zurich once reassured The Frau that she would start understanding Swiss German once she had kids. He was right.

This is proof.

Because here, yodelers, in the Via Magazine (freebie magazine available on Swiss trains), is a headline, “Schiffli fahre uf em See.” The Frau recognized it immediately—not only could she understand its meaning, but she also knew it was the title of a very popular Swiss children’s nursery song about a boat (all Swiss kids seem to sing it–even non-Swiss kids like Toddler M). 

Needless to say, The Frau was very proud of her comprehension. In fact, she was so proud that she must have looked ridiculous, grinning and gloating over such a simple headline.

It was definitely an Erfahren. Appropriate, since that was the title of the magazine section.

Achtung. Shameless self-promotion part. Did you enjoy reading about Swiss life? Then you might enjoy The Frau’s new book, Swiss Life: 30 Things I Wish I’d Known. It even has a section on language. Available at fine online retailers and on Zurich’s most famous shopping street too (Bahnhofstrasse 70).

Stereotypes in the mainstream press

Hello yodelers

A Swiss blogger living in Texas, author of True America(n), recently wrote me an email suggesting that perhaps there is even more going on in some of these so-called news pieces I’ve posted than what I’ve previously mentioned.

He is right. So I would like to open up this discussion and see what you think as well.

The media can be dangerous, particularly magazines, newspapers, and TV news that we read or watch casually, like Blick am Abend.

While I find it endlessly interesting to understand the European view of the U.S. by reading publications here, it can also be somewhat disturbing if you look deeper.

Here’s the Swiss blogger’s view of the article here. He is also responding to my recent posting of it:

I admire your viewing this as just a cultural difference and understand why others in the comments don't get it. What we’ve really got here is the stereotype and subtle propaganda you can find in every newspaper in Europe. It is the daily dose of Anti-Americanism in Europe since 1776. That's how the European press fosters a special image about the United States and Americans, for centuries and for various reasons.

So, what about this little innocent article? There is no real information, nothing newsworthy about it. There is only one reason for it: Keep a certain image alive about the U.S. and Americans. Let’s take a closer look at the caption and this first sentence. Europeans see Las Vegas as something "childish, silly, ridiculous" and also "fake, not genuine" or like many things in Vegas as a "copy" of something original in the old world. Las Vegas serves as a moniker in this text for those adjectives. In your translation, you also missed the German "immer", or „always.“ Its position in the sentence also puts stress on it. This little word actually pulls the whole sentence out of the context and becomes a general statement. Here's what people understand when they read this first sentence: "Americans are always childish and everything is fake."

As an American, I do find that this stereotype exists a lot in the press here. And I think it is dangerous to people who don’t understand both sides. American and Swiss cultures are very different—friendly and exuberant versus private and discreet. Nothing is wrong with either, except when we fail to try to understand the differences. It is unfortunate that a lot of mainstream media prefers stereotyping to in-depth stories that help us better understand the world. The American press is guilty of this as well. In fact, I think a lazy press is to blame for a lot of the issues in the world today.

What do you think?

Extreme Angst in Baden

Attention Yodelers,

We have another item worthy of news. Someone in Baden has thrown a pizza box into a trash bin that specifically says: Please do not throw pizza boxes in here.

The nerve. Can you believe someone didn't follow the rules? That a Swiss rule could actually attract the opposite of it? That's the subject in this article, from the 7. October Rundschau. Its title: Extremes.