Main languages spoken in Zurich
The population of the city of Zurich is multilingual. Which languages are most widely spoken and what proportion of the population does not have German as their main language? The following questions and answers provide the most important information about the main languages in Zurich. More detailed information on this can be found in Working Materials 1.
Differing definitions in the federal surveys
In the censuses (full survey), which took place every 10 years from 1850 to 2000, the mother tongue was asked until 1980, whereby only one language could be specified. Since 1990, people have been asked about the main language : "What is the language in which you think and which you know best?". However, it is only since the introduction of the Structural Survey (2010), which is collected annually (sample), that more than one main language can be indicated. This must be taken into account when interpreting graphics over a longer time frame.
Discourse in Linguistics
The term mother tongue refers to the language in which the child is socialized from an early age. Because of its outdated connotations (it is also the language of the father; one can also have more than one mother tongue; the mother tongue is not necessarily the language that one has the best command of orally and in writing, etc.), this term is usually replaced in linguistics with the term first language . This focuses in particular on language acquisition and the phases of language acquisition. A person may also have two or more first languages. The term "main language " thus focuses primarily on multilingualism, i.e. the particularly important (or at the same time several important) language(s) of a person in a multilingual environment.
Increase in linguistic diversity
The variety of languages has increased considerably. In Zurich, 50 different languages are spoken by at least 150 people. Conversely, the proportion of Zurich residents whose main language is German has fallen to almost 75%.
Many Zurich residents learn German
The fact that around a quarter of Zurich's residents do not have German as their main language does not mean that this part of the population cannot communicate in German. A large proportion of these people learn German as a foreign language or have basic knowledge.
More and more English is spoken
According to the ranking, English is in 3rd place after Swiss German and German. English is also very important on the job market in the city of Zurich. 41.4% of employees in the city of Zurich speak English at their workplace and many residents generally use English as a bridge language, especially the younger generation.
Odds
In Zurich, more and more people speak different languages, with age, education level and migration being driving factors. By the way: Monolingualism is the absolute exception worldwide. Out of 195 nations, 163 are officially bilingual or even trilingual. Nowadays, multilingualism is widespread in almost every society due to historical developments, migration and globalization. It is a natural resource that is important for both individuals and society. In addition to the economic and professional benefits that result from it, multilingualism also promotes cognitive attention, memory and flexibility at the individual level.
Challenges
The City of Zurich has committed itself to ensuring that its offers and services can be used equally by all residents. That is why it is important that access to information for the entire population is taken into account from the outset. To achieve this, different paths must be taken, including that information is prepared in an easy-to-understand way or is available in different languages depending on the context. Learning the German language is still important and must continue to be encouraged. At the same time, communication in different languages also enables social participation for first-generation immigrants who do not yet have a sufficient command of the German language.