We know Switzerland is a linguistically complex country, with four official languages.
But Swiss German itself has many dialects – and one in particular is causing problems in canton Fribourg.
The canton is already officially bilingual as it stands on the Sarine River – the unofficial line between French and German speaking Switzerland.
Within the canton, there’s only one district that’s completely German speaking – the Sense District. It has its own dialect – Sensler German.
It’s so strong, doctors at the cantonal hospital - which is mainly French speaking – have problems understanding patients from the region, even though all staff speak excellent German.
This has led to patients from the area to choose hospitals in canton Bern in the past, as communication with Bernese staff is easier.
So, the Fribourg hospital is now running courses in Sensler German in the hope locals will feel more at ease and will be able to convey their symptoms better.
One doctor, Hugo Estuelle, told the RTS, 80% of diagnosis is based on what the patient says – if it can’t be understood, it can have consequences.
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