Swiss American Historical Society Review
Keywords
Paul Grossenbacher, autobiographical sketch, Swiss immigrant, SAHS Review
Abstract
At the end of the fifth school year, we all had the opportunity to take an intelligence test and, if you passed that test, you then could go to secondary school, which is similar to high school here. Even though you were only a sixth grader, the subjects were algebra, physics, chemistry, and foreign languages. It is very important in Switzerland that one speaks several languages because in Switzerland, a country less than one-third the size of the state of Wisconsin, four official languages are spoken. About 19% speak a real good French, about 10% are Italian speaking, only 1% speak "Romanisch" (an old form of Latin left over from the Romans), and about 70% speak a dialect from the German which nobody but the Swiss can understand, not even a German. I had four years of French in school, and after I was out of school at age 16, I went for one year to the French-speaking part of Switzerland. I stayed with a family and after one year spoke French fluently. The last two years in school we had a choice, English or Italian. After thinking it over for some time, I decided since I most likely would never use the English language I would take Italian. Whatever I learned of Italian I just forgot. Then, when I came to this country in 1929, I realized what a mistake I had made. Not a word did I know of the English language.
Recommended Citation
Grossenbacher, Paul
(1989)
"Preparing for a Career,"
Swiss American Historical Society Review: Vol. 25:
No.
3, Article 4.
Available at:
https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/sahs_review/vol25/iss3/4