Do I need to speak English to read Swiss legislation?

Abstract

Anglicisms in Swiss institutional communication Switzerland is often considered a linguistic El Dorado, and for good reason. It is a small country in the heart of Europe, with roughly 8.5 million inhabitants and four languages carrying the status of “national language”: German, French, Italian and Romansh. Federal institutions are required by law to communicate in all of these languages. Not only do people have the right to address any federal authority in the national language of their choice and get a reply in the same language, but official publications are also made available—simultaneously and in their entirety—in German, French and Italian, the three “official languages.”