Zurich German is mainly spoken, so the input that helps most is audio. Written Zurich German is rare: young people use it in personal messages and spell it in different ways, and the written language is Standard German. Zurich German you can mostly follow is called comprehensible input.
Good material for you has one new word now and then, and the rest is clear. When a friend says Ich ha kei Ziit and looks at the clock, you learn that kei means "no" before a noun. For classes and tutors, see our Zurich German guide.
Bubblegum
For serious learners, Bubblegum is the best app to learn Swiss German. You learn from Swiss German you can mostly understand, which is called comprehensible input.
Tell Poppy, your AI tutor, your level and what you like, and she writes your Zurich German lessons. If a sentence is hard to follow, ask Poppy to explain it.
With Regenerative Review™, words you save show up again in new lessons, so that you can review words in new contexts without having to use flashcards.
If a word like öppis ("something") stops you, she explains it.
Bubblegum only plays its own lessons. For Swiss German podcasts and videos you found, use the sources below.
- Lessons and stories written in Zurich German, about things you like.
- Dialect forms like ich bi, du bisch, and mir mached, taught as the dialect's own grammar.
- Regenerative Review™ brings saved words back in new lessons, so you read them again in new contexts.
- Clear, expressive AI voices read every lesson aloud, with a different voice for each speaker.
- You can't turn Swiss German books you own into lessons. However, you can send Poppy a photo of a page, and she'll explain it.
- The read-aloud voices are standard German voices told to speak Zürich German, and there are no Swiss voices.
- Custom lessons cost us money to make, so you need Bubblegum Pro for unlimited custom lessons. Lessons Poppy wrote for other learners are free for everyone to read.
- Regenerative Review™
Mobile
Two apps play recordings of Zurich German, and one of them lets you slow them down. Both are small, so listen to a sample first.
Other Apps We Looked At (2)
- SwissliYou choose Zurich German, Bernese German, or Swiss High German, and sentences and words come with recordings in your dialect. Later updates added slower playback and tap-a-word audio. Its screens are in English only, and it has only a few ratings so far.
- Schweizerdeutsch WörterbuchA paid dictionary of the Zurich dialect where every word can be played as a speaker from Switzerland says it. It works offline, and its screens are in German.
Swiss German for Beginners is run by a teacher born in the canton of Zurich, and it puts videos on YouTube for free. The same teacher makes Beyond the Alps, a podcast in Zurich dialect, and writes a Swiss German transcript for each episode.
SRF, the Swiss public broadcaster, has a radio show and podcast about dialects called Dini Mundart – Schnabelweid. It covers dialects from Freiburg to the St. Galler Rhine Valley, so you'll hear Swiss German that isn't from Zürich too.
Start at the top if you're new. Zurich dialect material is limited, so some rows come from the wider Swiss German world.
| What | Why It Helps | Try It When |
|---|---|---|
| Swiss German for Beginners on YouTube | Videos, with extra vocabulary lists and transcripts on Patreon | You're just starting |
| Swissli | Short lessons with recordings of every sentence | You know some basics |
| Beyond the Alps | About 25 episodes of around 14 minutes each, in Zurich dialect | Short episodes feel easy |
| Dini Mundart podcast | Every two weeks, SRF's dialect team talks about the language | You follow most of a long talk |
| Learn Swiss German With Stories | A novel written in Swiss German, with English and Standard German translations | You read short stories with ease |
| Schnabelweid | Readings by dialect authors and songs by dialect singers | Most Swiss German speech feels easy |
Each number is how many languages you can use the app in, including script variants.
| App | Languages You Can Use It In | Full List |
|---|---|---|
| Bubblegum | 76 | Full list
|
| Swissli | 1 | Full list |
| Schweizerdeutsch Wörterbuch | 1 | Full list |
Which Zurich German app should a beginner choose?
If you are serious about learning Swiss German, start with Bubblegum. Poppy, your AI tutor, writes lessons at your level about things you like. Or start with Swissli's short lessons, or with the Swiss German for Beginners videos on YouTube.
Can I use SRF Kids to learn Zurich German?
Probably not. SRF Kids' page is written in Standard German, and it doesn't say that its shows are in dialect. Use it for German with Swiss spelling, and use the dialect sources above for Zurich German.
Does Swiss German appear in writing?
Mostly in personal messages. Zurich German has no official spelling, and writers blend Standard German spelling with Swiss German phrasing, so you'll see the same word spelled several ways. Lessons that stick to one spelling make that easier at first.
Is Bubblegum free?
Yes. Lessons Poppy wrote for other learners are free for everyone to read. Custom lessons cost us money to make, so you need Bubblegum Pro for unlimited custom lessons.
Sources
- Bubblegum: Zürich Swiss German
- Zurich German on Wikipedia: essentially a spoken language; young people use it in personal messages and blend Standard German spelling with Swiss German phrasing
- Swissli: Learn Swiss German on the App Store (Zurich German, audio for sentences and words, slower playback)
- Schweizerdeutsch Wörterbuch on the App Store (audio for every word)
- Beyond the Alps: a Swiss German (Züridütsch) podcast, about every two weeks
- Swiss German for Beginners: YouTube videos, books, courses
- Swiss German for Beginners: Learn Swiss German With Stories (a novel with English and Standard German translations)
- SRF: Dini Mundart – Schnabelweid (radio show and podcast about Swiss German dialects)
- SRF Radio 1: Mundart section (the Dini Mundart podcast every two weeks, videos and articles on dialects)
- SRF Kids (videos, podcasts and audio plays; the page is in Standard German)
