Sunday, November 18, 2007

Speak Easy

Mind Your Language, Sir

It's all about speaking in tongues, sometimes. A 70-year-old German man seeking Swiss citizenship was told to go back to school - to learn his native tongue. The Swiss town of Dielsdorf ordered Ulrich Kring, who has lived in Switzerland his whole life but is only now applying for citizenship, to take a German language course costing $220. The class is obligatory for all foreigners seeking a Swiss passport.

FOOTNOTE: For Kring and country.

7 comments:

katherine. said...

I wish the United States would require something similar...

david mcmahon said...

Hi Katherine,

I guess the accent would differ greatly from state to state, wouldn't it?

Accents here in Oz gets milder, the further south you go ...

Cheers

David

oronde ash said...

kat:
are you suggesting folks in the US learn to speak a different language before getting american citizenship (as most of the world acquiesces to english, maybe we should cross the border to the global multi-linguistic reality) or are you saying would-be americans should learn to speak north carolina english, boston english, southern california english? please clarify which form. i'm an immigrant. not a citizen yet but my five years to apply is coming up. just wanna get ready for your test.

Jules said...

This seems like bureaucracy gone mad It is always so black and white isn't it? What it needs is a bit of grey and common sense !!!

Good to catch up with you again and read all your fascinating tit-bits!!!

Alex L said...

I hope its taught by that Chef from the muppets... that would be worth the price of admission

Shrink Wrapped Scream said...

Poor lad.

AVCr8teur said...

I take it Mr. Kring wasn't born there. It seems he should be grandfathered in and not have to take the test as he has been a good "citizen" in the country for 70 years.