“Bitte senden Ameisen Mörder” – “Please send an exterminator over” – by Aisha Giger

  Asking Swiss employees about their English use and the challenges they face A city like Basel, which is located right next to the Dreiländereck and houses two of the biggest pharma companies worldwide, attracts people from various cultural but also linguistic backgrounds. The employees of a small property management company at the boarder to […]

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Ready for Take-Off? – English in the Daily Life of Pilots – by Nina Merkofer

Have you ever wondered about the two mysterious figures sitting in the cockpit, entrusted with the lives of hundreds of passengers? How did they get there? And what does it take to wear the pilot’s hat? Among many other qualities, it takes a good amount of English language skills. But how good exactly? And how […]

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Not too Old to Learn English? – Reasons and Motivation of Learning English as an Adult – by Michelle Findlay

  English is around us all the time as it has become a lingua franca and is especially important in the workplace. This study aims to understand the reasons and motivation of adults learning English.  The participants (5 in total, two female and three male) wanting to learn English are between the ages of 30 […]

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English – The Language Behind the Curtains? – by Toni Bader

  English nowadays plays an important role insofar that it enables communication between different parties of different first languages, be it between acquaintances, inside workplaces, between different workplaces and even between workplace and clients. A typical workplace of such kind, juggling different groups and therefore using English, is the field of event management. Additionally, there […]

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English is also a Choice! – by Daniela Xhixha

Basel is home to many international and global companies that use English as their business language to secure a productive internal and external communication. Although this language practice might be considered slightly challenging by some, English successfully continues to be the most used language in the corporate world. While trying to understand how this practice […]

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English in a pharmaceutical company – by Dariia Vinnikova

  Is English really necessary in the workplace in Switzerland? And can those who speak English receive a higher salary? These questions come up often in my head, especially considering that English is presented in coexistence with 4 national languages: German, French, Italian and Romansh when it comes to the workplaces in Switzerland. In this […]

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