Mountains to Climb: Overcoming Language-Based Challenges in the Rocky Mountains – by Nicolas Felber

    In my early childhood, it was my dream to one day become a zookeeper and spend my days tending to a wide variety of creatures that co-inhabit our decaying planet alongside us. Life had another plan for me, however, and I began a journey that led me down the path of English and […]

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SLANG’N IT UP – How do YOU talk at work? – by Nina Merkofer

  What’s up? Are you down to work? Are you ready to score that juicy deal? Be a part of a LIVE SURVEY POLL and check out the LIVE RESULTS! Almost everybody does it, and most of us do it daily: Using slang. Whether it is at home with our family, at the mall with […]

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English in the Medical Workplace: Building Bridges between Doctors, Patients and Academia – by Nicolas Felber

  In the past thirty-odd years, medical professions in Switzerland have undergone a distinct shift in their educational programs, daily practices, and in the politics surrounding them. One may ask themselves how a constantly evolving curriculum, ever-changing demographic of patients, and changes in the political landscape influence or alter the usage of language for medical […]

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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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Linguistic Landscape of two of Basel’s museums – by Tristan Scheiblechner

  As part of our English project, we decided to visit two museums in Basel and compare the English usage in those localities. The museums we visited were the Kunstmuseum and the Antikenmuseum. During our investigation we found that, despite both museums having a lot of international customers, not many signs were available in English. […]

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Quiz Quiz Quiz!

  Interested in testing your own knowledge of workplace English? Try our QUIZ! Good luck!!!

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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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Who Is the Leader? – Leadership and Gender, a Linguistic Approach – by Isabella Mey

  Have you ever had to work in together with other people on a group project? Have you ever wondered how a leader gets determined in a group-work setting? And have you ever wondered if the participants gender is relevant to leadership establishment?  If you have answered ‘yes’ to any of these questions, you would […]

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Language in Student Housing – Kim Brägger

  Switzerland is a country of many cultures, featuring four official national languages and many more unofficial languages that are spoken each day. Large cities like Geneva, Bern, Zürich or Basel house a large number of immigrants, guest workers and transfer students, especially Basel as the city borders on Germany and France. The University of […]

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