Expert: Edgar Mendez Chacon - 4/19/2005

Question
I have heard that they speak a very unique language in Austria. I always thought that German was the primary language, however a friend that lived there recently told me that the dialect is very different, to the point that he can not understand German very well. Is this true?  Thanks for your help.

Answer
Hell John,

They speak German in Austria but some regions have their own German dialect, like portions of Switzerland, where some words are pronounced differently than regular German so people not from the area sometimes have difficulty understanding them.  Just like British and Australians speak English but sometimes we have a problem understadning one another.

Edgar