Züritüütsch isch aifach schön / Zurich German is simply beautiful

von Fuchs Harry, Schreier Paul G.

Züritüütsch isch aifach schön / Zurich German is Simply Beautiful is a most unusual book for helping you learn Swiss German. The authors took the lyrics from songs by Schtärneföifi, Switzerland’s most popular children’s band, and first transcribed the Swiss German lyrics, then they translated them into both High German and English. Each song makes up a separate lesson, most
coming with cultural notes as well as exercises and solutions that help you master the language. Further, these are not traditional kiddy songs. Instead these songs talk about finding excuses for missing homework, about how miserable it is to live with a know-it-all big brother, and the pains of going clothes shopping with your parents. The lyrics are madcap, preposterous, a tiny bit brazen and impudent. Furthermore, the tunes are really catchy. All the members of Schtärneföifi are professional musicians, so you’ll hear straightahead rock as well as funk, hip-hop, house, rumba-calypso, country-western and even salsa.