Basel Dialect Verbs

I’m the author of Basel Dialect Verbs. I’m originally from Scotland and have lived in the Basel area with my Swiss husband since 1987.
I studied sociolinguistics, phonetics and education in Scotland and England and worked for many years as an English teacher and intercultural communication educator for international companies and the University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland, FHNW. I’m the author of several books for incomers to Switzerland, including Beyond Chocolate – understanding Swiss Culture and Going Local – your guide to Swiss schooling.
I spoke High German when I came to Switzerland in 1987 and experi­enced Swiss German and High German as two different languages. I listened in to people speaking dialect and confused gsi, gseh and gseit, which mean been, seen and said, in that order. They are quite different from the High German gewesen, gesehen and gesagt. Basel Dialect Verbs is the sort of book I wished I could lay my hands on to help me organise all the incomprehensible input coming my way. Verbs are at the heart of our communication with others, and they are a good starting point if you wish to crack the dialect code.