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The article examines the history of the extinct western Yiddish language in the Alsace region, southwest Germany, and Switzerland. Information is provided on the interaction between Yiddish and German languages, the existence of High Alemannic structures in Swiss Yiddish and vice versa is described, and analysis of audio recordings of Yiddish is examined. Examples of code switching by speakers of both High Alemannic and western Yiddish are also provided and the role of linguistic minorities in southwest Germany and Switzerland is described.

The article attempts to analyze how well schools in the sixteen different states in Germany are fulfilling the goals of the language policy of the European Union that each student should be proficient in three languages. The author points out that the German law called the Hamburger Abkommen of 1964 required that all secondary pupils must learn English, and that later standards in some German states also explicitly require the learning of French. Also discussed is the great variety of foreign languages offered in German schools, although the largest percentage of pupils graduating from schools of all levels have proficiency in the English language, which is seen as a gateway to learning other languages.