Thought you could manage in the Alps by uttering “Merci” and “C’est bon!”? Oh, no. Think again.

The Alps are home to French, Italian, German and South Slavic chat. They also preserve archaic dialects such as Romansh, Walser German or Romance Lombardic.

Even languages long extinct – such as Rhaetic, Lepontic, Ligurian and Langobardic – were once spoken in the Alps.

So unless you polish up on your Rhaetic, it is best to become fluent in flirtish – that normally transcends international linguistic barriers.