Klingon language courses now offered in Switzerland

tlhIngan maH! (We are Klingons!) David Hogue, Flickr Creative Commons

Switzerland’s largest adult education institution, the Migros Club School, has started offering courses in Klingon, the language spoken by the bumpy-headed protagonists of the sci-fi series Star Trek. 

The company had received requests for such a course from 2012 onwards, and the decision to finally launch followed the success of Fantasy BaselExternal link, the largest fair for comic and sci-fi fans in Switzerland, which welcomed around 50,000 visitors this year. 

Currently, Klingon fans can opt for a crash course of three lessons for a fee of CHF80 ($79.36). From September, a more intensive course comprising 20 lessons of 50 minutes each will be launched. Both courses are suitable for beginners with no prior knowledge of Klingon. 

“It is a special interest and those attending want to meet their community,” spokesperson Ariane Lang told swissinfo.ch. 

Zurich-based André Müller is the sole course instructor for the entire country and is among the approximately 30 people who speak Klingon fluently. 

“It is not easy to find instructors as they are very rare. We have to rely on him unless we fly someone in,” said Lang. 

Klingon was invented by American linguist and Native American languages expert Marc Okrand. It has its own grammar and syntax and boasts a vocabularyExternal link of around 3,000 words. It is believed to be the world’s most popular fictional language. 

To find out if there is a course near you, visit the Migros Club School websiteExternal link.