As an Englishman fluent in German, and having been to all three countries, I can say there is very little difference between the "Hochdeutsch" that is spoken in all three countries. In fact, I learned my Hochdeutsch in Switzerland, and the Germans were very impressed with the way I spoke. Of course there are accents, like we have US accent, British accent, Aussie accent, etc. But technically it's all the same. Within the German speaking area there a number of dialects which are indeed incomprehensible to outsiders. But that is a different matter entirely.

Are there big differences in spoken English between USA and UK? Yes and no. The language may be the same. But sometimes it can be funny for a German to listen to an Austrian. Some expressions did make it from dialect to standard language. There have been divisions, separate developments and influences from different other languages. Some terms are different because the administrative structure is different. http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%96sterreichisches_Deutsch http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austrian_German http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schweizer_Hochdeutsch http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swiss_Standard_German In the "German-speaking" part of Switzerland the common language is "Schwitzerdütsch". This is different from the Swiss German used in the TV and radio news. In written language there are some special issues with grammar. Germans would understand standard language, but not necessarily "Schwitzerdütsch", which is close to southwest German dialects. Examples: tomato = (deutsch:) die Tomate, (österreichisch:) der Paradeiser breakfast = (deutsch:) das Frühstück, (schweizerisch:) das Morgenessen @Kevin: Switzerlander = Swiss

The difference is that in Germany "High German" spoken with different dialects. In Austria, by "Austria German" was assumed when other words are used for the same things. In Austria there are very many dialects can vary even from one village to another village. Where the distanze is only 10 kilometers. Myself I live in Lower Austria, which is a province of Austria and here we are on Inoviziele divided dialect zones such as "Mostviertler'isch" "Waldviertler'isch" "Mühlviertleri'sch" and also share "Wiener'isch. We have to even buy their own dictionaries for these dialects.

There are big differences and I would call them different languages. Schweitzerdeutsch I can't understand at all. I remember while watching "Kottan Ermittelt" that when they talked "wienerisch" it was subtitled. So much to Austrian. There are also a few languages within Germany that are hard to understand, friesisch for example. With hochdeutsch you will be understood, but you may not understand what they talk.

Hallo Kristen, für Deutsche, die Hochdeutsch sprechen ist Schweitzerdeutsch fast kaum verständlich, es sei denn, man wohnt in der Grenzregion zur Schweiz (z.B. Bodenseeregion). Es handelt sich dabei fast um eine eigene Sprache, ähnlich dem Holländischen. Das österreichische Deutsch hingegen ist für Sprecher des Hochdeutschen leicht verständlich, da nur Wörter und Redensarten hinzukommen, die man in Deutschland nicht gebraucht. Eine Sammlung der gebräuchlichsten Wörter und Redewendungen in Österreich ist im Dudenverlag erschienen: http://www.duden.de/produkte/detail.php?isbn=3-411-04984-7&suchwort=%F6sterreichisch&suchbereich=mixed&reihe=&log=0 Dennoch kommst du mit Hochdeutsch in diesen Ländern sehr gut weiter. :-)