Language barriers in Switzerland

Hi, the Federation of Switzerland has 4 official languages, German, French, Italian and Reto-Romansch.
German is mainly spoken in the Northwestern, French in the Romandie, in areas like Geneva, Lausanne,etc., Italian in the southern area, Reto-Romansch is only spoken in a particular mountain area (approx. 50‘000 only).
In major Cities, like Basel, Zürich and Geneva, one gets around with English. Of course, it‘s always an advantage to learn the language spoken in the area of domicile, however, I suggest to always go for the real German, French and Italian, instead of trying to learn a Swiss dialect.
Especially in the Northwestern part Swiss-German is spoken by the locals, which is quite different from High German.
Once registering e.g. in the Basel Region, one gets offered free High German classes by the local Authorities.
Should anyone have further questions on the subject please contact me.

Cheers,