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The number of people signing up for Luxembourgish courses has been steadily increasing over the past ten years. Now the National Language Institute is launching a new learning platform.
Opening new job opportunities, acquiring the Luxembourgish nationality or simply to better integrate into everyday life – there are a variety of reasons for learning the language. The number of people registering for the INL’s courses has more than doubled in the last decade, from 2,614 in 2011-2012 to 5,681 in the current academic year.
While the government has been doing its best to keep up with this soaring demand, learning Luxembourgish on your own has so far been very difficult, with existing offers being either costly or very limited in scope.
“Lëtzebuergesch léieren online”, the new platform developed by the INL, is set to be launched for the new school year. Available in several languages, notably English, it aims to make Luxembourgish learning available for free to anyone on the planet.
A1 and A2 modules will initially be offered, which will then be gradually expanded. The platform offers a formal (vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation, etc) and informal (news, cultural life…) learning angle. Specialised modules on academic and professional subjects will also be added later on.
The platform falls into the long term government strategy launched in 2018 aimed at promoting the language and strengthening its role in Luxembourgish society. Other initiatives include the introduction of the Centre for Luxembourgish Language.
Luxembourgish courses were offered to cross-border workers in some sectors, while an introduction to the language was also added at the professional schools at the Nancy-Metz academy.
In February 2022, a one week course was also offered at the Luxembourgish embassy in Paris. Following its success, more collaborations of its kind should take place in the future.
Interview with Luc Marteling (in French):