The Notre-Dame de la Providence school institute, in Thionville, has been offering Luxembourgish lessons to its middle and high school students since the start of the 2020 school year. An initiative of the establishment since this teaching does not fit into the official grid but counts as a peri-educational activity.
Marie-Martine Drisch, professor of Luxembourgish, accepted the mission in September to start classes on the 1stis October. Three groups of about fifteen students, all beginners, were trained at the rate of one hour of lessons per week. Courses which bring together young people from the fifth to the final year and even a few BTS students focused on the Luxembourg employment pool.
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A language in its own right
“When you live in Thionville, speaking Luxembourgish means speaking the neighbor’s language. It’s an asset, ”says the teacher. And to resume: “On your CV, having Luxembourgish in addition to French and German is the guarantee of being placed at the top of the pile when you want to work in the Grand Duchy”.
Recognized as an official language by decree in 1984, Luxembourgish “is not a mixture of German and French but a language in its own right, of Germanic origin certainly, but which is not pronounced the same as the language of Goethe”.
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One hour of lessons per week
The teaching as proposed consists of “learning the basics” and producing “increasingly elaborate sentences”. Zoé is a first year student and has chosen to follow Marie-Martine Drisch’s Luxembourgish course. “I have German as a second language and Luxembourgish is a plus from the perspective of the training that I will follow later. “
Comments corroborated by Mathéo, also a first year student: “It’s good to have some notions of Luxembourgish when you are at the border. In addition, it is only one hour per week, it does not require a big effort. For me who chose Spanish as a second language, I don’t find it that hard. Frankly, with a little personal work, it is quite doable, even for those who have no notions of German ”.
Lola is a fourth-grader and for her, Luxembourgish is a choice dictated by her parents. “I don’t like German too much and I was afraid it would be the same, but I thought it would help me later. I find learning Luxembourgish a bit complicated but we are lucky to have a good teacher. “
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