A survey of French teachers in the Grande Région has shown that contrary to popular belief, learning to communicate effectively in French is mostly a question of having the right attitude. “Students worry that you need to learn the tense system, passé composé, future simple and all that, but that’s not true,” said one teacher […]
Luxembourg urging residents to adopt new greeting
LUXEMBOURG-VILLE — Aware of the language uncertainty many residents face when greeting each other, the Grand Duchy’s Office of Applied Linguistic Integration is urging people to adopt a newly created word. “We spent nearly a year trying to solve this problem,” said Virginie Muller, the office’s chief language officer. “If we asked everyone in Luxembourg […]
Inspiring: this man has taken the same Luxembourgish course 21 times
MAMER — Saying that one day he’ll finally grasp the confusing grammar, thousands of weird compound verbs, and the maze of rules governing articles, a local man is enrolled in the same introductory Luxembourgish course that he has ceremoniously taken every year since moving here in 1997. Despite the course having gone through several name […]
He said ‘moien’ and now everyone thinks he’s local
Integrating has never been easier, as least for one expat who only moved here in January but has effortlessly blended into his surroundings thanks to one word. Seven weeks ago, web developer Sanjay Singh, 29, greeted a neighbor by saying “moien,” to which he got a “moien” in response. By mid-morning, word had got around […]
Embarrassing: this Bierger-Center employee only speaks six languages
LUXEMBOURG-VILLE — A native and resident of Kehlen who works as a civil servant in the capital has admitted to suffering from “deep feelings of inadequacy” and worries that he is “linguistically challenged” when in the presence of colleagues who speak more languages than him. Marco Pohlen, who works in the Bierger-Center, says that recently […]