Multilingualism is a defining feature of early childhood education in Luxembourg, offering both opportunities and challenges for families new to the Duchy.

In June 2023, Luxembourg’s National Youth Service published a survey revealing that children under four in Luxembourg grow up in remarkably linguistically diverse environments, with 124 languages spoken at home. For non-Luxembourgish-speaking parents preparing their young children for multilingual kindergartens, understanding how children acquire languages and how education services support this process is crucial to ensuring a smooth transition and successful integration.

Language acquisition in young children: insights from experts

RTL Today spoke with Sonja Ugen, Research Scientist at the Luxembourg Centre for Educational Testing (LUCET), and Linda Romanovska, Post-doctoral Researcher at LUCET. They explain that there is no specific age when children learn languages most easily; however, young children generally display exceptional language learning abilities. Several factors affect the ease with which children learn a new language:

  • the language exposure time (from birth or later);

  • the linguistic distance between known languages and new languages (similarities in grammar, vocabulary, and writing systems);

  • the quality of exposure to the new language – how often and for how long the child hears the new language, and whether the child interacts with native and non-native speakers.

Practical tips for non-Luxembourgish-speaking parents

Depending on the age of the child at the time of moving to Luxembourg, parents can take several steps to facilitate their integration into a multilingual environment:

  • Language classes: enrolling children in language courses, especially in the main language of instruction, can help them gain confidence and better integrate into school life.

  • Extracurricular activities: participation in sports, music, art, or other classes can expose children to languages in a more informal, social setting, helping them get familiar with the languages naturally.

  • Media use: watching child-friendly cartoons, films, or listening to music in other languages can help familiarise children with the sounds and prosody of the new languages.

  • Explaining multilingualism explicitly: explaining to children that Luxembourg is a multilingual country, making it explicit that different people speak different languages, but also that the same people might switch and speak different languages depending on the context or the interlocutor; normalising the experience of hearing multiple languages and not understanding everything at first.

  • Basic phrases: teaching children a few simple sentences in the official languages (such as "I don't understand" or "Can you help me?") empowers them to communicate their needs and encourages participation despite initial language barriers.

Linguistic diversity among young children in Luxembourg

The 2023 survey by the National Youth Service found an extraordinary range of linguistic backgrounds among children under four in Luxembourg. Parents reported a total of 124 languages spoken at home, with two-thirds of children growing up with at least two languages, reflecting Luxembourg’s strongly plurilingual family environments.

Despite the great diversity of languages present in the country, the majority of children aged 0 to 4 are in contact with Luxembourgish on a daily basis, serving as a unifying element among children who speak different languages.

Recognising and supporting the various languages spoken within families and educational settings enables children to benefit from the many advantages of multilingualism, including openness to others, empathy, adaptability, as well as social, linguistic, cognitive, and economic benefits.

How education and care services foster multilingual development

In 2017, Luxembourg introduced a reform focusing on plurilingualism, specifically within the framework of early childhood education and care (ECEC). This reform, known as "Éducation Plurilingue" (Early Plurilingual Education), aims to strengthen linguistic diversity and the development of multiple language skills in children at an early age.

The programme is implemented in institutions that care for children aged 1 to 4 and focuses on encouraging language acquisition and strengthening communication skills. Children are introduced early to Luxembourgish and French, according to their individual needs and abilities, while equal importance is placed on valuing their home language. This inclusive approach supports their integration into society and helps ensure a smooth transition to primary education.

Plurilingual education provided by early education and care services in Luxembourg includes several key components:

  • Familiarisation with Luxembourgish and French. Luxembourgish plays a vital role in promoting integration. Early exposure allows children with limited or no prior contact more time to learn the language and provides a stronger foundation for acquiring German in primary school. Concurrent, playful, daily, and natural exposure to French, especially for children who do not speak it at home, facilitates easier access to the language.

  • Valuing children’s native languages. Appreciation of family languages is essential for children’s social and emotional development and underpins all other linguistic skills.

  • An educational partnership with parents. Close collaboration with parents significantly supports language development.

  • Networking with the social, cultural, and educational environment. Coordinated transitions between family, care services, schools, and other support programmes are crucial for children’s overall development. Educational frameworks include provisions for networking within social, cultural, and educational contexts.

  • A coherent approach. Each education and care service must clearly describe in its pedagogical framework how plurilingual education is implemented daily.

  • Linguistic competencies of supervisory staff. Care services ensure that Luxembourgish and French, the two priority languages, are spoken at a high proficiency level by part of the staff.

  • External quality monitoring. Regional officers from the National Youth Service regularly support and evaluate the application of quality standards from the national framework for non-formal education and the plurilingual early childhood programme.

Participation rates in early childhood education and care in Luxembourg

According to the 2023 report "early childhood education and care in Luxembourg: attendance and associations with early Learning performance", released by LUCET, Luxembourg demonstrates high levels of participation in early childhood education and care. In the most recent data collection from 2021, 53% of parents reported that their first-grade children had attended both crèche and précoce (voluntary preschool) in the years before entering school. Additionally, 29% had attended only crèche, while 17% had attended only précoce. Fewer than 1% of children had attended neither form of ECEC.

Participation patterns were similar among native and second-generation families. However, first-generation migrant families were 19% more likely to enrol their children only in crèches and were less inclined to choose précoce. This difference may be explained by the greater linguistic diversity and more flexible hours typically offered by crèches, which may better accommodate the needs of recently arrived families.

Impact of early childhood education attendance on Cycle 2.1 performance

The report also shows a clear link between early childhood education attendance, such as crèche, précoce, and Cycle 1, and better school performance in Cycle 2.1. Children who attended both crèche and précoce did slightly better in Luxembourgish listening, early reading, and math, compared to those who attended only one of them.

Even attending only précoce (instead of only crèche) is connected to better results in all three subjects. The biggest difference is seen when comparing children who did not attend any early education to those who attended only crèche – the latter scored much higher in Luxembourgish listening comprehension.