Pierre Reding, Commissioner for the Luxembourgish language, told RTL Radio everyone should feel confident enough to try speaking Luxembourgish, in an interview on Friday.
The Grand Duchy is participating in the European Day of Languages for the very first time on Friday with campaigns, conferences, and activities. To mark the occasion, Luxembourg's Commissioner for the Luxembourgish language, Pierre Reding, spoke to RTL about upcoming plans and the ongoing appeal to the public and municipal councils to share their ideas for future celebrations of language.
Give the public a chance to speak Luxembourgish
Reding said the main aim of the day is to encourage the use of Luxembourgish in the Grand Duchy. Luxembourgers should give their foreign colleagues the opportunity to express themselves in Luxembourgish without automatically switching to another language out of politeness, he added. "We have to give them a chance." Reding suggested repeating things and praising foreigners who make the effort to speak the national language. He said most people complained to him that they did not have sufficient opportunities to speak Luxembourgish.
Prioritising Luxembourgish in the new French literacy curriculum
Reding welcomed the fact that PE, art, and science lessons would continue to be held in Luxembourgish for pupils embarking on the nationwide French literacy programme in primary schools. The language was well-received during the programme's pilot phase.
Reding also endorsed education minister Claude Meisch's suggestion that every private school in Luxembourg should introduce compulsory Luxembourgish lessons.
All care facilities should have perfect Luxembourgish speakers among their staff
Learning Luxembourgish starts with the youngest in society, said the Commissioner. It was therefore important for every childcare facility to have at least one member of staff fluent in Luxembourgish. He said it would not benefit anyone to have French-speaking educators teaching young children poor Luxembourgish, so there should be staff who understand and speak perfect Luxembourgish. Luxembourg's Institute of Languages has developed a good method to encourage this.
The same challenge exists for staff in care homes and hospitals. The action plan for Luxembourgish sought to introduce internal language courses in these structures, but in reality these lessons are difficult to implement due to many factors. Another proposal seeks to promote Luxembourgish through "language mentors".
Fully booked courses
The INL's language courses are usually fully booked in record time after spaces are released. Reding said the most recent courses were sold out in just four minutes. These usually account for around 10,000 spaces.
Reding is also responsible for putting together and implementing the action plan for Luxembourgish. As a result, he visited the Chamber of Deputies earlier this week to present an interim report.
