Language & Landmarks: Luxembourg

Gudde Meurgen, Guten Morgen, Bonjour, and welcome to Luxembourg City, the capital and only true big city in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. Luxembourgers may start their day with one or all three of these greetings, because there are three official languages spoken in this country, the size of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. Bordered by Belgium, France and Germany the mother tongue, Luxembourgish, was once only a spoken language. This “language of the heart” had no grammatical rules or standard spelling, so out of necessity, French and German were adopted as national languages. Luxembourg’s children receive their preschool instruction in Luxembourgish, switch to German for primary school and French for the upper grades. Reflecting its truly international outlook, other languages including English are also spoken by many residents of Luxembourg City, making these individuals “quadrilingual”, able to speak four languages! The country of Luxembourg was one of the founding members of the United Nations, Benelux and the European Union, demonstrating its commitment to European solidarity, economic cooperation and quality of life. One of the wealthiest cities in the world, the capital, is home to many EU institutions and world banks. Luxembourg, with its fascinating architectural mix of the modern and the traditional, has been called “one of the world’s happiest nations” by UN Secretary General Perez de Cuellar, and why not? The CIA Fact book ranks it #1 in per capita income worldwide and #3 in GDP per capita. Although the family oriented and private people are not boastful, they are proud to claim one of the world’s highest standards of living with optimum population density and a high literacy rate. It is a proven fact that learning a foreign language increases cognitive development, promotes creativity, and contributes to flexibility and divergent thinking. Ruled and occupied by conquerors and kingdoms throughout its early history, in the 19th century Luxembourg adopted its motto “We want to remain what we are.” The more one discovers, learns, examines and appreciates this vibrant crossroads of European culture, rich with economic strength, diversity of people and languages... we can understand why.

– Mary Beauregard, Global LT Intercultural Consultant

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