10 back-to-school sentences that simplify your life

Autumn has officially arrived, the kids are back in school and the adults are back at work. Hopefully, you have had a chance to recharge your batteries and are feeling a renewed sense of energy as life and work are speeding up again after the summer break. Maybe you have vowed to finish some important projects before the end of the year or simply taken on some new challenges. Maybe you have even decided to start learning Luxembourgish.

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Overcome Your Fear of Speaking Luxembourgish in 5 Easy Steps

Every one of us can find an excuse not to learn and speak a foreign language. And it’s only natural to do so. After all, communicating in a different language takes us out of our comfort zone completely and puts us at the mercy of our native conversation partners. Yes, it can be awkward to make a mistake but we are grownups and should know how to laugh it off at this point in our lives. I have learned five foreign languages in my life and never once offended a native speaker to the point where they marched off in anger or pointed their finger at me laughing out loud.

So, what can you do to overcome your fear and start speaking today?

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How to avoid embarrassing moments with Luxembourgers

It can be quite awkward when you greet a woman in Luxembourg and you start with the wrong cheek for kisses. Or you only expect two kisses and the other person goes for a third one and you land on each other’s noses. Avoid it if you can! Here are some other face-saving facts you should know about Luxembourgish etiquette.

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"Going to the cottage", a Canadian tradition explained by a Luxembourger

Lots of new Canadian experiences this weekend! Friends of ours invited us up to their cottage at the Georgian Bay in Ontario. "Going to the cottage" is a favourite Canadian pass time activity that has to be experienced at least once a summer.

This is when all the city dwellers and suburb creatures drive North from anywhere between one hour and 2 days to spend the weekend or in some cases two months during the school summer holidays in a wooden cabin somewhere in the middle of nowhere and usually right next to

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Liz WengerTourism, Canada
An expert opinion on the Luxembourgish of Stéphanie, Hereditary Grand Duchess of Luxembourg

On June 24, 2014, on the occasion of the Luxembourg National Day, Hereditary Grand Duchess Stéphanie gave her first TV interview in Luxembourgish. Stéphanie, born in Belgium, only started learning Luxembourgish about two years ago and her TV interview caused quite the stir in the comments sections across the web.

Just how good is her Luxembourgish?

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On the personal advantages gained from knowing Luxembourgish

Can you imagine lying on a hospital bed trying to explain the anesthetic you need to a room full of foreign-speaking doctors? This is what happened to my husband at the beginning of our time in Luxembourg.

Learning a foreign language as an adult can seem like a daunting task, especially with a busy work and family schedule. Many people simply don’t have the

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Radio interview with Liz about teaching Luxembourgish and emigrating

This week, I had the pleasure to be interviewed by the well-known radio moderator Gilles Wunsch from Radio 100,7 (www.100komma7.lu).

Luxembourgish national day is coming up on June 23rd when we celebrate 175 years of independence as well as the Grand Duke's official birthday. To honour these events, Radio 100,7 is running a special this month where concepts relating to nationality, identity and homeland are explored.

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Restaurant recommendations in Luxembourg (mostly in the city, but also in the country)

I was recently asked for restaurant recommendations by a Canadian friend of mine who was planning a business trip to Luxembourg with the Vice President of his company.

Even though I had a few ideas of my own, I thought I would ask the Learn Luxembourgish Facebook community for help. The result was a long list of very different restaurants in Luxembourg City that all sounded delicious. Take a look!

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How to use Facebook and Twitter to learn Luxembourgish for free

Dramatically improve your Luxembourgish by increasing your exposure to it. The more your brain hears and sees Luxembourgish, the more familiar it becomes. Language learning needs a lot of repetition and luckily nowadays, we have a lot more options to do this in a fun way.

One of those easy, fun and free ways of learning Luxembourgish is to sign up to the Learn Luxembourgish Twitter and Facebook feeds where you will get daily Luxembourgish-English vocabulary, sentences and expressions.

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What is the Luxembourg Carnival (Fuesent) about?

Did you miss the opportunity to dress up for Halloween last October or was your costume so good that you want to show it off again? Join the festivities of the Luxembourg Carnival (Fuesent) that has all the makings of a great party: dressing up, fun music and wonderful treats!

 

The Luxembourg Fuesent starts on Candlemas Day (Liichtmëssdag) on February 2nd and ends on

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Ask your Valentine out on a date... in Luxembourgish

Valentine’s day is approaching and maybe you want to take this opportunity to ask your secret crush out on a date. Maybe your crush is your long-time partner and you are planning a romantic dinner. Or maybe you haven’t gotten that secret crush yet and would like to go out in the hopes of finding him or her. Either way, I’ve got you covered with this plan.

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Luxembourgish, dialect or language?

What is Luxembourgish?

Luxembourgish, or Lëtzebuergesch, is the native language of Luxembourgers. Foreigners often tell me it sounds like Dutch but softer. It has kept much of the German grammar and syntax and a lot of its words can be traced back to either German or French.

Isn’t it just a dialect?

Technically no. In 1984, Lëtzebuergesch was established as the national language of Luxembourg and adopted as one of three official languages, alongside German and French. However, the question of when and how a dialect becomes a language is not a simple one to answer.

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Start learning Luxembourgish by looking at common verbs

It can be a bit frustrating when you start learning a new language. It just seems that there is so much to learn before knowing even the basics. Where do you start? And how do you know if you’ve made any progress?

Today, we will look at a common-verb list you can find on the Infolux website

Learn how to use this list whether you're a beginner or advanced learner. 

 

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My favourite Kleeschen song

I have never really been one for singing songs until my son was born two and a half years ago. There is nothing more soothing to a crying baby than a song sung by mom and dad (well, a song, and a swaddle, and gently rocking, and a soother, and all the other things you'll try in desperation... ok, you got me).

Nonetheless, I found myself running out of songs I could sing from start to finish pretty fast. So here's to building a repertoire of Luxembourgish songs on the eve of Saint Nicolas day!

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Luxembourgish culture: Who is Dicks?

Dicks, Luxembourgish writer, poet, lawyer, Prime Minister. He is credited with the writing and producing of the first theater play in the Luxembourgish language, then known as the ‘Luxembourger German dialect’. 

Some of the songs that Dicks composed for his plays, are still known and sung today. One example is the song called ‘Ech sinn e groussen Hexemeeschter’ from the operetta ‘D’Mumm Séis oder De Geescht’. Lyrics and English translation to be found here.

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Try this memorization technique for verb conjugations

 

Do you remember verb conjugation from your school days? Reading, covering up the solution, trying to remember the correct answer, writing and re-writing endless lists of verbs... for a lot of people, this was not much fun (even though, depending on your learning preferences, this might actually have worked for you). We will try a different method here so you can see for yourself if that works for you as a primary method of learning Luxembourgish verb conjugations, or maybe just as an occasional change in your language-learning routine.

This method relies on the assumption that language is better learned when we use our imagination and emotions and not simply repeat endless lists of words. 

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