KawiParent guide · learning too
Learning Luxembourgish as an adult: language leave, classes and the Sproochentest.
Your child hears Luxembourgish at school, and you would like to keep up. Good news: in Luxembourg, an employee can take up to 200 hours of leave to learn it, partly paid for by the State. Here is who is entitled, how to apply and where to find a class, alongside our guide to teaching your child Luxembourgish.
Learning alongside your child
A parent does not need to speak Luxembourgish for a child to learn it: that is the school's job. But a parent who knows a few dozen words can use them at home, sing along, and understand what the child says about their day. And the child sees that the language matters to you too.
For the first steps, the first Luxembourgish words to listen to can be discovered together, with the real pronunciation. To go further you need a class, and that is where language leave makes all the difference.
Language leave: 200 hours to learn
Language leave (congé linguistique) is a special leave that lets employees of any nationality learn Luxembourgish or improve it. It comes on top of individual training leave.
- 200 hours in total, over your whole career, in two blocks of 80 to 120 hours each.
- A second block only if the first one included a course ending in a diploma or a certificate of success.
- Part-time workers get hours in proportion.
- It can be split, with at least half an hour a day: you can take a class during working hours, bit by bit.
During the leave, the employee receives from the employer an allowance equal to their average hourly wage, capped at four times the hourly minimum social wage for unskilled workers. The State then refunds the employer half of that allowance and half of the employer's social contributions. Self-employed people are entitled too, with their own allowance.
Source: Language leave, Guichet.lu, page updated on 15 September 2022.
Who is entitled
The leave is open to employees working in Luxembourg, under contract with an employer established in Luxembourg, with at least six months' service with the same employer when they apply. Self-employed people and liberal professions are entitled after six months of activity in Luxembourg.
There is no age or residence condition: a cross-border worker employed in Luxembourg can benefit too.
The class must be given by a recognised provider: a recognised public or private school, a professional chamber, a municipality, an association approved by the minister for vocational training, a ministry or a public body.
How to apply
You apply with the dedicated form, sent to the Ministry of Labour before the class starts. An employee first has it completed by the employer, who gives an opinion. Attach the enrolment certificate showing the number of hours, a copy of the employment contract and an up-to-date social security affiliation certificate.
The employer can refuse or postpone the leave, but must give reasons: for example when too many colleagues are already absent, or during a busy period in seasonal work.
If you are aiming for citizenship: the Sproochentest
To become Luxembourgish by naturalisation, you must among other things pass the Luxembourgish language assessment, the Sproochentest, run by the National Institute for Languages Luxembourg (INLL). It assesses speaking at level A2 and listening at level B1: it is a test of the spoken language, not of writing.
Preparation classes are offered in particular by the INLL, the adult education service (Service de la formation des adultes) and their partners. The registration fees for the test, and for the adult education service's course, can be refunded on request to the Ministry of Justice, under conditions, once the citizenship application has been filed with the municipality.
People who have lived in Luxembourg for at least 20 years and apply for citizenship by option only need to attend a 24-hour Luxembourgish course.
Sources: Prerequisites for acquiring nationality, Guichet.lu (updated 15 October 2025) and Courses and exams for nationality, Ministry of Education (in French).
An adult's pace is not a child's
An adult learns through classes, reading and grammar, and needs hundreds of hours. A young child does not learn that way: they pick the language up by hearing it, a little every day. We explain it in how long it takes a child to learn Luxembourgish. The two paces fit well together: you take your class, and your child teaches you the words from their classroom.
The words of their classroom, to learn together.
Kawi plays the Luxembourgish words of school, with the official pronunciation, in short sessions designed for a parent and child: you discover them at the same time. Free to start.