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Luxembourgish Language Day: where to go with your child.

Parents

On Saturday 26 September, Luxembourgish Language Day offers 68 events across the country. For a child aged 3 to 6, three outings stand out. And one detail matters if you planned to let your child hear Luxembourgish at the Luxembourg City library: the children's readings there are in French, English and German.

What you need to know

This is the second edition of the Dag vun der Lëtzebuerger Sprooch, organised by the Ministry of Culture with the Zenter fir d'Lëtzebuerger Sprooch, on the same day as the European Day of Languages. Its mascot is a squirrel, the Kaweechelchen, picked because the word is a favourite among people learning the language. It is also the word Kawi takes its name from.

The slogan, "Dat ass…" ("This is…"), showcases words such as Seechomes, the ant, or Gromperekichelchen, the potato fritter. The full programme can be filtered by type of activity and by place.

Three outings designed for little ones

A puppet story in Obercorn. At Hall O, from 9:00 to 10:30, Diane Catani uses "Lisidisi" to tell a bilingual story in Luxembourgish and French, which the children then act out together in Luxembourgish. This workshop is for children from cycle 1.1 to cycle 2.1, meaning from the first year of Spillschoul (the Luxembourg kindergarten, around age 4), together with their parents. Fifteen children at most, with registration through the City of Differdange (workshop details). It is the outing closest to what we believe in: the child listens, joins in and acts it out, and nothing feels like a lesson.

A reading in Luxembourgish in Eschdorf. At the library, from 14:00 to 15:00, author Renée Weber reads "Den Hu an dat klengt Gespenst" and "Dem klenge Felix seng grouss Rees". The listing says from age 3, free entry, no registration (reading details).

An animated film in Dudelange. At CinéStarlight, at 14:00, the premiere of "De Julian ass eng Nix !", the Luxembourgish version, adapted by Jang Linster, of a film based on Jessica Love's picture book "Julian is a Mermaid". Tickets are free but must be booked with the cinema. The listing gives no recommended age and plans a screening of an hour and a half, which is long for a 3-year-old (screening details).

At the City Library, Luxembourgish is not on the programme

The children's reading corner of the Luxembourg City library offers three readings at 11:30: "Le Petit Prince" in French with Pauline Discry, Rachel Bright's picture books in English, and Suza Kolb's books in German. At 12:00, a felt bookmark workshop with designer Anne-Marie Herckes, registration at tuffi@vdl.lu. Entry is free for all of them.

This is not a mistake: the Day also celebrates the country's multilingualism. But if your goal is for your child to hear Luxembourgish that day, Obercorn and Eschdorf are the right places.

And for you, a crash course

Two municipalities offer a two-hour course to learn your first words, free and with no prior knowledge needed: in Mondorf-les-Bains, from 9:30 to 11:30, no registration, and in Tétange, from 16:30 to 18:30, with registration through the municipality of Kayl.

You will probably trip over Kaweechelchen. Your child far less, and talent has nothing to do with it: that is what the Luxembourgish words that trip up adults explain, words that children under 6 pronounce without effort.

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