r/Luxembourg • u/david_fire_vollie • 7d ago

Ask Luxembourg How comfortable are native Luxembourgish speakers speaking German?

I understand they don't like French very much, have an accent when they speak French, and are taught in French at school when they're older.
But with German, it's very similar to Luxembourgish and it's the langage (Reddit won't let me spell it correctly) of instruction when they start school, at a time where the mind is more easily able to pick up foreign languages.
With these comibned, does this mean German is like a second mother tongue for the natives?

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u/NOC_Volta1re 7d ago

Luxembourgers are very diverse i'd say, you can have luxembourgish families that are more french orientated others more german.

For my part I grew up watching german TV, playing online games in german communities. Other friends of mine watched "Club Dorothée" growing up.

My generation learned german in the first year of primary school and french the year after, so there is not much difference. I don't know if this is still the case today, and maybe others can complete this part.

I believe in the end it comes down to whom your friends are growing up, and what language is easier for you to pick up.

In my case german is the stronger suit expressing myself.

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u/david_fire_vollie 7d ago

TV is an interesting one. I assume no TV shows are dubbed in Luxembourish, so you have to choose between French and German? On free to air TV, is there a mix? For example could one american sitcom be dubbed in French, and then another one in German?

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u/NOC_Volta1re 7d ago

the simpsons used to be dubbed in luxembourgish, but that's only a couple of years ago. rtl - simpsons

20 years ago, the luxembourgish channels were RTL.LU NordliichtTV and ChamberTV. well stil today, but now every major municipality has their "channel" aswell.

We'd really watch german/french channels such as Sat1, Prosieben RTL2, TVI, M6, etc.

American sitcoms that I watched dubbed into german are

  • Friends
  • Home improvement (ger. Hör mal wer da hämmert)
  • The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (ger. Der Prinz von Bel-Air)
  • According to Jim (ger. Immer wieder Jim)
  • Married... with children (ger. Eine Schrecklich Nette Familie)
  • and many more '