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/Facktat 6d ago

I wouldn't say second mother language because most Luxembourgish speakers pronounce German pretty poorly but the majority of them understands german 100% and speaks fluently. I think this mainly comes from the fact that we mostly grew up watching German TV. At least that's how it is in the east.

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u/david_fire_vollie 6d ago

Do you think it would be on par with Swiss Germans?

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u/Facktat 6d ago edited 6d ago

It depends on what you consider on par. Swiss Germans have probably the same vocabulary but also have big problems pronouncing high German. I would say that we both have a strong but very different accent and whether a German understands the one or the other better depends where he comes from within Germany.

Also just for fun. Luxembourgers have a few linguistic anomalies which sound strange to Germans. Like we say quiet but mean slow (because it’s the same word in Luxembourgish) or we use the French pronunciation when spelling letter individually.

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u/Biou_ Schueberfouerméindeg 4d ago

Maybe not for all letters though? :D https://lod.lu/artikel/V1