Discover our interview with Raluca CARANFIL, who is using the mobile app "365 Days Luxembourgish" to learn Luxembourgish.
Introduce yourself
I am Raluca Caranfil, a journalist, living across the border in Arlon, but working in the middle of Luxembourg City. I speak English, Romanian, French, Italian, Spanish, a little bit of German and now I’m learning Luxembourgish.
When did you start to learn Luxembourgish? What motivated you to do so?
I was introduced to Luxembourgish during my master’s at the University of Luxembourg, where I’ve learned the story behind the language, why it was necessary for it to exist, when it was considered a language and other fun trivia about it, but I have actively start learning Luxembourgish half a year ago.
I think every person living or working in Luxembourg should know a few words in the local language and that for me is not French nor German, it’s Luxembourgish. When we travel to a new place, we make an effort to learn the basics, such as “Hello!” and “Bye!” or “Thank you!” why wouldn’t we do the same at least for the place we live in?
Also, I find that only the intention of learning Luxembourgish puts a smile on the faces of the local people I interact with and that to me it’s a plus. I only hope that in the future I could have a conversation in Luxembourgish. I happen to think that a language is more than vocabulary and grammar, it encapsulates also traditions, food, or in a word the culture of that language. And as I happen to live here, I also want to know the culture of this place and learning the language helps. I like the multiculturality of Luxembourg, but I also applaud the efforts made to promote the Luxembourgish language.
How do you find this experience?
As I’ve just learned the basics in German, Luxembourgish for me came easily.
When I’ve first arrived here, I thought Luxembourgish was a Germanic language with French accents,