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Where to study
The main public provider of Luxembourgish courses for adults is the Institut National des Langues (INL), based in Luxembourg City with a second site in Belval, which runs structured courses from beginner to advanced levels alongside courses in French, German and English. INL courses are affordable relative to private language schools, run in the evenings and during the day, and are heavily subscribed, so enrolling as early as possible in the term is worth doing rather than waiting until you feel ready.
Many communes also organise Luxembourgish courses locally, sometimes free or at a nominal cost, aimed specifically at residents, and often smaller and more informal than an INL class. Ask at your commune's reception or check its website after you register your residence; course availability and timing vary from commune to commune. A number of private language schools in Luxembourg City also teach Luxembourgish, at a higher price than the INL but sometimes with more flexible scheduling or smaller groups, which some working professionals find worth the difference.
The LOD dictionary and other tools
The LOD (Lëtzebuerger Online Dictionnaire) is a free official online dictionary maintained by the Luxembourg government, and is the standard reference for spelling and meaning once you start reading and writing the language, since Luxembourgish spelling is less familiar to French, German or English speakers than it first appears. It is a useful companion to any course rather than a substitute for one, and worth bookmarking from your first lesson. Beyond the LOD, a number of apps and podcasts aimed specifically at Luxembourgish learners have appeared in recent years, and most course providers can suggest which ones fit your level.
Paid language leave from your employer
Luxembourg has a specific form of paid leave, the congé linguistique, intended to help employees learn Luxembourgish without giving up income or annual leave to do it. According to Guichet.lu, employees and self-employed workers with at least six months at their current employer can apply for this leave to attend an approved Luxembourgish course, whether run by the INL, a commune, an approved association or another recognised provider; the leave does not apply to courses in other languages. It covers a total of 200 hours over a career, split into two periods of 80 to 120 hours each, and the second period only becomes available once the first has ended with a certificate of successful completion. During the leave, the employee is paid at their normal hourly rate, and the State reimburses the employer half of that cost plus half of the related social contributions.
The request has to go through your employer first, using an official form, and can be refused if it would seriously disrupt the organisation of work, though any refusal has to be justified. If your employer supports it, this is a meaningful way to fund a serious attempt at the language without doing it entirely on your own time and budget; ask your HR department directly, since not every company volunteers the information. Larger employers in the financial sector and the public administration tend to be more familiar with the scheme than small firms, simply because more of their staff have used it before.
The Sproochentest and Luxembourgish nationality
If you are thinking about Luxembourgish nationality in the longer term, be aware that a language test, known informally as the Sproochentest, is one of the conditions. It is organised by the INL and tests two skills at different levels: spoken production, assessed at CEFR level A2, and listening comprehension, assessed at level B1. The spoken part is a short interview of around ten minutes, choosing between two conversation topics and describing a photo, while the listening part is a computer-based test lasting around thirty-five minutes, based on short recorded extracts such as a radio announcement or an everyday conversation. Candidates need to score at least half marks on the speaking test, or reach an overall average of half marks across both parts if the speaking score falls short on its own.
Registration for the test is done through the INL's own platform, with sessions held at its Luxembourg City and Belval sites. Because a B1 listening level is a genuine step up from a beginner course, most people who plan to naturalise start their Luxembourgish studies well before they need the certificate, rather than cramming shortly before applying. Naturalisation also involves other conditions beyond the language test, such as residence duration and a citizenship course, which are outside the scope of this guide; check the current requirements on Guichet.lu before planning around a specific timeline.
Using Luxembourgish at work
Even a modest level of Luxembourgish changes how colleagues, neighbours and shopkeepers respond to you, well before you are fluent. In many workplaces where English or French is the working language, a greeting, a thank-you or a short exchange in Luxembourgish is noticed and appreciated, and can open doors socially even when it makes no formal difference to your job. In sectors closer to the public administration, healthcare or client-facing local business, a working level of Luxembourgish is a genuine professional advantage, sometimes a stated preference in job adverts, and worth building towards deliberately if you plan to stay long term.
A realistic first step
Rather than aiming straight for fluency, most newcomers do better setting an early, concrete goal: enough Luxembourgish to greet neighbours, order in a shop and follow simple exchanges, built through a first beginner course at the INL or your commune, backed up by the LOD for vocabulary. From there, whether you continue towards a Sproochentest-level command or keep it at a friendly, practical level is a matter of your own plans, not something the country requires of everyone who lives here. Joining a course also tends to bring a practical side benefit that is easy to underestimate: a room full of other newcomers from different backgrounds, doing the same thing at the same time, is one of the more natural ways to build a social circle in the first year.
Our take
Learning Luxembourgish is entirely optional for living comfortably here, but for anyone planning to stay for years, or considering nationality eventually, it is worth starting sooner rather than later, ideally with the congé linguistique doing some of the work for you if your employer supports it. If you are still choosing a neighbourhood and want to be near an INL site or a commune with active courses, our neighbourhood guides can help, or contact us for tailored suggestions.
Sources
This article gives general practical information and is not legal or tax advice. Procedures, amounts and deadlines change; check the current rules on guichet.lu or with the administration concerned.
