How to start a conversation in Luxembourgish – Part 1

If I asked you to tell me your biggest fear about having conversations in Luxembourgish, what would it be?

If you’re like most Luxembourgish learners, you’d probably say something like getting started!

I know how you feel. When I was first learning to speak English, I actually tried to avoid speaking as much as possible. Not the best strategy – Learn from my mistake: you need to actually use the language in order to improve your speaking! 🙂

So let’s get started. Today you will learn 5 easy ways to just start the conversation.  Sou, lass!

1 AT WORK, WITH COLLEAGUES YOU KNOW

Small talk at work is essential! Show your colleagues that you’re friendly by asking about them. There’s the classic question:

• Wat méchs du de Weekend? – What are you doing this weekend?

But if you want something more original, try this:

So mol, …  tell me … and ask about something you talked about a few days ago or something you want to know:

• So mol, du hues jo am Dezember Congé. Hues du schonn eppes vir? – Tell me, you are on leave in December  isn’t it. Do you have already something planned?
• So mol, weess du wéini déi nächst Reunioun ass? – Tell me, do you know when we have the next meeting?

2 AT WORK, WITH COLLEAGUES YOU DON’T KNOW

Oh, a new colleague at work. Perfect! Someone to practice Luxembourgish with! Don’t be shy, go introduce yourself. How? By saying:

Moien. Ech sinn (first name). Schéin Iech kennenzeléieren. Ech sinn (your job title). 

Beispill (example):

• Moien. Ech sinn d’Anne. Schéin Iech kennenzeléieren. Ech schaffen hei als Comptabel. – Hello. I’m Anne. Nice to meet you. Ech work here as a accountant. 

Now if you wanted to learn 8 easy steps to introduce yourself in Luxembourgish, read this lesson!

3 Trafick in town or on the motor way

When you arrive late in the morning at work or at an appointment  you could start with:

• De Moie war erëm en Accident op der Autobunn. Dofir sinn ech ze spéit op de Büro komm. Kënnt dir / Iech dat och heiansdo vir?  – There was again an accident on the motorway this morning. Therefore I arrived late at the office. Does this happen to you as well?
• De Bus hat nees Verspéidung haut. Dat kënnt regelméisseg vir. Wéi kënns du dann an d’Stad? – The bus was again late today. That happens regularly. How do you come to Luxembourg city?

4 The weather

The weather is always an interesting topic to talk about. Everybody likes talking about it. That’s the easiest way to start a conversation. You could say:

• Wat ass dat esou schéin, haut! Ech mengen, ech ginn de Mëtteg spadséieren. An du? – It’s so lovely today. I think, I’ll go walking this afternoon. What about you?
• Wat méchs du mat deem schéine Wieder? – What are you doing with this nice weather?
• Haut ass et awer kal. Ech hunn d’Meteo net gekuckt. – Today is really cold. I didn’t look the weatherforecast.
• Weess du, wéi d’Wieder muer gëtt? – Do you know, how the weather will be this week?

5 VISITING SOMEONE’S HOUSE

Let’s imagine that some Luxembourgish friends  invite you to their house for a barbecue. When you visit someone for the first time, it’s common to talk about the house. You can start a conversation by simply asking:

• Zënter wéini wunns du hei? –Since when have you been living here? 
• Deng Wunneng gefält mir. Wunns du scho laang hei? – I like your flat. How long have you been living here?

RECAP

So just to recap, here are the expressions from today:

• So mol, weess du wéini déi nächst Reunioun ass?
• So mol, du hues jo am Dezember Congé. Hues du schonn eppes vir?
• Wat méchs du de Weekend?
• Moien. Ech sinn d’Anne. Schéin Iech kennenzeléieren. Ech schaffen hei als Comptabel. An Dir?
• De Moie war erëm en Accident op der Autobunn. Dofir sinn ech ze spéit op de Büro komm. Kënnt dir / Iech dat och heiansdo vir?
• De Bus hat nees Verspéidung haut. Dat kënnt regelméisseg vir. Wéi kënns du dann an d’Stad?
• Wat ass dat esou schéin, haut! Ech mengen, ech ginn de Mëtteg spadséieren. An Dir?
• Wat maacht Dir mat deem schéine Wieder?
• Haut ass et awer kal. Ech hunn d’Meteo net gekuckt.
• Wess du, wéi d’Wieder muer gëtt?
• Zënter wéini wunns du hei?
• Deng Wunneng gefält mir. Wunns du scho laang hei?

My Learning TIP

Try to speak and record these sentences loudly so that they sound familiar to you! Try also to personalise them to your everyday life situations.

Download the PDF and practice!

Get the PDF!

I hope you liked it and found it useful. And …. why not sharing this lesson with your friends:-)

If you liked this lesson you may consider taking my online course Short Dialogues Level B1/B2

In this online course I focus on conversation skills. I want to help you communicate with native Luxembourgish speakers.

That means learning the communication strategies you need to have engaging, interesting conversations. If you want to understand conversations better, learn the expressions native Lux speakers use, and speak more fluently then this course is for you This course has more advanced conversations that are full of common informal expressions used by native Lux speakers. It teaches you the phrases in context so that you’ll be able to remember and use them – and become more fluent as a result.

That’s why I created this online course Short Dialogues Level B1/B2 to making more interesting conversations.

Get your FREE trial  lesson here!