So I learn Luxembourgish - P1

Here I will share my secret plan to learn a new language, Luxembourgish, without class or boring stuffs.

1. Why do I learn Luxembourgish?

I am not a fan of normal language curriculums with no creative and amble boring. Thus I decide to learn the new language by myself, the Luxembourgish.

Why Luxembourgish? Because I am living in Luxembourg. So simple like that. 

2. What is Luxembourgish?

Luxembourg is a small country in West Europe with a population of 600,000 (only a half are Luxembourgish citizen). Although small, this country is very powerful. It is the founder of United Nation, NATO, and European Union. And it is very rich. This is the richest country in the world. I came to this country to study Ph.D, then working here.

Luxembourgish, to some extends, is a dialect of German mixed French. Its pronunciation and grammar is simpler than German. However, it is also a trap: there is no way to know whether a Luxembourgish word is spoken with German or French system.

3. What are normal language programs and why are the boring?

In a normal language programs, 16 people gather is a classroom and the teacher may (or may not) share time slots talking to learners. Why should I expect from the "pretend to be polite" room of chimpanzees? 

4. My plans

Here is my secret plan for the new language program in the 21st century:

- Use technologies as much as possible.

- Be as diverse as possible (more context).

That means I will learn Luxembourgish from newspaper, movie, music, and poems (why not?).

Here is my plan for today:

- Go to RTL.lu and find today's most sounded news.

- Use Google Translate to understand paragraphs and list new words

- Go to LoD.lu to check pronunciation. 

- Use Google to find more context for each word.

5. So what I learn today

Hmm, the hottest news today should be the presidential election in France. Go to RTL.lu, I can easily find the top news:

INTERNATIONAL - EMMANUEL MACRON VS. MARINE LE PEN

Frankräich wielt e Sonndeg en neie President oder eng Presidentin

I don't understand this title, however, it looks that about France President :). Anyway, the top of the news say Macron vs. Le Pen, so this news should be what I am looking for.

 

First, I will use Google Translate to translate this title. Here is the result:

INTERNATIONAL - EMMANUEL MACRON VS. MARINE LE PEN

France elects a new president or president on Sunday

Got it. It is news about French election. So break down words using LoD.lu:

- Frankräich [fʀˈɑŋkʀæːɪɕ] sounds like French, so it is quite easy to remember.

- wielt: the root word is  wielen [vˈiələn], means "to elect". Now using Google to search for "Luxembourg wielen", I got an image:

Ok, this image has an symbol 18+, so easy to stick with the word "elect". Now I remember "wielen" 18+ for the rest of my life. Viva wielen!

Next, "e", should be an article. So I search for "Luxembourgish articles', and got the first link to The Luxembourgish Definite & Indefinite Articles from Anne, which have:

- The definite articles:

d’ = feminine

de(n)* = masculine

d’ = neuter

- The indefinite articles:

eng = feminine

e(n)* = masculine

e(n)* = neuter

Yah, now I am an expert in Luxembourgish articles.

The next word, Sonndeg [zˈondəɕ] , means Sunday. It seams easy to remember since it really sounds like Sunday. So I predict Sonn means Sun, and Deg means Day.

Then typing "neie" to LoD.lu, I got a word nei [nɑɪ]  (new). Hmm, the "e" at the end of the word is missing. However, I will not go much deeper for today, just remembering some new words and articles is enough for a feat.

The word President [pʀəzidˈænt] (president) is easy, just the pronunciation is a bit different. Oh, now I recognise a pattern, that all nouns are in capital in Luxembourgish.

- oder [ˈoːdɐ] means "and". Hmm, I should take a day to learn more about conjunction words.

- Eh voila, "eng", is an indefinite article for feminine word. So Presidentin [pʀəzidˈæntin] should be a woman president. I also try to search this word in Google, and it is also used for the first lady!

So a summary of what I learnt today:

- In Luxembourgish: Frankräich, wielen, d' / d' / den, en / en / eng, e Sonndeg, nei, President / Presidentin, oder.

- In English: French, to elect, the, a / an, a Sunday, new, president / woman president / first lady, or.

So 9 new words and grammar about articles, not bad for the first day. To round for 10, I learn another word, Lëtzebuergesch [lˈətsəbuːɐ̯jəʃ], meaning Luxembourgish. So I go to Youtube and search for "Lëtzebuergesch music" and found Lëtzebuergesch Musék (luxembourgish music). So I bet that Musék means music :).

6. My feeling and my plan for tomorrow

My feeling is that  I can remember words easier. Once I know enough words, I can read news like Luxembourgish and living a normal life like people here. Oh, next time I will listen to Luxembourgish music with lyrics.

My plan for tomorrow: learn Luxembourgish with a poem or a song.