New tool allows language learners to check Luxembourgish spelling skills

Mastering the Luxembourgish language and spelling is essential if you want to obtain Luxembourgish nationality, but it is also essential for certain types of jobs.

A new standardised test launched Monday offers people a chance to assess their skills in Luxembourgish spelling and obtain a certificate issued by the Institut national des langues (INL). The test is aimed at both Luxembourgers and non-Luxembourgers.

90 questions

The test leading to the Zertifikat Lëtzebuerger Orthographie is taken on a tablet at the INL. “It lasts around forty minutes and consists of 90 questions randomly selected from a large catalogue of questions,” the Ministries of Culture and National Education, Children and Youth explained. “Each question consists of a sentence in which the person being tested must choose the correct spelling for a given word from among four proposed spellings. Only one answer is correct.”

The test is evaluated directly via the application on the tablet. The result is expressed as a percentage of correct answers. Each candidate who completes the test receives an official certificate from the INL indicating the percentage obtained.

Interested candidates can register on myinl.inll.lu and make an appointment to take the test at the INL. A registration fee of €30 will be charged for the test and the issue of the certificate.

A further incentive to learn the language

The Zertifikat Lëtzebuerger Orthographie is the result of a collaboration that began in July 2021 between the Zenter fir d’Lëtzebuerger Sprooch (ZLS), the Luxembourg Center for Educational Testing (LUCET) and the INL.

On Monday, Minister for Culture Eric Thill (DP) explained that the test “is the culmination of a further element in the action plan to promote the Luxembourg language”.

Claude Meisch (DP), minister for national education, children and youth, said the launch of the standardised test “responds to the increased use of written Luxembourgish and is an additional incentive for Luxembourgers and non-Luxembourgers alike to learn to write the language correctly”.

(This article was first published by Virgule. Translation and editing by Duncan Roberts.)