Minister Eric Thill Praises Growth of Luxembourgish Language at UNESCO Conference

On Monday 24 February 2025, Luxembourg’s Minister for Culture, Eric Thill, participated as a keynote speaker in the inauguration of the Language Technologies for All (LT4All) conference at UNESCO in Paris. 

The second edition of this international conference is being held in Paris from Monday 24 to Wednesday 26 February 2025. With a central theme of "Advancing Humanism through Language Technologies", the event focuses on supporting small language communities and multilingualism through digital technologies. 

In his speech, Minister Thill stressed: "Luxembourg considers its linguistic diversity as a real strength. Thanks to digital advances, the Luxembourgish language has experienced tremendous growth", adding that the government is "ready to share best practices in multilingualism and multiculturalism, as well as digital tools developed by Luxembourg with other language communities around the world and to actively contribute to international efforts."

In addition, the minister highlighted the development of digital tools facilitating language learning, inclusion and integration. The linguistic situation in Luxembourg as well as Luxembourgish language technologies were also discussed at the conference. 

Computational linguist at the Zenter fir d’Lëtzebuerger Sprooch (ZLS - Centre for the Luxembourgish Language), Dr Christopher Morse, gave a presentation entitled "Redefining Progress in the Margins: Lessons from Big Tech & Small Data", in which he detailed the progress made in digital applications for the Luxembourgish language. He also presented the specific case of Luxembourgish as a small language in a multilingual context and discussed the lessons to be learned from the development of language technologies. The Luxembourg delegation also had constructive exchanges with various international experts and stakeholders in the digital sector. 

As part of the LT4All conference, Minister Thill invited participants to discover the travelling exhibition “D’Lëtzebuerger Sprooch(en)” (Luxembourgish Language(s)). This exhibition by the ZLS was installed on Tuesday 18 February 2025 in the Salle des pas perdus at UNESCO headquarters and included in the programme of conferences and round tables organised on Friday 21 February 2025, on the occasion of International Mother Language Day (IMLD). The Ministry of Culture reported that hundreds of visitors were able to learn about the linguistic situation in Luxembourg and the Luxembourgish language.

Luxembourg was represented by Head of International Relations and European Affairs at the Ministry of Education, Children and Youth, Claude Sevenig, who presented Luxembourg’s initiatives to promote multilingualism from early childhood. In addition, during the cultural festivities organised each year in the evening as part of IMLD at UNESCO, the Luxembourgish language was highlighted this year by rapper Nicool, who performed three of her songs.

On the first day of the conference, Minister Thill took advantage of his presence there to meet with senior UNESCO officials with a view to strengthening cooperation in the fields of culture and communication. The ministry said he had productive discussions with Deputy Director-General for Culture at UNESCO, Ernesto Ottone, and Deputy Director-General for Communication and Information at UNESCO, Tawfik Jelassi.

These meetings were part of Luxembourg's application to become a member of the UNESCO Executive Council for the period 2025 to 2029. The discussions mainly focused on culture and peace, culture as a key sustainability objective and access to culture, one of the political priorities of the Minister for Culture.

SM