Luxembourg's National Language Institute Celebrates 15th Anniversary

The Institut National des Langues Luxembourg (INLL) was created by the law of 22 May 2009, and celebrated its fifteenth anniversary yesterday, on Wednesday 22 May 2024.

With the main mission of providing modern language courses and certifying skills, the INLL has seen, since its creation, a considerable increase in registrations. Going from 8,500 registrations in 2008-2009 to 16,704 in 2023-2024, for a total of 209,217 registrations in fifteen years. The number of teachers increased from 92 in 2009 to 163 in 2024, according to INLL. The number of administrative staff also increased considerably during this period, reaching 46 members today, while there were only ten members in 2009.

Such a “success story” was celebrated with the INLL inviting its learners, its staff and its partners to share the three-tier birthday cake on its three sites at Glacis, Mersch and Esch-Belval.

The evolution of language courses in 15 years

Over the last fifteen years, to face on the one hand the challenges of the evolution of andragogy and new technologies in the teaching-learning of languages and on the other hand the demands of the constantly evolving population, INLL noted it has continually adapted and developed by offering new formats and types of courses. It has been innovating its evaluation methods as well as its teaching materials, as well. The INLL aims to constitute a gateway towards integration for all learners of diverse origins, into Luxembourg’s multilingual environment which is also a place of intercultural exchange.

The languages taught at the INLL today are German, English, Chinese, Spanish, French, Italian, Luxembourgish, Dutch and Portuguese, with a total of 1009 classes in 2023-2024 compared to 363 in 2009. Luxembourgish and French are the most popular languages with the national and international public.

The main projects developed focus on the diversification of the course offering: professional courses in collaboration with the public employment service in Luxembourg (ADEM), blended-learning courses, e-learning courses and hybrid courses.

The evolution of national and international certifications

The INLL, as a national certification centre in modern languages, collaborates closely with international institutions such as the Goethe-Institut, the TestDaf Institut, the Cambridge Assessment English, the British Council, the Instituto Cervantes, France International Education, the Università per Stranieri di Perugia and the Universidade de Lisboa to organise exams and tests.

Among its exams, the “Sproochentest Lëtzebuergesch” is the one that stands out for the number of candidates due to the growing demand.

Since 2007, at the request of the Luxembourg government, the INLL has undertaken, on the one hand, to develop criterion-referenced tests meeting European and international standards to assess the oral comprehension and expression skills in the Luxembourgish language of candidates for naturalisation and on the other hand, to guarantee the quality of its evaluation tools. The first tests for acquiring Luxembourg nationality took place in December 2008. Since then, more than 26,300 candidates have registered for this test.

The entry into force of the new law of 8 March 2017 on Luxembourg nationality has led to a substantial increase in demand.

In 2021-2022 the INLL began to offer the Sproochentest on a tablet, which made it possible to organise the oral comprehension and expression tests in a single half-day for each candidate.

The certificate for Luxembourgish language and culture (Zertifikat Lëtzebuerger Sprooch a Kultur -ZLSK) is now the certificate “training to teach Luxembourgish” (Zertifikat Lëtzebuergesch Léiere Léieren - ZLLL). One of the pillar missions of the INLL consists of the continuing training of trainers, the centre reported.

The law of 22 May 2009 created the ZLSK, consolidating the training previously given at the language centre and now giving it a legal basis. Since the creation of “ZLSK”, more than 260 people have participated in this training at INLL. With the law of 8 March 2023, creating the INLL, the ZLSK became the ZLLL.

The training leading to the ZLLL is offered by the INLL. It is accessible to any person, Luxembourgish or non-Luxembourgish, who has mastered speaking the Luxembourgish language at level C1 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) and who intends to give Luxembourgish lessons to adults.

The evolution of the INL over the last 15 years

A significant number of working groups have contributed to maintaining the quality of teaching and assessment at INLL, which are rigorously based on the recommendations of the CEFR.

Since 2013, the INLL has developed and published Luxembourgish textbooks. Since the publication of the first “Schwätzt Dir Lëtzebuergesch?” Luxembourgish language manual in 2015, more than 94,000 copies were sold (A1; A2; B1). The educational material for level B2, consisting of nine files, is available free of charge at the website https://sdl.inll.lu/.

In 2025, the INLL introduced harmonised and standardised curricula in all language departments.

In 2017, the evaluation system was reformed, transitioning from summative evaluation to continuous formative evaluation based on work plans and syllabi linked to the objectives of the CEFR. Also in 2017, the INLL expanded territorially and opened an annexe in the Maison du Savoir in Esch-Belval, thus adding a third site to its offer. Faced with the growing number of registrations, the annexe moved on 19 April 2021 to the site of the University in Esch-Belval.

April 2018 marked the return of the INLL to its main premises at Glacis, after three years of renovation work. The building now has 38 classrooms, an examination centre and eleven offices.

In September 2022 a free platform was launched for learning the Luxembourgish language (LLO.lu). Continually adapted to the needs of the public and enriched with educational material, the platform also offers its visitors activities linked to the Luxembourg language and culture, as well as information meetings for the public or trainers. Each academic year, an additional level is added to the content of the platform, which currently offers material ranging from level A1 to level B1.

In February 2024, the Luxembourgish podcast INLL Poterkëscht was launched, immersing the public in the world of the country's culture by introducing them to the Luxembourgish language.

In March 2024, the new Schwätzt Dir Lëtzebuergesch app? (SDLA) was introduced for tablets and smartphones, completing the SDL textbook series by offering an interactive and innovative learning experience. It allows the user to scan book pages and discover new content, a variety of additional exercises and other relevant information related to the topic of the page.

The INLL collaborates closely with the various actors involved in the promotion of the Luxembourgish language, such as the Luxembourgish language commissioner, the Zentrum fir d'Lëtzebuerger Sprooch (ZLS) and the University of Luxembourg.

Furthermore, the INLL recently signed an agreement with the Zentrum fir d'Lëtzebuerger Sprooch (ZLS) for the development of a test in Luxembourgish spelling.