i was able to enroll in the luxembourgish course :) it's good to be able to start on something while i'm still searching for a job, and meet other people as well. the course will be a bit of a challenge because it is immersion luxembourgish, but because it's only beginner level and no one understands what the teacher is saying, she speaks french most of the time. it seems that every other student is completely fluent in french, possibly as a first language, but for me it's a double immersion in 2 foreign languages. i'm happy about that though, because i'm able to hear and practice french, and work on both languages at the same time. i was happy to notice that i could understand 90% of what the teacher was saying, and could chat a little bit in french with the students sitting near me :) 

(Byki Express)

a little bit about luxembourgish: it's spoken by only 390,000 people in the world (according to wikipedia), which is less than the population of luxembourg, at 493,500... it is probably spoken within the country by only around 300,000 because about 37% of the population are immigrants. compared to a city in canada like mississauga, which has a population 668,549, it is as though it is the language spoken by only half a city in the world. and considering the fact that it is an official language that is as distinct from german as dutch is (according to ethnologue) and used daily by luxembourgers in conversation, newspapers, and tv makes it quite amazing! 
so even if studying it isn't exactly very helpful anywhere else in the world, if i'm able to read the signs on the street, and understand what the cashier says at the shop, i think it will make living here that much nicer :)


i was also really struck by how multilingual this city really is. toronto is one of the most multicultural places in the world with hundreds of languages, but those languages are spoken in specific environments with other first-language speakers of them, while english is used everywhere else. occasionally one can find a bank in an ethnic area where the tellers can speak chinese and english, or portuguese and english, but that's really the extent of public multilingualism. here, people actually live in different languages. some people live entirely in english, some in french, some in luxembourgeois, and maybe it is even possible to live entirely in german. tellers at the bank or public offices easily switch between the 4 languages, and i'm sure some of them also speak dutch or portuguese. looking through job listings i see some bilingual positions but the most common are trilingual, and many are quadrilingual. as multicultural as toronto is, i don't think too many job positions want quadrilingual workers! 


although i used to feel that i spoke a few languages, now i realize how far i am from functionally trilingual and just feel in awe of the many people i see who are so fluent in so many languages!
so on that note, i have to go buy my luxembourgeois textbook and study some french as well this afternoon.

eternal

photo of the flame from taylor mcconnell 

the other night the eternal flame of luxembourg was out when we passed by... that isn't supposed to happen to eternal flames, is it?

day 5 in lux

i've been here for a few days now, and been pretty productive. i've already applied to a bunch of jobs, which was a priority, and can now deal with less important things and relax a little. 


some impressions so far:
-the streets are so clean and well-planned! amazing in comparison to toronto.. there are bike lanes everywhere, often separate from cars, veloh! bikes to borrow all over the city, and even scooter/motorcycle parking spots on the sidewalk

-it seems pretty safe.. the most 'dangerous' people i've seen so far are the teenage 'thugs' who hang out on the steps to the train station, singing french rap songs

-you can consider polish and luxembourgish drivers as opposites: polish won't even slow down for pedestrians, you just have to run across and hope you don't die, whereas in luxembourg people stop for me when i'm not even planning to cross the street..

-the food in the shops is reaally good :) a bit annoying that they run out of things like bread by evening, but that means it's always fresh

-there is a cookie called speculoos which apparently people are obsessed with. i got yogurt with it on the bottom, so assumed it was a type of fruit, but no it was yogurt with cookie mush on the bottom. i've seen it in many things and yesterday i wanted to buy peanut butter but instead found crunchy speculoos paste for spreading on bread. but it is quite a tasty cookie :)

it's a bit funny but somehow because i've decided to live here simple tasks seem pretty scary. if i was travelling, then i would maybe attempt to use french but just use english most of the time. because i'll be going to the same shops as a regular though, i feel that i should use french because it's the main language along with luxembourgish and it just feels rude not to use it if i'm able to. but i haven't spoken french really for about 6 years so just to say 'un pain au chocolat et un café s'il vous plaît' makes me all nervous. going out and having conversations in stores and restaurants is the best way to get over it i'm sure, but it's still scary. 

i tried to join a luxembourgeois course on monday actually, but it was full and i'm on a waiting list. hopefully a space will open up! i especially want to study french but there aren't any affordable courses starting soon, and knowing how to have a basic conversation at a store in luxembourgish would be nice. i'm really curious about the language and it would be quite fun to speak it a little bit :)