why do they speak French in Luxembourg?

Question

my french homework is to find out different countries where French is spoken(except for France obviously) and i got Canada, Switzerland and Belgium but i cant think of the reason for Luxembourg!! Please help! my homework is due in for tomorow and if i don't hand it in i get a detention! =[ xx

Answer 1

Well check out the location of Luxembourg, it's near France

other francophone countries:
Belgium
Benin
Burkina-Faso
Burundi
Cameroon
Canada
Central African Republic
Chad
Comoros
Democratic Republic of Congo
Djibouti
France
Gabon
Guinea
Haiti
Ivory Coast
Luxembourg
Madagascar
Mali
Monaco
Niger
Republic of Congo
Rwanda
Senegal
Seychelles
Switzerland
Togo
Vanuatu

Answer 2

French is only one of THREE official languages in Luxembourg. This is because Luxembourgers speak their own language (Luxembourgish) which has only recently become official, due to the fact that it is a spoken language with different dialects and has in the last few decades been officially written. The choice for writing has therefore been in the past either French or German (the two large neighbours) and has been dictated by whoever overran the country (in the past it has been both France and Germany, among others).

At school, children start at 4 years old, speaking in Luxembourgish, at the age of six, they start to learn German and then at seven they learn French. Other subjects are taught in German mostly and then later on in French. This is again for historical reasons, when Luxembourg had no university and students had to go to other countries to study. With the choice of French or German, they could go to Belgium, France, Germany, Switzerland or Austria at least and with another language the choice was even greater.

French people think that French is the only language spoken in Luxembourg and this is reinforced by the television station RTL which broadcasts in French to France and Belgium. Germans are also under the impression that everyone in Luxembourg speaks German for the same reason (RTL broadcasts in German. as well).

Luxembourgish is not directly related to Dutch or Flemish, although they all come from low German dialects and the two are not mutually comprehensible. However, German speakers in the Bitburg region of Germany and in the German speaking area of Belgium have little difficulty in understanding someone speaking Luxembourgish.

Answer 3

My family comes from Luxembourg, and the official language of the country is French. Native Luxembourgeois speak a dialect which is akin to Dutch in between themselves but Luxembourg is is the seat of the European Parliament jointly with Brussels and Strasbourg . The original common language for what was the Common Market before Britain's late entry was also French and therefore everybody in Luxembourg speaks French. Not everybody speaks German though, even though it is also taught to children very early in primary school. They start with French when they first go to school, and then are taught German later, and finally English when they go to secondary school. When I was a child there was no written Luxembourgese language and newspapers were always in French.The dialect has only been put into formal writing in the 1980s and a dictionary made then.

Luxembourg is a small country and in conflicts it tended to side with France rather than Germany. My great-grandfather felt so bad about the German occupation in the first world war that he moved all the farm buildings which stood on the German side of the frontier brick by brick and re-erected his farm on the other side of his land so as to be on the French side.
However many other countries also speak French as an official language and these have already been given to you by others above. I would like to point out that not all Canadians speak French except in Quebec.
http://www.luxembourg.co.uk/nutshell.html

Answer 4

Small countries like Luxembourg, Belgium and the Netherlands often adopt the languages of their larger neighbours as a "lingua franca" (a unifying language). Perhaps not all people in Belgium or Luxembourg (or even France) speak French as a first language, it depends on the region. Most of northern Belgium, in the Flanders region, speaks Dutch (Flemish dialect), and even a few French villages near the border are in a Dutch-speaking enclave of France, while in southern Belgium people speak French, and in the southwest they speak German. It is common for people on the Benelux countries (Bel, Ned, Lux) to speak several languages fluently. Luxembourg, on the northeastern side of France, to the south of Belgium, will be no exception.

The francophone nations of Africa are where French as a lingua franca comes into play, like English in India, there are so many local languages it would be ridiculous to expect everyone to know all of them, so people learn a common language to help them do business.

Answer 5

luxumburg, belgium and the netherlands, used to be part of the great spanish empire that stretched from spain up to the netherlands. after the 80 year war 'the republic of lowerlands was formed' this was, todays belgium, the netherlands, france and luxemburg, and a bit of france (duinkerk) the main languages being french and dutch.

it wasnt until the reign of wilhelm the 3rd that luxumburg declared independancy as a dukedom when wilhelmina rose to the dutch throne. so its short, its an area where the majority has always spoken french. luxemburgois and germans are inthe minority there.

p.s. a lot of african countries used to be french or belgian colonies, a lot of french is spoken there aswell. and ofocurse the archipelago of micronesia and polynesia (islands north of australia/indonesia)

and a few formar french colonies in the antils, an island group north of south america.

Answer 6

They do speak French and German there as Luxembourg is next to French and German speaking countries [Belgium and Germany].

You could also add Monaco to the list as well as North African countries like Algeria and Tunisia. A lot of West African countries speak French. Have a look at a map, and anywhere with a french sounding name (Cote du Ivorie, Benin, Senegal, etc) is French speaking.

There are a few French speakers in the West Indies, (Haiti, French Guiana and Martinique).

Why am I doing your homework for you???

Answer 7

Have you ever heard about a useful book called an atlas? If you were born in a town of the Grand duchy of Luxembourg, you are a citizen of the country Luxembourg. If you were born in a town of the Belgian province Luxembourg you are a Belgian.

Answer 8

Luxembourg, having been its own country, was influenced by the surrounding countries. This influence remains today. There are several sites on the net that will help you learn more about the area, use google to search and find what you need. Only one is listed below.

http://www.luxembourg.or.jp/jpn/series/about/12.pdf

Answer 9

These days you can learn how to speak French over the internet. Check out this online course, it's voted as the best French online course of all time: http://www.rocketlanguages.link/french The course is very easy to follow, I was able to learn French in just 3 months.

I live in New York City, I wanted to go to a French language teacher but that would have cost me over $800 per month. Good thing with this internet, $800 it's a lot of money for me.

Answer 10

Because in the past it has belonged to France (check Wikipedia). Dont forget that French is also spoken former French colonies in Africa (like Senegal, Algeria etc) and also many other areas in the world, like Tahiti, Mauritius, Martinique....