Thanks to GukHwa Jang on Unsplash for the photo
Luxembourg’s national motto is a fun fact to drop into conversation.
I was reminded of it as I was emailing my German classes, suggesting that we might, due to a pleasing increase in numbers recently, be able to create a new advanced group. There are several variables, but one option is “to stick with the status quo”, which brings to mind a little knowledge-nugget from my linguistics module at uni:
“Mir wëlle bleiwe wat mir sinn.”
(Pronunciation guide: “wëlle” rhymes with “fella” and “bleiwe” rhymes with “fiver”)
In case you are interested to know what Luxembourgish even is, how it fits in with other languages in the vicinity, the respective translations in Dutch, German, French, and English give a strong clue where the semantic links are strongest:
“Wij willen blijven wie we zijn”
"Wir wollen bleiben, was wir sind."
"Nous voulons rester ce que nous sommes."
"We want to remain what we are.”
You might think this smacks of ultra-traditionalism, but I read it as the Luxembourgish people’s desire to retain their independent identity and national sovereignty. Somehow that sounds OK, and not at all sinister, when the country is as small as theirs.
Speaking of national mottoes, most of us are familiar with France’s classic: Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité, but how many of us knew that there’s an additional bit: “…ou la Mort”, which doesn’t seem to make it to the merch.
“Liberty, Equality, Fraternity, or Death."
Does the UK even have a national motto? I had to think pretty hard, and when I say “think pretty hard”, I really mean “ask Google” and it turns out that there is no official one, although the vaguely familiar slogan of the sovereign of the Great British people is in French: “Dieu et mon droit” (God and my right – whatever that means). And before Charles got his up-grade, his personal motto as Prince of Wales was “Ich dien” (German for “I serve”). However, a visitor to London might be forgiven for thinking that “Keep calm and carry on” is the UK's official national slogan.
Andrew Wenger, SameSky Languages
We are not currently offering courses in Luxembourgish, but if you'd like to find out about joining a German course - at any level from beginner, through intermediate, to advanced - please contact me here. We also have a few spaces lift in our French and Spanish groups, and are in the process of setting up a brand new Japanese for beginners group
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