RTL Today - Learn Luxembourgish: Lesson 13 – holidays and travelling

Pack your suitcase, and throw on your most brightly coloured Hawaiian shirt: The RTL Today Luxembourgish class is going on holiday!

Ee schéine gudde Moien dear learners of the Luxembourgish language! This is Lesson 13, which means that if you've been following this series regularly, you've been learning (some) Luxembourgish for at least the past 13 weeks! Go ahead and sport the smuggests smile you can muster because that is quite the achievement. As a bit of a treat, why don't we kick back and relax a little bit this week… and talk about holidays.

Good to know: The late Fausti, an entertainer and legendary figure of Luxembourgish pop culture, once released an entire album with songs specifically about going on holiday. Many of these songs became instant classics and are well-known across Luxembourg. Among the most famous are Zwou Bulle Mocca and and of course Do uewen op der Kopp which includes the lyrics Schlënnermanescht ass fir mech wéi d'Copacabana ("To me, Schlindermanderscheid is like Copacabana").

Whether you like sunbathing at the beach, going for long hikes through nature, or visiting cultural landmarks, a holiday is usually a time to take a step back and focus on what you enjoy doing. Nowadays, we often book any accommodation or transport we might need online. However, sometimes you might want to delegate that task to a traditional travel agent. Luxembourg is home to numerous travel agencies and in this lesson, we'll learn some ways to plan our lovely little get-away… in Luxembourgish! And even if you have a more DIY approach to holiday planning, you'll still pick up plenty of holiday related vocab today.

This lesson comes with another Language Basics article, which this time is all about how to express ownership in Luxembourgish. Besides grammar explanations, the Language Basics article also includes some more holiday-related vocabulary, so be sure to give it a read!

Useful phrases for booking a holiday

Let's start of with phrases related to booking a holiday!

I would like to book a holiday please. -> Ech wéilt gären eng Vakanz buchen, wannechgelift.

I'd like to travel to… -> Ech wéilt gären a(n) / op … reesen.

LearnLux_L13_1

Good to know: In Luxembourgish, we generally use a(n) when talking about visiting a mainland country (ex: I'm going to France à Ech ginn a Frankräich). We use op when talking about islands (ex: I'm going to Crete à Ech ginn op Kreta). However, there are exceptions to this! Notably, you would say Ech ginn a Groussbritannien (I'm going to Great Britain) and Ech ginn an Irland (I'm going to Ireland).

I would like to book a hotel / bed-and-breakfast / hostel -> Ech wéilt gären en Hotel / ee Bed-and-breakfast / eng Jugendherberg buchen.

I would like to travel by bus / train / plane -> Ech wéilt gäre mam Bus / Zuch / Fliger reesen.

We are X people -> Mir sinn zu X

Is breakfast included? -> Ass de Kaffi inclus?

What else is included? -> Wat ass soss nach inclus?

LearnLux_L13_2

General phrases for talking about holidays

Let's have a look at some more general holiday-related phrases:

I am going on holiday next week -> Ech ginn d'nächst Woch an d'Vakanz.

We have to be at the bus station / railway station / airport at *time* -> Mir mussen um *Zäit* op der Busgare / Zuchgare / um Flughafe sinn.

I still need to pack my suitcase. -> Ech muss nach mäi Koffer packen.

LearnLux_L13_3

Did you remember to pack your passport? -> Hues de dru geduecht, däi Pass anzepaken?

I'm on leave at the moment. -> Ech si momentan am Congé.

We are going camping this summer. -> Mir gi campen dëse Summer.

Do you have any holiday plans for the summer? -> Hues de iergendwellech Vakanzepläng fir de Summer?

LearnLux_L13_4

Overview of Luxembourg's school holidays

Thinking about it, since we are talking about holidays in Luxembourgish, why don't we have a look at the Luxembourgish names of the official school holidays as well?

Carnival holidays -> Fuesvakanz

Easter holidays -> Ouschtervakanz

Pentecost holidays -> Päischtvakanz / Péngschtvakanz

Summer holidays -> Summervakanz

All-Saints holidays -> Allerhellegevakanz

Christimas holidays -> Chrëschtvakanz

LearnLux_L13_5