No longer tongue-tied

Luxembourg with all its languages would be a tower of Babel if it weren't for the many language schools scattered around the country. And, without staff at the National Institute for Languages (INL), some may argue that language teaching would never have achieved the status it has.

This year the adult education language centre celebrates its 20th anniversary, after a rapid evolution which saw its student numbers grow from 700 to 10,000 a year. And, with director Gaby Kunsch at the helm, it looks likely the INL will see more changes to come.

Never ending need

“Our job will never finish especially in this multi-cultural society that we have here in Luxembourg. There will always be a need for learning languages, for improving competencies. I think that we're working very much towards a social cohesion and social integration but also toward economic integration,” explained Mrs Kunsch.

The former French and English teacher has been in the post for six years, starting when the institution was known as the Centre of Languages for Luxembourg (CLL). And she has been busy. Since starting, Mrs Kunsch has drafted a new law creating the INL and giving new impetus to the teaching of Luxembourgish. Teaching numbers in the Luxembourgish department of the INL have since more than doubled.

She explained: “The problem for me, when I started with the CLL, was it was still based on a law passed in 1991. There also didn't really exist a professional career for a Luxembourgish teacher. They weren't really recognised as teachers.”

Gaining independence

Mrs Kunsch drafted the law, which was passed in May 2009, ensuring that the role of Luxembourgish teacher was finally recognised. At the same time, the university of Luxembourg created a Luxembourgish Masters to train the new workforce. The school became independent, gaining autonomy over its budget and changing its name to the INL.

The challenges did not end there, however. The school, which is based in Mersch and the Europe's first European school, next to the Glacis, has introduced overhead projectors, interactive white boards and has recently recruited a qualified librarian to run the school’s médiathèque.

A number of renovations have also been carried out.

However, the building, which was constructed in 1955, is limited for space. “The building is not big enough now,” said Mrs Kunsch, adding “Apart from the 5,000 students each semester there are 1,500 dossiers of people on the waiting list. People who we can't even assess because we don't have any places in courses left. This figure remains constant.”

Moving with the times

The director has a number of suggestions that would help the INL meet the demand for language learning. Among them is a proposal to extend the Glacis building or to decentralise, creating classes in places like Esch Belval.

In the meantime, the focus falls on the INL's 20th anniversary celebrations, culminating in the Magic Night of Languages on December 1. For this special event, the management have invited the INL's 5,000 currently enrolled students to showcase their talents, by giving concerts, workshops and exhibiting their art work. With 122 different nationalities represented there, they received a wide array of offers, including workshops on anything from Japanese calligraphy to Morse Code and Peruvian jewellery-making.

“I see our 20th anniversary as a start for the future. For me it's a means of awareness-raising. Especially for the Luxembourg public because we're mainly known by the non-Luxembourgish. My opinion is that many Luxembourgers don't know what we're really doing and they should know that the INL is an institution for them too.”

What the INL can offer

The INL is an official exam centre for offering people the chance to take nationally and internationally recognized qualifications in German, Chinese, French, Luxembourgish, English, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese. For information on the courses and exams offered, visit www.insl.lu