Sproochentest guide
Essential Luxembourgish Words for Sproochentest
The speaking test runs on a few hundred everyday words and five reusable sentence shapes. Learn that core first and skip the rare vocabulary.
You sit down, the examiner smiles, and the first question is about where you live. You do not need a thousand words to answer it. You need maybe ten, said cleanly. That is what the Sproochentest speaking test really rewards: a small set of common words, used with confidence, covers most of what you will actually say. Learn that core first and skip the long tail.
The speaking test is rated at A2, the level of plain everyday talk, and it runs 10 minutes in two parts, the interview first and then a picture description. A2 is a deliberately small world. Home, work, family, food, your town, the weather, and whatever sits in one ordinary photo. A few hundred high-frequency words, dropped into a handful of sentence shapes, will handle nearly all of it.
That is the 80/20 idea here, and it is a way to set priorities, not a measured statistic. Nobody has counted that exactly one fifth of the words do four fifths of the work. But the pattern is real, and anyone who has watched people sit this exam sees it. The candidates who pass are rarely the ones with the biggest vocabulary. They are the ones who know their everyday words cold.
A noun you can point at, a frame to hold it, and one reason on the end. That is the whole engine.
Start with the nouns you can point at
The picture task rewards naming. You look at an ordinary photo and you say what is in it. So the words worth owning first are concrete nouns, the kind you could point at across a room. Learn the common members of each group with the article, because gender shows the moment you open your mouth.
| Category | What it covers | Words to prioritise |
|---|---|---|
| People | the interview and every picture | e Mann (a man), eng Fra (a woman), e Kand (a child), eng Famill (a family) |
| Clothing | describing anyone in a photo | e Pullover (a sweater), eng Jackett (a jacket), e Mantel (a coat), d'Schong (the shoes) |
| Buildings and street | most outdoor pictures | d'Stad (the city), d'Haus (the house), d'Strooss (the street), d'Auto (the car) |
| Home and furniture | indoor pictures, the home topic | den Dësch (the table), de Stull (the chair), d'Kichen (the kitchen), d'Zëmmer (the room) |
| Nature and weather | the opening line of a picture | d'Sonn (the sun), de Reen (the rain), de Bam (the tree), den Himmel (the sky) |
You do not memorise these in a row. You walk through your day and name things as you pass them: the coat by the door, the cup on the table, the tree outside. Many you will recognise fast, because German or French already handed you a cousin word. Our practice bank is built from these same categories, so the words you drill are the full lists the picture task keeps asking for.
Then learn five frames, not five hundred sentences
Words alone do not pass the speaking test. Sentences do. The trick is to learn a few fixed shapes and swap your own details in. Here are five that cover a large share of what you will say. Each one is real Luxembourgish, the kind we use in the model answers.
1. Where you live.
Ech wunnen zu Lëtzebuerg. (I live in Luxembourg.) Swap in your own town.
2. What you do.
Ech schaffen an engem Buttik zu Ettelbréck. (I work in a shop in Ettelbruck.) Change the job and the place to fit your life. Or say where you are from: Ech kommen aus Marokko. (I come from Morocco.)
3. A reason, with one connector.
Ech maache gär Sport, well et gesond ass. (I like doing sports, because it is healthy.) The word well (because) sends the verb to the end of the clause. If that feels risky, split it into two short sentences instead. Both are fine at A2.
4. A routine.
Ech maachen zweemol pro Woch Sport. (I do sports twice a week.) This shape, "I do X this often," fits hobbies, shopping, family time, almost any habit.
5. Placing things in a picture.
Lénks gesinn ech e Mann. De Mann huet eng Jackett un. D'Jackett ass blo. (On the left I see a man. The man is wearing a jacket. The jacket is blue.) Name the spot, name the person, add one detail. Then move across the photo with lénks (left), riets (right), an der Mëtt (in the middle), am Vierdergrond (in the foreground), am Hannergrond (in the background).
That is the whole engine. The interview wants you to keep talking about familiar things without freezing. The picture task wants you to name, describe, and add one opinion. Both run on the same small set of parts. To close almost any answer, you can reach for Ech fannen d'Bild flott, well d'Faarwe schéi sinn. (I find the picture nice, because the colours are nice.)
What you can safely ignore for now
The fastest way to feel behind is to study the rare stuff. Long idiom lists, the perfect tense of irregular verbs, vocabulary for jobs and places you will never mention. None of that is what trips people on the day.
The listening test sits at B1 and runs 35 minutes, but it is multiple choice. You recognise words there; you do not have to produce them. Production is the speaking test, and production is where the small core does its work. If a word would never come up when you talk about your own week or describe an ordinary photo, it can wait.
Two small habits matter more than any uncommon word. Plurals like Kanner (children) come up constantly, so Ech hunn zwee Kanner. (I have two children) should feel automatic. And Luxembourgish keeps or drops a final -n depending on the next sound, which is why you say Ech gesinn e Bild (I see a picture) but lose the -n before some other words. You do not need the rule named. You need a few correct sentences in your ear.
The exam is also kinder than the worry around it. To pass you need at least 50 percent in the speaking test, or a speaking and listening average of at least 50 percent. You do not need a wide vocabulary to clear that. You need a reliable one. Press reports have put the pass rate near 70 percent (Delano, Paperjam); the INL does not publish that figure, so treat it as a rough signal, not a promise.
Pick one category from the table tonight, say People, and learn those words out loud until you can name everyone in a photo of a family. Then take frame one and say it ten times with your own details, until it comes without thinking. Tomorrow, add the next.
Frequently asked questions
How many Luxembourgish words do you need to pass the Sproochentest?
Far fewer than people fear. The speaking test is rated at A2, the level of plain everyday talk, so a few hundred high-frequency words covering home, work, family, food, your town, the weather, and an ordinary photo carry most answers. The candidates who pass are rarely the ones with the biggest vocabulary; they are the ones who know their everyday words cold.
Which words should I learn first for the speaking test?
Start with concrete nouns you could point at, and learn each one with its article, because gender shows the moment you speak. Prioritise people (e Mann, eng Fra, e Kand), clothing (e Pullover, eng Jackett, e Mantel), buildings and street (d'Stad, d'Haus, d'Strooss, d'Auto), home and furniture (den Desch, de Stull, d'Kichen), and nature and weather (d'Sonn, de Reen, de Bam, den Himmel). These are exactly what the picture task asks you to name.
Is vocabulary or grammar more important for the Sproochentest?
Neither on its own. Words pass nothing without a sentence to sit in, and grammar passes nothing with no words to fill it. The efficient path is a small core of everyday nouns plus five reusable sentence frames you can swap your own details into, like Ech wunnen zu Letzebuerg. (I live in Luxembourg.) and Ech maache gaer Sport, well et gesond ass. (I like doing sports, because it is healthy.).
What Luxembourgish words can I safely skip for now?
The rare stuff. Long idiom lists, the perfect tense of irregular verbs, and vocabulary for jobs and places you will never mention are not what trips people on the day. The listening test sits at B1 but is multiple choice, so you only need to recognise words there, not produce them. If a word would never come up when you talk about your own week or describe an ordinary photo, it can wait.
Do I need to know the gender of every Luxembourgish noun?
Not every noun, but you should learn the common ones with their article from the start, because the article is audible the instant you open your mouth. Practising d'Auto (the car, neuter) and de Stull (the chair, masculine) as whole units, article included, is far more reliable than memorising a bare word list and guessing the gender under exam pressure.
How should I practise these words so they stick?
Out loud, in context, not as a silent list. Walk through your day and name things as you pass them: the coat by the door, the cup on the table, the tree outside. Then pick one category, say People, and say those words until you can name everyone in a photo of a family. Take one sentence frame and say it ten times with your own details, until it comes without thinking.
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