Sproochentest guide
Talking About Food in the Sproochentest
Food is a friendly A2 topic: ordinary questions that repeat, short answers you can own, and one verb trap (iessen vs drénken) to sidestep.
Food is one of the friendliest topics you can draw in the speaking interview, and you pass it with a plain, true-enough answer you already own, not the honest complicated one. The examiner is not checking your diet. They want to hear you keep a small conversation going about something you do every single day.
Food sits in the interview, the first part of the speaking test. The whole speaking test runs 10 minutes, in two parts of five, with the interview before the picture description (INL). It is graded at A2, the level of plain everyday talk. Nobody is testing your cooking.
What the examiner asks about food
The questions are ordinary, and they repeat. These come up again and again:
- Wat ass Äre Liiblingsiessen? (What is your favourite food?)
- Kacht Dir gär? (Do you like cooking?)
- Wat iesst Dir moies? (What do you eat in the morning?)
- Iessen Dir heiansdo am Restaurant? (Do you sometimes eat at a restaurant?)
- Kennt Dir e lëtzebuergescht Plat? (Do you know a Luxembourgish dish?)
None of them needs a clever answer. Each one needs three or four steady sentences. That is the whole job.
The verb trap that catches people
One small mistake trips up otherwise good answers. In Luxembourgish, you eat your food and you drink your coffee, and the two verbs never swap.
You eat food with iessen, but coffee takes drénken. Say drénke Kaffi, never iesse Kaffi.
Breakfast is a clean place to feel the difference: Moies iessen ech Brout mat Kéis an drénke Kaffi. (In the morning I eat bread with cheese and drink coffee.) The bread you eat. The coffee you drink. Here is which verb to reach for:
| You mean | Verb | Example from the bank |
|---|---|---|
| food on a plate | iessen | Moies iessen ech Brout mat Kéis. (In the morning I eat bread with cheese.) |
| anything in a cup | drénken | ...an drénke Kaffi. (...and drink coffee.) |
| making the meal | kachen | Ech kachen dat heiansdo selwer owes. (I sometimes cook it myself in the evening.) |
Get that pairing right and a short answer already sounds like real Luxembourgish.
Be boring on purpose
The examiner does not know you. Nobody is going to check what you really eat. So pick the version of your meals that you have the words for, and say it out loud before the day.
Asked for your favourite food, you do not need your true favourite. You need a sentence you can finish. This one is plenty: Mäi Liiblingsiessen ass Pasta mat Geméis. Ech kachen dat heiansdo selwer owes. Et ass einfach a schmaacht gutt. (My favourite food is pasta with vegetables. I sometimes cook it myself in the evening. It is easy and tastes good.) Three short sentences, all sayable. That is a full A2 answer, and it covers your share of the five minutes.
Name one Luxembourgish dish
If the examiner asks whether you know a local dish, having one ready shows you have made an effort, and it gives them an easy thing to follow up on. You do not need to have cooked it. Name it, say one thing about it, and stop.
Jo, ech kenne Judd mat Gaardebounen. Dat ass geréicherten Ham mat Gaardebounen. (Yes, I know Judd mat Gaardebounen. It is smoked ham with broad beans.) If pork does not fit your diet, Bouneschlupp (green bean soup) or Gromperekichelcher (potato fritters) work just as well. One dish by name is enough.
A common follow-up is Wat heescht fir Iech gesond iessen? (What does eating healthily mean to you?). Keep it personal and short: Ech probéieren, all Dag e bëssen ze beweegen. Ech gi lafen oder spadséieren. An ech iesse vill Geméis a Fruucht. (I try to move a bit every day. I go running or walking. And I eat lots of vegetables and fruit.) You are not graded on nutrition. Just on whether you can answer a familiar question without stopping.
Practice it out loud today
Tonight, say the pasta answer five times, until it comes without you thinking. Then read the honesty trap post to see why the plain answer is the one that passes.
Frequently asked questions
What food questions come up in the Sproochentest?
Ordinary, repeating ones: your favourite food, whether you like cooking, what you eat in the morning, whether you eat out, and whether you know a Luxembourgish dish. They sit in the A2 interview, the first five minutes of the 10-minute speaking test.
What is the difference between iessen and drénken?
Iessen is to eat, for food on a plate; drénken is to drink, for anything in a cup. They never swap. Say drénke Kaffi (drink coffee), never iesse Kaffi. Getting that pairing right makes a short answer sound like real Luxembourgish.
Do I have to talk about food I really eat?
No. The examiner is not checking your diet, only your Luxembourgish. Pick the version of your meals you have the words for. Mäi Liiblingsiessen ass Pasta mat Geméis (my favourite food is pasta with vegetables) is a full A2 answer even if it is not your true favourite.
Which Luxembourgish dish should I name?
One is enough. Judd mat Gaardebounen (smoked ham with broad beans) is the national dish if pork fits your diet; otherwise Bouneschlupp (green bean soup) or Gromperekichelcher (potato fritters) work just as well. Name it, say one thing about it, and stop.
How long should a food answer be?
Three or four short sentences. None of these questions needs a clever reply. A favourite-food answer of three sayable sentences covers your share of the five-minute interview.
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