By the time they're 13, most children in the Luxembourgish school system will have switched course languages 3 times. From encountering Luxembourgish in pre-school, to learning how to read and write in primary school in German, to then switching to French for some of the subjects once they are in 7th grade….this can be a lot for students (and their parents) who don't encounter these languages at home.

The OECD even pointed out in a 2021 study that most of the dropouts in Luxembourg’s schools were immigrants, and cited the complexity of the language switches as a reason.
So in this episode of Whine and Shine, we're looking at why this system exists, what its benefits are and what is done to help students of different linguist backgrounds succeed too.

Hallder Hallderson of the education ministry and sociolinguist Sarah Muller from the University of Sheffield have shared their insight on this topic.