Will my accent count against me?
The criterion is clarity, not the absence of an accent. What matters is that the examiner follows you without asking you to repeat.
Ten mistakes that cost marks
Candidates who just miss the pass mark almost always make the same mistakes. They are mistakes of method more than of language, which is good news: they fix fast.
Page updated 4 September 2026. 10 min read.
Production mistakes
The first four hit directly what the examiners hear, and a few recording sessions fix them.
- Answering with one word. Fix: one fact, one reason, one example, on every question.
- Reciting a learned text. Fix: prepare reusable blocks of sentences, not a continuous speech.
- Going silent as soon as a word is missing. Fix: three repair phrases learned by heart.
- Cycling through five verbs. Fix: ten new words per topic, forced into a recording.
Method mistakes
The next three are invisible during preparation. They are paid for on exam day.
- Working on the language in general rather than on the exam format. Fix: reproduce the format, with the choice between two topics and the follow-ups.
- Never recording yourself. Fix: a two-minute recording a day, listened back once.
- Training on slowed-down audio. Fix: real-speed documents only, even if you understand less.
The most expensive mistake
Never hearing yourself speak. Fluency and clarity are two of the eight criteria, and they are exactly the two you cannot judge from the inside.
Mistakes on the day
The last three happen in the room, often to well-prepared candidates.
- Choosing the image or topic you like rather than the one you can describe. Fix: decide on available vocabulary.
- Ignoring a follow-up to finish a prepared sentence. Fix: the follow-up comes before your script.
- Speaking too fast to hide an accent. Fix: slowing down improves clarity and costs nothing in fluency.
Three very common language slips
On the strictly linguistic side, three points come back with almost every French-speaking and Portuguese-speaking candidate, whatever their level.
- Verb position. In Luxembourgish the finite verb stays in second place: Muer ginn ech op d’Aarbecht, not Muer ech ginn…
- Perfect tense with sinn or hunn. Verbs of movement take sinn: ech sinn gaang, ech sinn komm.
- The polite form. The examiner addresses you as Dir; answer in the same register, with Iech and Ären.
Fixing this in three weeks
These ten points are not fixed together. Take three, work one per week, then run a full simulation to check the fix held.
The measurement is simple: listen again to a recording from three weeks ago. If you hear the difference, the method works; if not, change the drill rather than the intensity.
Key points
- Most mistakes are about method, not language.
- A one-word answer costs marks on two criteria at once.
- Training on slowed audio prepares you for an exam that does not exist.
- Three mistakes fixed properly beat ten skimmed over.
Frequently asked
Is it better to speak slowly?
A steady, unhurried pace serves clarity. It is long pauses, not slowness, that weigh on fluency.
Should I correct my own mistakes as I speak?
A short repair looks good. Correcting yourself three times in one sentence breaks the fluency.
Sources and checking
This guide draws on what the INL publishes (inll.lu and its registration platform), the men.public.lu portal and guichet.lu. Arrangements, amounts, durations and exam sites can change: always confirm with the INL before registering.
Next: put it into practice
The free simulation uses the exact format of the listening paper: three audio documents, fifteen questions, 35 timed minutes, your mark at the end. No account, no payment.