Back in the 1990s, during my first years at Maastricht University, Limburgish was the main language spoken at many of its administrative offices. If you rang or popped in, you were greeted in authentic Maastrichtian Limburgish or another local dialect. No problem for me – I’m fluent. At Observant, Dutch has always been the main language, regardless of how many Limburgians we had on staff. International colleagues, like our junior journalist LR, pick up Dutch in no time. It’s simply easier that way; we don’t need to keep switching languages, and no one feels left out. English has obviously become more important over the years, and we’ll switch to it when necessary, but the default remains Dutch.
Well, that’s a no from us
These days, I rarely come across unfamiliar colleagues who answer the phone in Limburgish. The chances of hearing English are far greater, and have been for years. But it seems this is starting to change. At this past Monday’s busy New Year’s reception at Centre Céramique, both UM President Rianne Letschert and Vice-President Jan-Tjitte Meindersma delivered their speeches in Dutch. International colleagues could follow Letschert’s speech in English via a QR code. Meindersma apparently hadn’t thought of this and, with a big smile, remarked that – since we’d requested the written text in advance – Observant would probably publish the English translation. Well, that’s a no from us.
Revival
The same Meindersma, who comes from the Heuvelland region, is leading a small revival of Limburgish at UM. Whenever he hears someone speak the local dialect, he switches to it. It creates a connection. And he’s not the only one who holds the Limburgish language in high regard. Eric van de Luijtgaarden, a Faculty of Law professor originally from another part of the Netherlands, decided to learn Limburgish – Echts – not only because he loves languages, but also because he wants to speak the language of the region where he now lives.
Podcast
Van de Luijtgaarden discusses this in an article that will appear in Observant next week, as well as in the first episode of our podcast, which will be available on our website from Thursday 9 January. We’re thrilled about this new venture for Observant. We’ll be releasing episodes irregularly until the summer, as we get the hang of it, and hope to settle into a regular schedule after that. Please let us know if you enjoy the podcast!