Personal experiences have rarely been viewed as part of the domain of language policy, since policies are generally created from the top down, often to meet ideological or political agendas. The study of linguistic practices in a small country like Luxembourg offers particular opportunities to consider how language policy needs also to be formulated from the bottom up, since it has a direct effect on the rights and opportunities of often marginalized populations. Confronting these questions in small countries, which are hedged about with all of the complexities of their larger neighbours, may offer solutions that can be applied in due course in larger countries too.