Maastrichts Dialect Marjorie as a teacher.

Rieu and the Maastricht dialect. The Limburger, June 29, 2021, by Hanneke Drohm. But it's not at all that obvious. Even though Rieu was born in the provincial capital in 1949, not until he was 25 did he not speak a word of the dialect. "My dad was from Haarlem, my mom from Bussum. So 'Proper Dutch' was spoken at our home", explains the violinist and orchestra leader. "In fact, my mother was vehemently opposed to us speaking "Maastrichts." She even tried to get the Limburg accent out of us. Children of distinction were supposed to speak Dutch at that time. The family of Rieu Sr. also felt to be "upper class." So that explains that. I don't have that in me at all." How can he speak Mestreechs (dialect) so fluently for us non-Maastricht citizens among us? Láánkzamer (slower). That's to the credit of his wife Marjorie. She not only turns out to be Rieus' right-hand man in love and business, but she is also an excellent teacher. Not for nothing did she study German and Italian and taught for years at the Joan of Arc College (now Porta Mosana College) in Maastricht. André: "I remember Marjorie saying, 'Just speak dialect.' I wanted to learn too." Marjorie: "It went quite well, I just had to remind him to speak more slowly. He went way too fast." The violinist admits he still makes mistakes when he speaks dialect. "For example, I regularly mix up the gender when I speak about 'the woman' and 'that man'. Marjorie used to correct me, and I wanted that too. When someone can...! She speaks several languages fluently, writes all my texts for the performances and together we study those translations. On stage they must be my words and they need to fit me." Language of love. When André and Marjorie started going together, he's 25 years old and she's 27. But they've known each other quite a long time, because Marjorie's in classroom with André's sister Teresia. When they are 13 and 15 years old, Marjorie visits the home of the Rieu family – where there are six children – for a Sinterklaas (Saint Nicholas) party. André: "The only little girl with curls. I immediately noticed her." When André takes his sister to a party after her final exam, they see each other again. "Every time I drove on the Tongerseweg (street), I thought: "That's where she lives." A few years later Marjorie is again with the Rieu family due to André's sister. "All night I held an ashtray for her." Marjorie: "And when it was time to go, the car didn't start." André: "I was allowed to take her home." What luck with a mishap. From then on, we were a couple. "Then we spoke Dutch to each other." Marjorie: "Actually, we didn't need a language." André jokes: "The language of love. But don't write that down..."