Lifelong Learning Programme

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basic information

Title of the Project
European Languages Net
Brief description
EURO LANGUAGES NET is designed to create an Internet resource of less widely used European languages for the general public. The site provides information about where in Europe general public can learn less widely used European languages. High quality bes
Country
Lithuania
Year
2004
Target Language
Bulgarian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Estonian, Finnish, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Irish, Slovak, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish
Sector
Adult Education
Transversal (more sectors addressed)
Further Information

THE INITIATIVE PROMOTER’S PERSPECTIVE

Background

EURO LANGUAGES NET is an international portal an Internet resource of 12 less widely used languages. The site provides information about the languages and the countries where they are spoken; it also contains links to various traditional and innovative language learning and teaching resources and language providers.

Objectives


The main objective of the project was to attract attention to and promote less widely used and taught
languages of Europe. The 12 national pages of the ELN portal provide information about the countries where
the target languages can be learnt and the best practice in learning and teaching these languages (Austrian, Bulgarian, Estonian, Finnish, Hungarian, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian and Slovak),
distant and lifelong learning opportunities. Bearing in mind employability and free circulation of labour force within the EU, special attention was attached to cooperation between formal and informal educational institutions as well as business sector ( see composition of partnership –www.euro-languages.net)
According to Egle Sleinotiene ( ELN project co-ordinator), while creating the national pages the partners
focused on promoting their languages and culture worldwise, motivating the general public to learn
LWULT languages and providing information about learning possibilities in home countries and elsewhere
, providing survival kit to facilitate the first contacts in the target language environment.

Approach

According to the project coordinator Egle Sleinotiene, the project addressed the real needs of the multilingual / multicultural Europe: to preserve the cultural diversity of Europe by providing effective tools for professional and general public use.

The project started with building the partnership that shared common interest in
promoting LWULT languages and represented various formal and informal educational
institutions ( universities, colleges, language schools, cultural centres, vocational and adult
education centers) from various parts of Europe. The project portal was designed and
implemented by common effort and in close cooperation with IT specialists during both face-to-face meeting and constant on-line contacts
In the process of creating the portal, the partnership was taking into account the results
of the on-going and interim external and internal evaluations, as well as the EU Language
division experts’ recommendations.

Results

The project created a portal of 12 national websites that provide relevant information about culture and language learning/ teaching
opportunities for professionals and the general public. The strong international partnership was created, later it gave rise to another successful project Euro-languages Net plus ( 23 national websites) that covered the majority of the less widely used language of Europe.

The project and its products caused wide interest in most partner countries; it also was favourably assessed by politicians and other stakeholders across Europe. The Project final conference help on September 24-25 2004 in Vilnius attracted over 120 participants from 25 countries of the world. The project portal is still widely used (averagely 2000 hits per year ) by the teachers’ and learners’ community.

The project Fair is an effective instrument to promote and disseminate language-oriented projects and initiatives

The National and international Forums on various language teaching /learning issues were used during the project lifetime and after.

The project results were disseminated during more than 40 meetings, seminars and conferences, in four partner-countries there was TV or radio coverage of the project progress; over 30 publications in the specialised and general public media.

Why the European Language Label?

According to E. Sleinotiene, the application for ELL was a natural step after the widely-recognised success of the project. The ELL is an effective instrument to promote best practice in European projects.

Activities following the award of the European Language Label

The main result of the project success and ELL award was the idea to enlarge the range of LWULT languages in another project – ELNPlus. The coordinator and partners were approached by other institutions to extend the existing porta by adding new national page and to update the existing ones, which was done in the Euro-languages Net Plus ( the international portal of 23 languages)

Assessment of the Impact of the European Language Label

The received award has added to the profile of the Public Service Language Centre ( the coordinating institution) as an active language promoter in Europe; the extended partnership – mutually beneficial working ties with formal and informal education institutions across Europe – facilitates professional and personal exchange and communication, improves performance.

Recommendations for future applicants for the ELL

Start with an idea that is consistent with the current priorities and is relevant to potential partners; use the modern IT support to prevent technical problems, rely on the partners’ knowledge and expertise and ensure partners’ full involvement and commitment. Seek and use the support provided by the National and European agencies

THE NELLIP NETWORK’S PERSPECTIVE

Consistency with European Policies in the field of Language Learning

The Project promotes learning and teaching less widely used and taught languages of Europe in terms of providing motivating information about relevant cultures, sources for distant learning and teaching of languages, facilitates professional exchanges and employability.

Consistency with European, National and yearly priorities

Much attention is given to promoting national languages and cultures, Lithuanian among them. The creation of the international portal was possible due to cooperation between institutions of different profiles, including IT specialists

THE NATIONAL AGENCY’S PERSPECTIVE

Motivations

The initiative drew international and national attention to less widely used languages; the project is widely explored by professionals of various educational sectors as well as the general public; the project website creates opportunities for people from remote parts of countries to learn languages.

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Comments on this Case Studies

Your comments are welcome


Date: 2014.10.02

Posted by Carmen Antonita (Romania)

Message: I like the initiative of the project of promoting less taught languages of Europe. It is a very good way to preserve the cultural diversity of Europe by providing tool for public use.

Date: 2014.10.02

Posted by Nevjanka Poliakova (BG)

Message: Less popular languages are very important in the European context and more attention should be paid to their promotion. It is a good idea to stress their importance for employability and new business opportunities.

21 December 2014

Audio- video presentation of the NELLIP project

An audio- video presentation of the NELLIP project has been created and made available in the Information section of the NELLIP portal. To access the presentation please click here: http://nellip.pixel-online.org/IF_intro.php.