Case Studies

The project was in its start part of a Grundtvig programme. In 2004 the internet was a new way to communicate and it opend new ways for adult learners to communicate.

The program was originally set up for adult education, since adult learners have more difficulty in travelling, so it was a way to introduce an international perspective in the classroom and to let students communicate in a natural manner. Using the language as a Lingua Franca.
The idea of the project is to connect language learners in different countries and make them communicate in the language they are learning, e.g. a group of students in Denmark and a group in Holland who are learning English. They communicate via e-mails in a series of exchanges which are structured by their teachers. They tell each other about their respective countries, their schools, their daily lives and ask questions about each other’s interests and hobbies.

The main activity of the project is to have internet exchanges of mails between students in the different countries, and through their communication get to know each other and the culture and social life in their respective countries. The intensity of mails varies depending on the students' language level and contains various issues and tasks.

This project is organized through a common web-site www.juromail.com – see above - where all relevant information about the project is available.

Originally the thought was that the adult learners should communicate one-to-one, but it was found out to be more stimulating and motivating working in pairs.

The project is now an integrated part of the language teaching in two of the original participating schools and more schools have been added. The project has now moved on to upper secondary school, since the founder of the project now works in that sector.

The idea was simple and it has proved to work.

The project is still alive and given new features. The students now use other media; films, YouTube, Facebook etc.

The project Euromail.com most definitely meet with the European Criteria especially as it is very well adopted to needs of the adult learners that are in the project. Communicating with other learners in other countries is a stimulating and motivating way of learning. It was in 2004 a way to use new media in education as it was a new approach of language learning to use internet and mail communication. Working with cross border communication not only improves the language skills but also improves understanding of other cultures and social life.