Multilingualism is one of the cornerstones of the European project and a powerful symbol of the EU’s aspiration to be united in diversity. Foreign languages have a prominent role among the skills that will help equip people better for the labour market and make the most of available opportunities. The EU has set the goal that every citizen should have the opportunity to acquire at least two foreign languages, from an early age.
The promotion of language learning and linguistic diversity is one of the specific objectives of the Programme. The lack of language competences is one of the main barriers to participation in European education, training and youth programmes. The opportunities put in place to offer linguistic support are aimed to make mobility more efficient and effective, to improve learning performance and therefore contribute to the specific objective of the Programme.
Online Linguistic Support
Linguistic support is available for the language used by participants for studying, carrying out a traineeship or volunteering abroad in the framework of long-term mobility activities supported under Key Action 1. Linguistic support will mainly be offered online, as e-learning offers advantages for language learning in terms of access and flexibility. Online support includes mandatory assessment of language competences and voluntary language courses.
The European Commission plans to introduce the on-line linguistic support for English, French, German, Italian and Spanish as of 1st October 2014 at the earliest. Hence, on-line linguistic support can be offered to the following beneficiaries of Key Activity 1 (KA1) under the 2014 Call:
- Higher education students,
- European Voluntary Service (EVS) beneficiaries of the third application round.
Grants (instead of online licences) for linguistic support for the above languages will be awarded to the beneficiaries of KA1 mobility actions in the field of Vocational Education and Training (VET) and the EVS (1st and 2nd application rounds), provided that applications include a request for linguistic support. The allocation of grants is decided at National Agency level.
For more detailed information, please consult the information provided by the National Agency of your country since the situation might vary from country to country.
Also you could contact the IES Puerto de la Cruz – Telesforo Bravo Erasmus+ higher education coordinator for possible attendance courses in our school as an support or alternative to online language training.