Learn Foreign Languages Anytime, Anywhere by Lingua Net
The Hellenic Language School "Alexander the Great" of British Hellenic College is taking part - as a partner - in the LEONARDO project "Learn Foreign Languages Anytime, Anywhere by LinguaNet". The Programme is co-financed by the European Union (2005-BG-/05/B/F/LA-166019).
The Coordinator of the project is the University of Rousse, in Bulgaria.
With the enlargement of EU with the newly associated states language skills can be of particular value to business and industry. Industries connected with travel and tourism are increasingly feeling the need for people who speak foreign languages. Positions like head of tourism information services, tourism promoter, tourism informer, animator, transfer agent all they require adequate level of bilingual or multilingual knowledge. Hotel's personnel as lobby manager, reservationists, banquet coordinator, and concierge can be placed in such "guest contact points" in order to serve better the increasing number of tourists and travellers between EU countries.
The proposal corresponds to the need for higher level of language competencies of employees in the hotel and tourism industry. An important factor for the employability of such personnel is their demonstrated ability to perform their vocational tasks proficiently using foreign languages and their ability to mediate between lesser spoken languages (Bulgarian, Greek, Portuguese) and the most widely used languages of the European Union (English, German, French, Spanish). The learners, hotel and tourism employees in various countries, have to be put in the centre of transnational development work, requesting "non academic, practical business language".
The main project objectives are:If you wish to learn more about the project, visit the website of the project: http://linguanet.ecs.ru.acad.bg
- To create a smart virtual space for language learning as a distributed system (Virtual Private Network), comprising of educational Language Nodes (LN), delivering learning services for mobile users through WAN or GPRS wireless interface of their handheld computer (PDA).
- To improve the Quality of Service at "guest contact points", by motivating and aiding professionals in the Tourism sector to learn the language of the country of their customers through their PDA, Smartphone or wireless Laptop.