During their time at HTL Rankweil, our students receive their education and training both in theory and practice. This makes high demands on our students in both areas of expertise. We at our school are firmly convinced that in the export-oriented, global setting which our local companies operate in, English skills among students must be improved and fostered as much as possible. This is only partly true for technical vocational colleges in Austria, as the number of weekly English lessons is lower than in advanced general secondary schools. This is one reason why we offer internships abroad to our students. These internships do not just add to the above aim. In addition to the general linguistic development of the participants, they offer the students enormous advancement in terms of technical language and cultural understanding. On an equally high level, they offer the students the opportunity of extending their subject-related competence. What is more, they open up new job possibilities for the students and provide them with new perspectives on their future career. For this reason, our school is highly interested in continuing its sucessful cooperation with our partner companies and even expanding it by finding new partners. This year, ten students will do such an internship in the UK and in Finland, all of them having just finished the fourth year of their five-year-training at our college. All of them are shining stars in terms of both their technical and social skills. In order to foster the good relationship with the branch companies abroad, it is desirable for representatives of the school to make a visit in person. In this way we can show our appreciation and interest and, if necessary, discuss on site any problems or discrepancies that may arise. Furthermore, the ideal accommodation for our students is in an English-speaking environment, preferably in a family situation. Here, too, a visit in person from representatives of the school can have a significant relevance. The project is planned, carried out and reviewed in close cooperation with our partner companies, all of which have been reliable and precious partners for years now.