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Practice Makes Perfect: Promoting European citizenship through language

This Learning Partnership examined how the command of a foreign language can help to promote intercultural awareness and active European citizenship. The project aimed to break personal, cultural and social frontiers and looked for possibilities to put European adult learners in contact so they could practice their target language authentically. The content of the Partnership was based on using modern technologies aimed at local community groups, persons living in socially detached areas or hard-to-reach regions and elderly people. The use of ICT tools was necessary and challenging at the same time as many participants were not used to them. The project resulted in creating a portal for virtual communication, implemented the "Virtual Meeting without Borders", which is a virtual communication program in English and Spanish, and delivered a practical course for adult educators on how to use a virtual communication program in the classroom. Using the programme, learners could virtually travel around Europe, visit places of interests, book hotel rooms or buy souvenirs. Their counterparts in the other partner countries acted as guides or hosts for visitors. Learners had the chance to express their own cultural identity and get more information on other cultures and traditions. "Practice Makes Perfect" encouraged the learners to understand that they are a part of a multi-cultural European environment, which offers a rich variety of cultures, nations and languages. They also experienced that living and working in a knowledge society calls for active European citizenship. The project introduced critical thinking about own traditions and customs as well as tolerance towards other European countries and cultures. It established also a permanent trans-national European network of electronic learning facilities in which cultural, historical, economical and geographical information can be exchanged by adult learners to promote their knowledge of foreign societies and cultures.

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