HLW Rankweil lives Europe with Erasmus+

Erasmus+ Project: Foreign languages, multilingualism and cultureThis exchange programme will allow the students to appreciate new lifestyles and cultures. They will overcome cultural bias and reduce prejudices. The “Arge Aop” association between Vorarlberg and Trentin created this exchange initiative in 2010. In 2020 the exchange initiative with Portugal and Cyprus was started. The students of the HLW Rankweil, the Liceo Artistico Vittoria grammar (Italy) and the Agrupamento de Escolas Camilo Castelo Branco in Vila Nova de Famalicão, Portugal will have the opportunity to spend one or two weaks with Italian, Portuguese, Cypriot or Austrian families, respectively. In this period, they will attend school with their Austrian, Italian, Portuguese or Cypriot classmates. It is worth mentioning that all schools have different educational focuses. The 16 to 18-year-old participants have an A1 to A2 language level of Italian and Spanish. and a B1 of French and B1/ B2 of English. The Italian school is an art school, the Portuguese school is a public secondary scholl, the Cypriot Paralimni Lyceum is a general school whereas the Austrian school is a vocational school which provides comprehensive education alongside economics and service training. All schools encourage and expect creativity from their students. Above all, the students will learn about new subjects. The Austrian students will be able to take advantage of the convenient location of the partner school and get to know the nearby cultural sites. The Italian, Portuguese and Cypriot students will become familiar with the Vorarlberg region. In the context of various excursions they will get to know typical areas of Vorarlberg (a tour around the country – “Ländlerundfart”), the area around the Lake of Constance (Lindau and Friedrichshafen – two German towns), Switzerland (St. Gallen) and Liechtenstein (Vaduz). Moreover, they will take part in a workshop “Austrian Cuisine” at the HLW Rankweil. The aim of this workshop is to encourage the creativity of the Austrian, Italian, Portuguese and Cypriot students. The young people will be able to gather experiences through two different valuable avenues: For one, they will get a taste of Italian, Portuguese, Cypriot or Austrian family life, and additionally they will have the opportunity to experience a different school environment. By studying abroad, the students will be exposed to new ideas and will have to practice tolerance. They will realize that learning a foreign language will serve as a springboard for their professional and personal future. Teaching will not be restricted to the classroom. The “learning en passant method” will be employed, so that the excursions, their free time, the time with their guest families and in the new environment will become an opportunity to passively learn about the other cultures and improve their language skills. During the exchange programme, the students will have to write regular diary entries. The diaries will be collected and incorporated into the evaluation of the project. After the programme, the students will be encouraged to incorporate their new knowledge into their daily routine with the hope of improving the quality of their continuing education. The project partners will use the eTwinning platform, the-Email or Facebook for the preparation and evaluation of the Erasmus exchange project. They are responsible for finding suitable accommodation with host families. The supervising teachers will ensure that the prescribed learning goals are achieved. In the future, we plan to develop a network of partner schools across Europe for which this project is the seed.