Online Language Support (OLS)

The Online Language Support (OLS) is designed to help Erasmus+ and European Solidarity Corps participants improve their knowledge of the language in which they will work, study or volunteer abroad so that they can make the most out of this experience.

As the lack of language skills remains one of the main barriers to the participation in European education, training and youth mobility opportunities, OLS makes language support accessible in a flexible and easy way. It also contributes to a specific objective of the Erasmus+ programme, which is to promote language learning and linguistic diversity.

Dear Erasmus+ and European Solidarity Corps beneficiary institutions and organisations,

Are you ready to unlock new opportunities for your mobility participants? Join us on a language learning journey like no other by signing up for the OLS newsletter today!

Every month, our newsletter brings valuable language learning resources to your inbox:

updates on learning content
features on the OLS platform and tips on using it
announcements
featured languages.

We also provide a monthly toolbox with images and texts that you can post on your social media or send by email.

Ready to dive in?

To embark on this incredible language learning journey and sign up for the OLS newsletter, please follow this link:

https://ec.europa.eu/newsroom/eacea_oep/user-subscriptions/2934/create

You will be asked to provide your email address, your country of residence and language (the last two for statistical purposes), and consent to a privacy statement.

OLS is hosted on the EU Academy website and offers an “open” and a “core” area.

The core area is for mobility participants and currently has over 100 000 members. It has functions and content not available in the open area, such as placement tests with downloadable certificates, courses at different levels, and personalised learning.

The core area also allows participants access to the forums. Please help us to inform your students that they can practice their language with others, ask questions about all aspects of their mobility experience, and participate in discussions moderated by the community managers. The community managers are native speakers who are there to answer questions, offer advice, and stimulate discussions with posts, quizzes and fun facts about their country.

The open area is for the general public and currently has about 31 000 members. It provides discovery videos for all 29 languages and basic learning videos and quizzes, which encourage language learning in different ways.

Please feel free to explore them yourself. To access both OLS core and open, an EU login and password are needed – see the step-by-step guide available here.

Kind regards,

Your OLS team

European, Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA)

Established by the European Commission

Unit A6. Platforms, Studies and Analysis
J-70 – 00/215 – Rue Joseph II

B-1049 Brussels/Belgium

http://eacea.ec.europa.eu

Who can benefit

The OLS is currently available for participants from the following Erasmus+ and European Solidarity Corps fields

higher education
European Solidarity Corps
Vocational Education and Training (VET)
adult learning (including staff from all fields of Education and Training and Youth)
schools
youth

Available languages

OLS will be available for all European Union languages: Bulgarian, Czech, Danish, German, Greek, English, Estonian, Spanish, Finnish, French, Irish Gaelic, Croatian, Hungarian, Italian, Lithuanian, Latvian, Maltese, Dutch, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak, Slovenian and Swedish.

On top of this, OLS will also be available in the official languages of Erasmus+ and European Solidarity Corps programme countries: Icelandic, Macedonian, Norwegian, Serbian and Turkish.

How it works

By taking the OLS language assessment when going abroad, Erasmus+ and European Solidarity Corps participants are able to determine their proficiency in the language they will use to study, work or volunteer and get access to a personalised language learning pathway.

Taking this assessment in the language of the mobility before departure is a prerequisite for higher education students going on mobility for 14 days or more, to make sure that they meet the recommended level at their receiving organisation (except for native speakers or in duly justified cases). The results of the language assessment do not prevent participants from taking part in Erasmus+ and European Solidarity Corps programmes.

Participants who wish to improve their language proficiency have the opportunity to follow online language courses before and during their time abroad. Access to the language course includes a great variety of interactive and tailor-made activities. Participants can follow language courses in any of the available languages on OLS without limitation to the number of languages and study units.

In certain cases where the main language is not covered by OLS, linguistic support is provided through other means by the sending or the receiving organisation. Upon their return, participants can take a final assessment, which allows them to measure the progress made during their stay abroad.

How you can participate

If you have already been selected to go abroad with the Erasmus+ or European Solidarity Corps programmes, your institution or organisation will send you a login and a password to access OLS.

For further details, please contact your sending institution or coordinating organisation, or National Agency.