Year In Review - EMRLingua in 2022
06. Feb 2023
The year 2023 is already in full swing and promises some exciting developments. 2022 was also a very intensive but also successful year for the Interreg V project EMRLingua and the Coordination Centre for Neighbour Language Promotion in the Euregio Meuse-Rhine. So it is time for a brief review of what has been achieved and what has been accomplished.
EMRLingua is running at full speed
For the EMRLingua team and project
partners, 2022 was a very productive year. Not only was the EMRLingua team able
to demonstrate the full operational capability of the coordination centre, but
also to significantly strengthen our online presence via the official website
and social media, i.e. Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube.
And even though our work to
strengthen the German, Dutch and French languages in schools is mostly behind
the scenes (contacting teachers and principals, mediating between potential
partner schools, etc.), there are some very visible successes.
Cross-border school mobilities
Cross-border school mobilities are
all about intercultural exchange and on-site application of the languages
learned. Thanks to the funding provided by the respective project partners,
around three thousand pupils were able to take part in cross-border school
trips and exchanges.
Various classes visited Liège,
Maastricht, Tongern or the Aachen area and were able to put their language
skills to the test in a natural environment. Extracurricular places of learning
were also visited and/or projects were implemented with schools from the
neighbouring region. The euregional school partnerships thus also gained
momentum again, thanks to initiatives by motivated teachers who set up projects
and exchanges and enabled their pupils to put what they had learned into
practice.
Die Schulnetzwerke „Euregioprofilschule“ und „Euregioschule“
NAfter almost three years of
standstill due to the Covid crisis, the Euregional school networks of the
Euregioprofileschools and Euregiochools are also reviving. Eleven schools from
the Euregio Meuse-Rhine were awarded the respective label for their efforts to
promote the languages of the region, German, French and Dutch. The
certification commission awarded the Euregio(profile)school labels to the
following schools:
Certified Euregioschool for the
first time:
·
Vista College
·
Connect College Echt
·
Sophianum
·
Gesamtschule Eifel in Blankenheim
·
Berufskolleg Nord of StädteRegion Aachen
·
Königliches Athenäum Soumagne
·
Bischöfliches Institut Büllingen
The schools below were able to reaffirm their labels:
·
Athenäum César Franck Kelmis, which changed from Euregioprofileschool to Euregioschool
·
Gesamtschule Mechernich for Euregioprofileschool
·
Westzipfelschule Selfkant for Euregioprofileschool, but also Euregioschool
·
Kindcentrum Wyck for Euregioschool
These institutions were subsequently honoured during the Neighbouring Languages Conference in Kerkrade on 19 October.
As a consequence of the success of this event, new schools have subsequently submitted their applications for the labels and are now expecting their certification in January 2023. Thus, in the end, we can state that the euregional school networks are reviving and even growing!
Teacher training “Masterplan”
The Neighbour Language Conference in
Kerkrade was also the occasion for the launch of "Masterplan", the
in-service training programme for language teachers. Under the leadership of
the project partner UCLL Leuven-Limburg, the first learning groups and
partnerships between schools were formed, and the first phase was launched.
Several meetings and exchanges, both physical and digital, could already take
place in 2022.
Thanks to the new "Lesson
Study" method, teachers can now face the current challenges in language
teaching.
And the outlook for 2023?
A lot more is in store for this year! Following the success of the Neighbouring Languages Conference in Kerkrade, several schools have signed up for the "Euregio Profile School" and "Euregio School" networks, and will be awarded for their commitment to neighbouring language promotion. To this end, another neighbouring languages conference will be organised in May this year (on 24.05. at the Nell Breuning House in Herzogenrath), which will present the results of the project, including the multimedia geography book.
The various tasks and targets to be achieved by the project are nearing completion thanks to the efforts of all the project partners. Be it the scientific research of the ITEM Institute or the digital teaching materials that will be made available on the website, this year 2023 still has a lot to offer.
Stay tuned and don't miss anything!