Online Language Support (OLS)

Dear Erasmus+ and European Solidarity Corps national agencies,

As part of our ongoing efforts to promote language learning through Erasmus+ Online Language Support (OLS), we celebrate French Language Day on 20 March. This day highlights the importance of French as one of the six official working languages of the United Nations. See Feature languages and news for more details. 

To help keep language learning an enjoyable and interactive experience, we have launched the OLS video contest. Please remind mobility participants that they have until midnight on 21 April to submit their entries on their language learning experiences. See the Community managers & forums section below for details.

OLS is growing in leaps and bounds! The number of mobility participants who have joined an OLS language community – which gives them access to the learning material and the forums – is steadily increasing for all languages. In February, there were 95 895 participants in total, an increase of 46 % from October last year. 

To ensure we meet the demand, new learning content for all 29 languages is being added regularly to OLS. See the Feature languages and news section.

If you have not already done so, please take the time to complete this short survey to help us understand how we can better help you encourage mobility participants to improve their language skills via OLS. You can provide your feedback on the EU Survey platform here.

The OLS team

The OLS Community Stories video contest is an opportunity for OLS community members to use their language skills and win an Interrail Global Pass. 

There are 10 passes to be won. To enter, participants need to:

• record a video in which they talk about their language learning and mobility experience; 
• speak in the language they are learning, or English if they don’t feel prepared enough;
• post it on social media using the hashtag #OLSCommunityStories;
• submit the link to the video post before midnight on 21 April on the OLS Video Contest Forum available at their OLS language learning community.

The video must be between 1 and 3 minutes long. The winners will be announced in late May or early June.

The OLS Video Contest Forum in each community contains all the details and rules for participating in the contest. Community managers can answer any remaining questions participants may have.

The contest aims to encourage mobility participants to practice their language skills and to inspire others to join OLS and learn a new language.

Discover OLS communities

Help us keep mobility participants informed about new features and developments on the platform by downloading the communication materials for March below (toolbox). Prepared by the OLS team, it contains posts and visuals to share on your social media networks, and an email to send to participants. Make use of both and reach as many participants as possible.

To download the toolbox with its communication materials, you must first login on the EU Academy and then enrol in this course.

Download March’s toolbox.

Do your mobility participants know about the Mobility & Intercultural Podcast on OLS? There are two helpful episodes for students starting out on their mobility experience. 

In the first episode, “Maximise your Time”, an Erasmus Student Network (ESN) volunteer from Bruges, Belgium, who went on mobility to Aberdeen, Scotland, talks about how to prepare for Erasmus mobility and shares three useful tips.

The second episode, “Intercultural Obstacles”, is about intercultural differences. A former ESN Belgium president who has spent much time abroad, talks about how to navigate a new culture and customs to avoid misunderstandings, embarrassing situations, and tension.