VIRTEX project awarded first prize in European Label Competition
The European Label for innovative projects in language teaching and learning has two main aims. The first is to encourage new initiatives in the field of language teaching and learning. The second is to let teachers and learners know about such initiatives, and to inspire them to adapt the ideas and techniques concerned to their own situation.
The Label is awarded each year to the most innovative language learning projects in each country participating in the scheme. The Label is coordinated by the European Commission, but managed on a decentralised basis by the Member States of the European Union, Iceland and Norway. National juries decide on which projects will receive the Label.
In the 2007 competition the first prize has been won by VIRTEX, short for Virtual Experiences: preparing students for foreign language use in work placements in hotels and catering.
General Information: http://www.worldenough.net/virtex
English version of the Virtex programme: http://www.waicicu.com/virtex/dishes.html
German version: http://www.waicicu.com/virtexdeutsch/virtex.html
Virtual tour: http://www.waicicu.com/virtexsite/
VIRTEX, a Socrates project, has developed language material for using English and German as foreign languages in the catering and hotel industry, in order to prepare students for their work placement and make them more aware of cultural similarities and differences. The project aims to provide a way for students to acquire "virtual experiences" for their work placement through a digital learning environment, containing film sequences - interviews with restaurant and hotel staff, visualisations of most of the situations in which students may find themselves, among them interactions between staff and guests, etc. - supplemented by experience-based tasks and assignments.
The AEHT has been a Partner in the Virtex project for 3 years and has widely contributed to disseminate and promote the product throughout Europe.
(Contact: Elzemien Warnink, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. )
