ELSTI presentation

The ELSTI: Eurobusiness Language Skills – Transfer of Innovation (or, as called in the official documents, European Languages for Secretaries) is co-financed by the European Union through the Romanian National Agency for Community Programmes in the Field of Education and Vocational Training.

Aims and objectives of the project

The ELSTI project has emerged from the perceived need of improving linguistic skills of the administrative staff in SMEs. It addresses the difficulties that recent EU member countries meet in international business relations as a result of office workers’ insufficient command of relevant language skills; office employees need improvements in their professional profile, especially in language, IT, intercultural and soft skills, something that would enable them to make the most of their work qualifications anywhere in Europe.

ELSTI continues the philosophy of its predecessor, the ELS: European Languages for Secretaries, yet bringing added value more specifically translated into improving, further developing and extending the products available for the potential users, and also by aiming at including the language courses and resources available on the online platform (www.eurobusinesslanguageskills.net) in the educational systems of the countries participating in the project and further using it for the education of students and pupils from technical, professional and economic educational institutions. In this context the project aims at providing learners working or studying to work as office staff in SMEs with a viable and comprehensive alternative in the field of language acquisition, a package that is both flexible and informative and that will help them improve their language skills in a challenging yet consistent manner.

More specifically, through its products the project aims at developing the language skills of office staff in companies throughout Europe and giving them, and also students/pupils from technical, economic and professional schooling forms, relevant exposure to the business culture of 10 European countries so as to develop their cultural awareness. In order to achieve the combined goals of assisting companies in raising the language skills level of their staff and improving the professional profile of the administrative employees, the ELSTI project has a component that focuses on personal development of office staff.

Project partnership

The project is implemented by a consortium of 6 partners from Romania, Italy, Lithuania and the United Kingdom. The partnership is made up of institutions with experience in the field of content development for both online and offline use. As all the partners successfully took part in previous European projects, they have experience in managing the transfer of innovation, best practices, and valorisation. Most of the partners are part of national of trans-national active networks in the training sector, thus ensuring the successful implementation of the project’s aims and objectives. Namely, these institutions are: EuroEd Foundation (project coordinator, Romania), Connectis (Italy), Kaunas University of Technology (Lithuania), NoLimits Education and Training (UK), PIXEL Association (Italy) and PROSPER-ASE Language Centre (Romania).

Project products

The main products of the ELSTI project consist of business language courses (in four languages), business culture modules (presenting the business environments of ten European countries) and a module on personal development (aimed at enhancing learners’ motivation to acquire new linguistic, intercultural and professional skills). All these products are available on the project online platform at www.eurobusinesslanguageskills.net, a learning environment translated into nine languages: English, French, German, Greek, Italian, Norwegian, Romanian, Slovak and Spanish.

The business language courses are available in English, French, Italian and Spanish, for two levels: basic users and independent users (A2 and B1 respectively, according to the Common European Framework of Reference). Each of the four language courses has 10 units for both levels (A2 or B1), covering the following sections: In the Office, On the telephone, Correspondence, Internet, Grammar, Culture, and four types of follow-up activities: Dialogue, Practice, Game, Simulation. Each unit aims at developing reading, writing and listening skills and includes vocabulary and grammar practice sections, and also cultural information related to the topic approached.

As the selected languages (English in particular) are often used as international languages, the ELSTI partnership also established, apart from the language courses, a number of training modules in the field of business culture that present the business environments of 10 European countries: France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Lithuania, Norway, Romania, Slovakia, Spain and UK. The business culture modules are aimed at helping the users become aware of differences and degrees of appropriacy in the business environment across the targeted countries. The ten modules have a similar structure and consist of ten units, each focusing on a different aspect: Making Appointments, Telephone Etiquette, Receiving Clients, Business Dress Code, Addressing Others, Negotiating, Entertaining, Public Behaviour, Regional Differences and How to Start a Business in ... . The business culture modules are available in English, Italian, Lithuanian and Romanian, and also in the national language of the country. Each module contains a Final Test where users can test their knowledge of the business environments of the selected European country.

Finally, for a better integration of the training, a support module entitled No Limits To Success: Create Your Own Personal Future was created for the personal development of learners through online training. The module is designed to help users create their own personal vision plan, understand what it takes to succeed in any area of life, set goals to achieve their dreams and develop the thinking and capabilities to succeed. It is structured as a hypertextual presentation, each subject being supported by various references to bibliographical resources and supplementary materials available through active links. The personal development module addresses issues such as: personal responsibility, self belief, continuous learning, managing stress etc.

Target groups

As previously mentioned, the products available on the ELSTI online portal address office staff having secretarial and/or administrative duties in the small and medium-sized enterprises accross Europe and students/pupils enrolled in technical, economic and professional educational institutions.