| Author (Person) | Hudson, Grace |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Chadwyck-Healey |
| Series Title | Developments in European Information Issues |
| Publication Date | March 2000 |
| Content Type | News |
|
New languages website A useful new set of pages on languages has been mounted by the Education and Culture Directorate General of the Commission at http://europa.eu.int/comm/education/languages/. Information can be found on the languages spoken in the EU, language learning, the EU's action plans in favour of languages and related documents. Some of the data has been gathered through Eurobarometer surveys and the facts concerning languages spoken in Europe make interesting reading. The range includes details of the percentage of EU citizens who are already multilingual, the most useful languages to know, the number of people able to take part in a conversation in a language other than their mother tongue and the most taught languages. The section on how and why to learn languages contains the Lingua Catalogue of teaching and testing materials. The teaching foreign languages heading offers a collection of links to useful language sites dealing, for example, with bilingual education, new technologies in language learning, early learners, quality issues and virtual resources. One of these is Lingu@netEuropa which is a virtual resource centre for the teaching and learning of foreign languages and has information, examples and opportunities to participate in language learning activities Sports page The Directorate General for Education and Culture now has a new page relating to sport at http://europa.eu.int/comm/sport/index_en.html/. It has three access points: Information, Key files and Documents. The first includes data such as addresses, the unit structure and sport structures in the member states. Key files give information on areas such as sport and doping, sport and equal opportunities, sport and youth, and sport for people with disabilities. It includes calls for proposals, application forms and user's guides. The documents section contains background material, speeches, press releases, and texts from various institutions IGC generates another website The European Parliament has joined the band of information providers on IGC developments with a new website at http://www.europarl.eu.int/igc2000/en/default.htm/. Currently it contains a calendar, press releases and background notes, EP documents such as texts of debates, resolutions and speeches, and a number of links. This initial stage is now accessible but a further development will see the addition of information on the revision of the treaties, what the IGC is and how it works, the role of the European Parliament in the IGC, the objectives of reform and the priorities of the EP TOAD database gives online access to Committee of the Region documents The TOAD database (Transfer of Administrative Documents) allows free online access to Committee of the Region working documents in Word 7 format. The documents can be viewed, saved or printed. Access is via three buttons which offer browse, search or help facilities. The Browse function enables the user to move down through the different levels of directories to the required document. Return is by clicking on the 'Up 1 level' or 'Top level' button. Selecting the 'Get abstracts' button effectively combines browsing and searching by generating abstracts of all the documents in the current directory. The Search function permits the user to specify the search criteria, including date restrictions, and offers both a basic and advanced search option. In the advanced search, truncation can be specified with an asterisk while phrases should be entered in quotation marks. The documents are available in all the official languages but remain on the database for only a limited period before being replaced by more recent ones. The site, http://www.cor.eu.int/corz303.htm, also includes information about the activities of the Committee of the Regions with dates of meetings, meeting agendas and a noticeboard. A disclaimer warns that the documents included are not the finally binding versions which are published in the Official Journal C series. The TOAD database is to be found at present at http://www.toad.cdr.be/ but is moving on 19 April 2000 to http://www.toad.cor.eu.int/ |
|
| Subject Categories | Culture, Education and Research |
