Source: Adobe Creative Cloud
Discover OLS Opportunities: A Guide for Those Who Missed Our Open Day
At the end of August, we at OLS hosted a special Open Day event, inviting everyone who wanted to get to know the platform and our language community managers better. It was a great opportunity to learn how to make full use of OLS resources and activities. If you missed this event, don’t worry. Here I’ve put together the main things you need to know to get started with OLS and unlock all the opportunities it offers.
If you’re here, you already know you’re part of the OLS Finnish Language Community. But what exactly is OLS, and why is it such a valuable tool for your mobility journey? Online Language Support (OLS) is a European Commission platform that helps Erasmus+ and European Solidarity Corps participants learn or improve the language they need during their stay abroad. It is part of the EU Academy and works as a network of 29 language communities – one for each of the programme’s official languages (including Icelandic, Macedonian, Norwegian, Serbian, and Turkish).
Each language community is a dedicated learning space with access to online courses, articles, forums, speaking sessions, competitions, and much more. All communities are led by moderators – native speakers of that language – who guide you through the learning process. As the Finnish Language Community manager, Finnish is my native language, so I’m happy to help you learn it better. The good news is you can join as many communities as you like – you can study Italian during an exchange in Italy, learn Icelandic while volunteering in Iceland, or explore Lithuanian simply out of interest.
How to start?
Here at OLS, we offer both formal learning opportunities and informal ways to practise a language. Where should you start? Begin with the self-assessment test
, which contains 31 questions and takes approximately 30 minutes to complete, helping to determine your current level. After the test, you’ll receive a certificate and recommended courses. You can take the test multiple times – for example, before and after your mobility – to track your progress.After the test, start exploring the learning courses – for Finnish, these are available at A1 and A2 levels, as well as specialised courses on various topics. The courses include interactive exercises, video materials, and quizzes.
Source: Adobe Creative Cloud
Inside the platform
To reinforce your newly gained knowledge and find answers to any unclear questions, visit the forum section. In the communities, you’ll find three different forums:
- Ask the Community, questions, tips, and technical help;
- Practise Your Language, language games, exercises, and discussions;
- Living Abroad, experiences and advice about life in the target country.
As you are a member of the Finnish Language Community, you will regularly receive email updates with news, information about events, competitions, and European thematic days. Every 2–3 months, in our community we hold an online event where we meet to learn more about the Finnish language and practise speaking it. This is an informal event suitable for all proficiency levels.
Every four months, we also organise Live tour events – like a digital tour of the platform – to show you where to find courses, register for activities, and get answers to your questions. Our next meeting will be on September 13th 16:00 local time, I hope to see you there.
We also regularly hold competitions – both within the Finnish Language Community and together with other language communities. And by the way, our annual big is open right now! Want to know more? Then follow the link here: Video Competition.
Happy language learning!
Minna, OLS Community Manager – Finnish