Improving senior education
About us
Five adult education institutions from around Europe are collaborating to train teachers to teach seniors, and to develop and adapt language courses and teaching materials suitable for seniors, for use by the teachers. This page provides a summary of the project and the organisations involved. Complete information on the project and organisations can be found through the links below.
About Golden Languages
The goal of the Golden Languages project is to offer seniors in Europe high-quality language
courses specifically designed for their specific needs and learning styles. Thereby, they can not
only help them improve their language and communication skills but also enhance their
participation at the local and EU levels. Furthermore, participation in these courses should
contribute to preventing cognitive decline and promoting healthy and active aging.
Golden Languages is supported by 5 organisations.
The Project
The project is divided into five work packages. While all partners are collectively responsible for achieving the results, there are sub-activities in which one of the project participants takes the lead. This aligns with their specific competencies. The first two packages are primarily conditional in nature. The remaining packages focus mainly on the content to be produced.
The Organisations
The partners of Golden Languages aim to achieve this through two channels. We do this through adult education institutions and language schools. One channel is training teachers to teach seniors. The other is developing and adapting language courses and teaching materials suitable for seniors, for use by these teachers. Therefore, we create these resources together, based on a work plan. And it doesn’t stop at development. The dissemination of the results is also part of the project.
Volksuniversiteit Breda
The VUB (Volksuniversiteit Breda) is a community college that offers people above the compulsory school age, regardless of their previous education or position, the opportunity to develop and further their skills. The goals are to broaden their language skills, orient themselves towards science and culture, and stimulate creativity. The curriculum is broad and not degree-oriented. Two-thirds of the offering consists of language courses. The VUB offers 18 different foreign languages at various levels, in accordance with the European Reference Framework.
Blackbird
Blackbird is a private language school in Čačak, Central Serbia. Founded in the 1990s, the school quickly grew to meet the growing demand for foreign language skills. The school has over 1,500 students annually in various European languages and has had a significant impact beyond its own region. The school prides itself on its role as a dedicated promoter of lifelong learning, intercultural cooperation, and the European dimension in education.
Teacher Studio
Teacher Studio consists of a team of education professionals and innovators in the fields of coaching, emotional intelligence, and neurodiversity. They also have experience developing and delivering teacher training programs, the use of learning and teaching solutions, promotion of cross-disciplinary learning activities, and are specialised in educational coaching and implementing emotional intelligence in the classroom.
Senior Citizens Brabant Zeeland
Senior Citizens Brabant Zeeland is a network representing over 210,000 members. This makes it a powerful voice for seniors when it comes to pensions, purchasing power, housing, healthcare, well-being, inclusion, safety, and mobility. It shares a belief in the need to more effectively represent the interests of seniors at the national level, but is also convinced that this should happen from the bottom up, not from a national headquarters. This forms the basis for the collaboration of the five KBO associations within the Senioren Netwerk Nederland (Senior Citizens Network Netherlands).
EOTVOS LORAND TUDOMANYEGYETEM
Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE), Hungary’s oldest and most prestigious university, is a leader in the education of future intellectuals in the humanities, natural sciences, and social sciences. With the broadest educational portfolio in Hungary, ELTE’s eight faculties cover
fields such as law, humanities, educational sciences, psychology, teacher education, special education, computer science, natural sciences, mechanical engineering, and economics. The university offers 52 bachelor’s degree programs and 112 master’s degree programs, with a total of 13,162 courses. For international students, 104 programs are available in English, with students able to choose from 71 different language studies.