European Language Portfolio

The European Language Portfolio is a project of the Council of Europe for all the member countries (more than 40).

Its objectives are to help us learn languages and to appreciate the cultural and linguistic diversity that we have in Europe.

Many secondary education students from other countries, like you, use a Portfolio similar to this one to learn languages better.

With the Portfolio you can:

• know your level in each language, using an international scale.• choose your learning objectives and write down your progress.• be aware of the way you learn, and improve it.• know and respect the cultural and linguistic differences between you and your classmates, or between different groups of people.

You can become a more autonomous, active and respectful student, able to learn without help.

This portfolio consists of three sections:

• The Language Passport, with common international format and scales. You can use it to prove in other countries what languages you speak, what your level in each one is, what certificates and titles you have got, or what cultural experiences you have lived.

• The Language Biography. You can write in it all the cultural and linguistic learning experiences in your life. You can use it to help you analise and evaluate them.

• The Dossier. You can keep in it examples of your written and recorded work.

The European Language Portfolio includes all the languages that you know or learn, at school or outside. During your secondary education studies you can use it in different subjects and courses, and with different teachers.

DossierMany architects, decorators, painters, models and other professionals usually have a dossier or a folder where they keep photographs, drawings, certificates and other documents related to their best work. They use that dossier toshow the possible customers and employers the characteristics and qualities of their work. In the same way, you canuse your dossier to show your best linguistic productions and their characteristics.

Use your Dossier to:

a) keep your written work, oral recordings, documents and learning souvenirs of different languages;

b) value the characteristics (quality, level, etc.) of each document and compare it with others from previous years.

1. Find all the learning documents that you consider interesting. You can copy them on your computer, scan them or photograph them.

2. Classify these documents into two groups:

Group 1. The most important works and tasks for you: written work (compositions, letters, e-mails, notes, exercises, posters) and oral work (recordings of interviews, conversations, etc., in audio or video.

Group 2. Documents (certificates, travel programmes) and souvenirs (postcards, tickets formuseums and other cultural centres, train or plane tickets, leaflets, brochures, etc.)

3. Order the documents in each group and complete the charts on the next page.

Caution!Don't forget the column Why did I choose it? It's very important.

A good Dossier can help you complete the rest of the sections in the Portfolio. Revise the documents in your Dossier periodically.