INTER-INSTITUTIONAL LANGUAGE COURSES

INTENSIVE COURSES
SUMMER 2004

• languages and levels

• dates and duration of the courses

• criteria which determine the organisation of a course

• priorities

• placement tests

• admission criteria

• procedure for enrolment

• absences

• secretariat of the inter-institutional language courses

The Training Services of the European Institutions in Brussels are jointly organising intensive summer courses (maximum 60). This will enable participants to complete a level in either two or three weeks.

The courses will be organised provided that there are sufficient resources and sufficient participants.

Consequently, given the limited number of courses offered, only applications submitted by a DG or a Service will be accepted, except for English (EN), French (FR) and German (DE), where request made in the interest of the individual will also be taken into consideration.

Priority will be given to the most requested languages.

• Languages of the European Union Member-States : DE (German), EN (English), FR (French)

• Levels: from 1 to 6
   
• All the requests will be taken into consideration.

• Languages of the European Union Member-States : DA (Danish), EL (Greek), ES (Spanish), FI (Finnish), IT (Italian), NL (Dutch), PT (Portuguese), SV (Swedish).

• Levels: from 1 to 6
   
• Only applications submitted by a DG or a Service will be accepted.

• Languages of the 2004 acceding countries: CS (Czech), ET (Estonian), HU (Hungarian), LV (Latvian), LT (Lithuanian), MT* (Maltese), PL (Polish), SK (Slovak), SL (Slovenian).

• Level : beginners (level 1)
   
• Only applications submitted by a DG or a Service will be accepted.

• Attention : these courses will be organised on the basis of 4 hours a day during 3 weeks (morning or afternoon). The dates of the session may be different from the 2 sessions foreseen (see below), depending on the teachers’ availability. You will be informed in due time.
   
• * Maltese will be organised if a teacher is available.

DATES AND DURATION OF THE COURSES

Two sessions will be organised :

N.B. Several courses of levels 3 or 4 in French only could be organised during the second session if necessary.

CRITERIA WHICH DETERMINE THE ORGANISATION OF A COURSE

The elements determining the decision on whether to organise a course or not are as follows:

1. Available financial resources (the budget is determined at the beginning of the year at an inter-institutional level) ;
    
2. The number of places available (limited course numbers - maximum 60 - according to the available budget at an inter-institutional level) ;
    
3. A sufficient number of participants (minimum 8 applications).

PRIORITIES

Taking the above into account, it is evident that all applications cannot be satisfied and so the following priorities will be applied (in order) :

• 1^st priority: applications in the interest of the service for those who are not already enrolled in a standard twice-weekly course (except for the participants in the survival level courses), notably people who have been newly recruited and staff returning to Headquarters (within the previous 3 months) and who did not take part in a course under another status as SNE or auxiliary agent.
   
• 2^nd priority: applications in the interest of the service for those who are already enrolled in a standard twice-weekly course.
   
• 3^rd priority: applications in the interest of the individual for those who are not already enrolled in a standard twice-weekly course.
   
• 4^th priority: applications in the interest of the individual for those who are already enrolled in a standard twice-weekly course.

PLACEMENT TESTS

ADMISSION CRITERIA

Applicants must :

• be either an official, a temporary, auxiliary or local agent, a seconded national expert (SNE) at the closing date for applications and during the course ;
   
• not be, at the closing date for applications and at the start of the course, "intérimaire", service provider ("prestataire"), trainee, consultant, staff in receipt of an invalidity pension or on leave on personal grounds or on sick leave or on maternity leave. People working part-time can attend a course only during their working hours (time spent training is considered equivalent to work time).
   
• never have participated in an advanced or task based course in the language requested (or not have been assessed as being of a higher level than level 6 in the placement test).

Reminder :

• Each student may only apply for one single course per semester.

• Spouses of officials and former officials are not allowed as these courses are principally aimed for the specific needs of the DGs, to give access to language training for statutory members of staff who cannot attend such courses during the academic year and/or to accelerate the completion of the cycle.

PROCEDURE FOR ENROLMENT

All applications for an intensive course must be on the basis of a specific application even if the applicant is already attending a standard twice-weekly course. The application must be signed by the Head of Unit and by the Training Coordinator of the DG or the Service concerned.

All applications must be made only via SYSLOG at http://www.cc.cec/di/syslog_formation/home/formation.cfm. The DG ADMIN will deal with your application only AFTER the electronic validation done by the Training Coordinator of your DG/Service (list of Training Coordinators is at http://www.cc.cec/pers_admin/training_bxl/cofolist_en.html).

If the participant passes the examination at the end of the intensive course :

• Those who are not enrolled in a standard twice-weekly course and wish to continue classes in that language must submit a new application for the next session of standard twice-weekly courses in Syslog (please refer to the 1^st semester 2004/2005 administrative notice to be published).
   
• Those who are already attending a standard twice-weekly course will be automatically enrolled at the next level when the courses restart (except for advanced courses where a new application is needed). Attention : for these persons, the invitation to the 2004 intensive summer course will be sent at the beginning of July 2004 (after the finish of the standard twice-weekly course). Also, the invitation to the 1^st semester (2004/2005) of the standard twice-weekly courses (which start at mid-September 2004) will be sent at the beginning of September 2004 (after the end of the summer intensive course 2004). This is because we must know the end of course results before we can place those following standard twice-weekly courses in the right level.

Deadline for entering applications into Syslog Web Formation:

ABSENCES

It's worth remembering that the learning of any language means regular attendance at all courses. Repeated absences inevitably slow down the learning pace of the individual and the whole group and risk compromising the training objectives. A similar problem is posed by chronic latecomers to courses or by early departures: which is why arriving more than 30 minutes late to your class or leaving 30 minutes before the end of the class is considered as non-attendance.

The language training secretariat needs to ensure that all the following rules are strictly respected by the participants :

Participants who throughout a course (60 hours) accumulate 12 hours of absence regardless of the reason for the absences will be excluded from the course and will not be allowed to sit the final test.

In exceptional cases, an appeal procedure can be launched in order to avoid being excluded from the course or to be reinstated in the course, as follows :

• A note from the participant’s line superior to the language training Head of Sector certifying that participation in the course is in the interest of the service.
   
• A written declaration from the teacher stating that the participant is capable of continuing and successfully completing the course without slowing down the progress of the class as a whole.
   
• Commitment from the participant to take part in all remaining classes and to review the material covered during his or her absence.

Everything is in place to ensure rapid access to precise information about the progress of your application via SYSLOG WEB FORMATION which you should consult first (http://www.cc.cec/di/syslog_formation/home/formation.cfm).

Nevertherless, you will be personnally informed by e-mail of the outcome of your application by 18 May 2004 at the latest. Because of the limited human resources available in our team, no information can be sent out to you before this date. So please, do not contact us by phone or by e-mail before this date.

SECRETARIAT OF THE INTER-INSTITUTIONAL LANGUAGE COURSES

Head of Unit : Guido VERVAET, GUIM 3/56, tel. : 59224
Head of Sector : Italo RUBINO, GUIM 1/56, tel. : 62593
Secretariat : Emmanuelle LOUEDEC, GUIM 1/51, tel. : 51160
Training adviser : Maria RATZINGER, GUIM 1/38, tel. : 98749

List of course managers (on 1^st February 2004)
(enquiries by phone or in person may be made between 10 and 12 a.m.)