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Contact details
Submitted by: Nuscha Wieczorek, Diplomatic Officer, Office for Foreign Affairs, Government of Liechtenstein
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.liela.li
VIDEO: LieLa - German course - emergency shelter for refugees
Introduction to the project
Country
Liechtenstein, Switzerland, Germany and Austria.
Next, the project will be implemented in Turkey.
Duration
The Charitable Foundation “Liechtenstein Languages” started its work in 2016.
The project is ongoing. LieLa offers its language classes in ever new contexts based on concrete collaboration projects with cities, municipalities or similar actors seeking to offer language classes for refugee communities and asylum seekers. Funding of LieLa by the Government and Princely House of Liechtenstein will be sustained in the future.
Description
“Liechtenstein Languages” is an innovative integration- and education programme for refugees and asylum seekers to quickly acquire spoken language skills in a foreign language.
Project aims
The goal of the project “Liechtenstein Languages” (LieLa) is to enable asylum-seekers and refugees to acquire basic spoken language skills to navigate new societies as quickly as possible upon arrival. LieLa offers different course formats for different needs: Basic language classes focusing on interaction with authorities, health care, orientation in town and communication in housing facilities, advanced language classes, early-childhood classes and language classes for vocational integration. Another goal of the programme is the social integration of refugees. The integrative style of the classes fosters community-building among participants and helps them acquire cultural knowledge about the new society in which they live. LieLa trains trainers in the language teaching method which results in a rapid duplication effect of the learning method.
Resources used
LieLa language classes are co-funded by the Government, Princely House and various charitable foundations of Liechtenstein (Hilti Family Foundation, MBF Foundation Liechtenstein, Fürst Franz Josef von Liechtenstein Foundation, Guido Feger Foundation, Peter Kaiser Foundation, Beneficentia Foundation).
Main activities of the Good Practice
Objectives 1 & 2: Mostly applied in municipalities, LieLa advances the GCR-objectives of (1) enhancing the resilience of local and refugee communities and (2) durable solutions.
LieLa language classes prepare children for their integration into national education systems and adults for their integration into society and the job market. They thereby further the GRF focus area of education while enabling local integration, a core objective of the GCR.
Partners
The Charitable Foundation “Liechtenstein Languages”
Challenges and how they were overcome
It is always a great challenge to develop programs in the high-wage country of Liechtenstein and to make them available in other countries at low costs.
Only the continuing financial support of the Government, Princely House and charitable foundations of Liechtenstein makes it possible to develop materials of the highest quality in Liechtenstein and still be able to implement projects in other parts of the world.
Results of the Good Practice
- Learning the language of host countries enables refugees to become active members of society, to integrate as soon as possible and to realize their rights and address their specific needs.
- 10’000 refugees learned German through LieLa and 300 language trainers were trained since its inception in 2016. The language learning project in Turkey will benefit 2’136 refugees who will learn either Turkish or English.
Next steps
LieLa is continuously funded by the Government, Princely House and charitable foundations of Liechtenstein to carry out its important work on an on-going basis in the German-speaking region (Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria and Switzerland). As a joint pledge of the Government of Liechtenstein, the Charitable Foundation “Liechtenstein Languages” and the NGO RET International, the LieLa Language Learning Method will be applied in Turkey to teach Syrian and Iraqi refugees Turkish and English to enable their active participation in society. It is the first time that the LieLa Language Learning Method is applied outside of the German-speaking region and that a different language than German is being taught. This project will run from 2020 to 2022 and reach 2'136 direct and 10'680 indirect beneficiaries and amount to roughly USD 1.1 Million covered by the Liechtenstein Government. The project aims to address the complex challenges of the refugee situation in Turkey.
VIDEO: Liechtenstein Languages am Klaus Steilmann Berufskolleg in Wattenscheid
