ELLA (language learning software)
Encyclopedia
ALTISSIA is a proprietary
Proprietary software
Proprietary software is computer software licensed under exclusive legal right of the copyright holder. The licensee is given the right to use the software under certain conditions, while restricted from other uses, such as modification, further distribution, or reverse engineering.Complementary...

 language-learning software developed by ALTISSIA International s.a., a Belgian company based on the UCL
Université catholique de Louvain
The Université catholique de Louvain, sometimes known, especially in Belgium, as UCL, is Belgium's largest French-speaking university. It is located in Louvain-la-Neuve and in Brussels...

 Campus in Louvain-la-Neuve
Louvain-la-Neuve
Louvain-la-Neuve is a planned city in the municipality of Ottignies-Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium, situated 30 km southeast of Brussels, in the French-speaking part of the country...

.
The company is a subsidiary of the CLL asbl, one of the biggest Belgian language schools.
In November 2010, ELLA changed its company name to ALTISSIA and initiated its new Altissia.com website.

ALTISSIA currently offers online courses in 5 languages: English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

, Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...

, German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....

, French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...

, and Dutch
Dutch language
Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...

. Its pedagogy is based on three key learning principles: immersion, practice and spiral learning.

ALTISSIA offers both e-learning & blended learning solutions to individuals, companies, public institutions and to the education sector.

The courses use a tightly integrated combination of videos, images, text and sound in real-world situations in order to learn vocabulary (general and business) and grammar. An ALTISSIA student has to use and develop oral, reading and writing skills. ALTISSIA uses original, topical material developed by native speakers which is vetted to conform to the levels in the Common European Framework for languages
Common European Framework of Reference for Languages
The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment, abbreviated as CEFR, is a guideline used to describe achievements of learners of foreign languages across Europe and, increasingly, in other countries...

 (CEF).

Levels

The available levels rank from beginner to advanced, and follow the European rankings of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages
Common European Framework of Reference for Languages
The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment, abbreviated as CEFR, is a guideline used to describe achievements of learners of foreign languages across Europe and, increasingly, in other countries...

. As of August 2009, courses are available in English, French , German, Spanish and Dutch for the following European levels: A1, A2, B1, B2, C1.

Criticism

At present, ALTISSIA only offers courses for adults. The software and media used is not targeted directly to a younger audience (<16).

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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