4 ELEMENTS

Project logo
Improve the foreign language learning and intercultural competences of adults through e-learning

The project

FOUR ELEMENTS is an initiative called to raise awareness and appreciation of the importance of culture and heritage as well as to train educators working with adult learners who want to improve their skills and competences necessary in today’s EU labour market.

The project will take advantage of the potential of the common European cultural values associated to the 4 elements earth, water, air and fire) to empower adults to improve their digital, foreign language and intercultural competences.

The partnership expects to develop and deliver innovative teaching materials presented in a culturally accessible E-book consisting of European legends and stories – giving visibility to the underlying common EU values and principles, especially adapted to learners with special needs.

To achieved such objectives, partners will develop:

An interactive map: a collection of legends and stories related to earth, water, air and fire, in different EU countries.

Digital Books with national legends and stories related to the four elements.

Methodological recommendations for adult educators.

To find more information, access the Four Elements platform here.

Digital books

The nations of Europe all have rich cultures of myth and folklore which give the different regions their particular individual flavour. Here we have grouped traditional stories from Belgium, Estonia, France, Greece, Italy, Slovenia and Spain according to the four elements: earth, air, wind and fire.

They are specially adapted to adult learners and can be used to develop language or ICT skills among your students while enhancing intercultural understanding.

Alongside the stories, this digital book contains interactive exercises and is in Easy Read format. All the material in it can be downloaded and printed. Teachers and trainers will find tips and suggestions for how to use it on the Recommendations section of this site.

European partnership

Four Elements is an Erasmus+ KA204 project designed to highlight the importance of culture and heritage at European Union level. It aims to train educators working with adult learners to enable them to acquire the skills and competences, including linguistic and digital skills and competences, required in the European labour market.

The project is coordinated by : CVO EduKempen (Belgium). The partnership also includes DomSpain Consulting (Spain), The Central Library of Võru County (Estonia), Les Apprimeurs (France), Istituto dei Sordi di Torino (Italy), Slovenian Third Age University (Slovenia), MyArtist (Greece).

Erasmus+ project

Erasmus logo The European Commission's support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents, which reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

Will-o'-the-wisp

MYTH

Main element: Fire

Language of the original: Dutch

Date of origin: In the 19th century, K. M. Briggs provides an extensive list of other names for the same phenomenon in her book A dictionary of Fairies.

Origin of the legend: The Flemish author Ernest Claes gives a colorful description of the Will-o'-the-wisp in his book Youth (1940).

To find more information about the legend, access the Four Elements platform here.

Lights in swaps of Kalmthout.

In Flemish folklore, will-o’-the-wisps appear at night in desolate places like the heathland of Kalmthout to lure lone travellers off their paths and into swamps and other dangers. According to most folkloric accounts, these ghost lights resemble flickering lanterns that constantly recede before the person following them, so that no one ever gets a close look at them. Also called ignis fatuus (Latin), these eerie illuminations are said to be the caused by malevolent spirits of the dead or the spirits of unbaptized children. In Europe, the first jack-o-lanterns were created from turnips to imitate will-o’-the-wisps. They have been seen by so many people in so many different places throughout the millennia that they seem to be an actual phenomenon rather than the product of frightened human imaginations. The most plausible scientific explanation for will-o’-the-wisps is that they are spontaneously igniting plumes of methane gas produced by rotting vegetation in swamps. But this hypothesis has not yet been proved for certain.

Het dwaallicht

MYTHE

Element: Vuur

Originele taal: Nederlands

Datum van ontstaan: In the 19th century, K. M. Briggs provides an extensive list of other names for the same phenomenon in her book A dictionary of Fairies.

Oorsprong van de legende: The Flemish author Ernest Claes gives a colorful description of the Will-o'-the-wisp in his book Youth (1940).

Om meer informatie te vinden over de legende, ga langs deze weg naar het 4elements platform.

In Vlaamse folklore verschijnen dwaallichten tijdens de nacht op verlaten plaatsen zoals de Kalmthoutse Heide. Ze lokken reizigers van het rechte pad naar een moeras of ander gevaar. Dwaallichtjes werden dan ook gezien als flikkerende lantaarns die voortdurend achteruitgaan zodat hun achtervolgers hen nooit van dichtbij kunnen zien. Ze worden ook ignis fatuus genoemd (Latijn) waar deze griezelige lichtjes eigenlijk de zielen van ongedoopte en/of doodgeboren kinderen uit het vagevuur zijn. In Europa zijn de eerste jack-o-lanterns uit pompoenen gemaakt in navolging van deze dwaallichten. Ze zijn door genoeg mensen gezien in zoveel verschillende gebieden door de eeuwen heen dat men moet aannemen dat het om een echt fenomeen gaat in plaats van bange menselijke verbeelding. Dwaallichten zijn wetenschappelijk te verklaren als een natuurverschijnsel waarbij methaangas ontvlamt in het moeras. Dit methaangas ontstaat door de natuurlijke vergisting van organisch materiaal waardoor blauwachtige vlammetjes verschijnen. Maar deze hypothese moet volgens sommige nog eerst bewezen worden.

Author, Dimitri Goosens. 2015-12-18. Fans of Flanders: once upon a time: Will-o'-the-wisp.