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.

Fisherman

LEGEND

Main element: Water

Language of the original: Slovenian

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

This legend was taken as a motif for his poem “Fisherman” by France Prešeren, a Slovenian poet.
Singing and dancing mermaids have origins in antiquity. The sirens sang so beautifully and enchantingly that they were dangerous to sailors. In mythology, and not only Slovenian mythology, mermaids teach people how to sing and how to dance. Mermaids come from the sea at eleven in the evening and sing for an hour. Men hear them. The mermaids sing so beautifully every man is lured into the water. Men learn how to sing from them. All the beautiful songs sung in churches and other beautiful popular songs were made by mermaids.
A young man who is pulled under the water by a mermaid in order to make him her companion will always remain young. (Trstenjak 1859: 5–6).

A young fisherman who had always trusted his guiding star to lead him over the sea suddenly found himself surrounded by several joyful and half-naked mermaids who posed him a number of provocative questions: “Why don’t you look at us? Why does your star stay so far away from you? Why doesn’t she dance with you? She can’t be in love with you! Look at us: how joyful we are, how much we want you. You are so cute and smart.” The fisherman found their words terribly inviting, so he started rowing violently away to resist the temptation. The poor fisherman probably drowned while he was fleeing from his hopeless love and the impure mermaids. In transactional analysis the fisherman would be torn between his adult and child ego states.

Ribič

LEGENDA

Element: Voda

Jezik izvirnika: slovenščina

Več o legendi lahko preberete tej povezavi.

Mladi ribič je zmeraj zaupal svoji zvezdi vodnici, dekletu, ljubezni, da ga je vodila čez morja. Znenada pa so ga obdale razigrane pol gole morske deklice in postavile so mu izzivalna vprašanja: »Zakaj ne pogledaš nas? Zakaj je tvoja Zvezda tako daleč proč? Zakaj ne pleše s teboj? Gotovo te nima rada! Glej nas, kako vesele smo, kako zelo si te želimo. Tako čeden si in pameten tudi.« Ribiča so te besede prizadele, tako, da je začel divje veslati, da se upre mamljivi nasladi. Ubogi ribič se je gotovo utopil, ko je bežal pred brezupom ljubezni in zapeljivimi morskimi deklicami. V transakcijski analizi bi ribiča označili kot moškega, ki se bori s svojim ego stanjem odraslega in otroka.

Krampf, R. (2011). Prešeren in vrednote. Diplomsko delo. [pdf] Ljubljana: Univerza v Ljubljani. Filozofska fakulteta., p.32.