EuroCom shows that with existing language skills from the first or mother tongue(s) and the learned foreign language(s), an unexpected amount of knowledge is already available. It can be harnessed to understand texts in a (supposedly) unknown language. Hence, EuroCom exploits the whole linguistic and cultural repertoire that can be mobilized almost without learning input. The resulting motivation and confidence in language learning are remarkable.

The approach encourages students to use plurilingualism to gain more awareness about their own language skills and as a systematic way for language learning and understanding. It, thus, represents a valuable addition to language teaching, especially in schools. Language-networking together with the plurilingual and intercultural perspectives can fundamentally enrich teaching settings. In this way, EuroCom training teaches strategies and techniques for training reading and listening comprehension. In the process, learners get to know different Romance/Germanic/Slavic languages and expand their repertoire with cross-linguistic reading competence. This is also a good basis for building up productive competences (in individual languages).

To sum up, EuroCom contributes to the promotion of plurilingual and intercultural competences, which are of specific importance in dealing with today’s linguistic and cultural diversity. With this in mind, EuroCom promotes plurilingual understanding and contributes to strengthening a sense of European belonging and a common European identity. EuroCom is hence an approach of great relevance to Europe!

The practical examples based on EuroComRom and EuroComGerm have already given an insight into how intercomprehension can be used for systematical text understanding in closely related languages. Similar concepts exist for the Slavic language family – called EuroComSlav. 

The EuroCom approach can serve as an orientation for intercomprehensive reading. Depending on the learners’ age and language skills, some activities may appear too demanding, but our experiences show that even younger learners and learners with rudimentary language skills can profit from intercomprehension. A determining factor for success is the use of authentic texts and examples to illustrate to students how intercomprehension works, how much they already know, and how fast and easily they can understand texts in closely related languages.

Texts and examples may include:

• posts from social media
• short news articles from websites and/or newspapers, sometimes audio/video files are available and can also be used
• labels from different products
• wiki entries
• job-related expressions or definitions
• company's website
• company's social media

According to your vocational language education context, you can choose a short text in one or more language(s) relevant for your students. Learners quickly discover similarities, develop language learning strategies and techniques, and start to realize that they can profit from intercomprehension. Based on these receptive skills, productive competences can be developed more easily in any of the families’ language.