Estonia is well known for its forward-thinking digitalisation strategies and its innovative practices in the provision of online public services. In 2022, Estonia ranked 9th of 27 EU Member States in the Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI), which monitors Member States’ progress in digital (read more about it here).

The Estonian Ministry of Culture is now looking into setting up new possibilities for e-learning the local language. With this query, Estonia wishes to map other EMN Member and Observer Countries’ experience with technologies such as artificial intelligence, virtual reality, and augmented reality, to develop an offer of virtual language learning.

The main findings of the Query are:

• The use of artificial intelligence in language learning is still widely underdeveloped across most EU Member States. Out of the 20 countries that responded to the query, only 4 reported having developed or being in the process of developing methods for language learning using artificial intelligence. Belgium is one of them, with its two projects developed by the Flemish Region as part of the “amai!” initiative.
   
• The use of virtual reality and augmented reality in language courses is even more limited, with only two countries reporting their experience with these technologies. Even when such technologies are available, their use is still in the phase of pilot projects.
   
• In most countries, language courses for foreigners are available online, but they still rely on traditional teaching methods (video clips, audio recordings, etc.). Private institutions and universities may experiment with the development of more technologically-advanced teaching methods, but these are not yet readily available for government agencies in charge of organizing language courses for third-country nationals.

For additional information, please read the compilation of answers above.