Akelius Languages Online gGmbH

The Akelius Languages Online gGmbH develops a digital language application. Anyone can use the language course for free to learn a new language, independent of their language skills or other languages they speak. The language course is a cooperation between the Akelius Foundation and UNICEF, produced through us as a subsidiary. The language project started in 2015 during the European migrant crisis. Roger Akelius wanted to provide fast and unbureaucratic help for the more than 163,000 immigrants coming to Sweden. The idea was to help refugees learn the local language when settling in their new country. Not being able to communicate in the language of the host country is a huge barrier to integration. To help solve this problem on a larger scale, we started an official partnership with UNICEF in 2017. We now offer the language course in English, French, German, Greek, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swedish and Polish. We added Polish in 2022 as an emergency response to the war in Ukraine, to help refugee children to prepare for their school start in Poland. So far, the language course has been used in UNICEF educational projects in Greece, Lebanon, Mauritania, Italy, Bosnia Herzegovina, Serbia, Albania, Mexico and Kazakhstan. São Tomé and Príncipe and Cape Verde began the implementation of the language course in 2022. The courses are offered in refugee camps, learning centers and more recently in governmental schools as well. In 2023 teaching English in monastic education in Bhutan kicked off. The language course is available online on computers, tablets and smartphones. The Android application can be downloaded from the PlayStore and then used online or offline. Our colleagues in both Berlin and Nicosia offices work passionately to support the development of our online and analog products as well as our partners.