D.) Sample scenario (from the student’s point of view)

Marie, a Business student from the University of Umeå (Sweden) is preparing for
her 3-month practical training abroad. As part of the application procedure for the
program, she enrolls in our LIPS-Online Learning course. After consulting the LIPS-project
guidelines, her counsellor suggests a challenge to her – an internship in the area of marketing and sales in an optician's shop in Italy. Marie has already worked in England,
but the internship in Italy will provide her with access to a completely new culture and language. The optician's shop wants to improve its services for international tourists and
got in touch with the LIPS-community of practice. Marie has a beginner-to-intermediate
level of Italian and uses self-learning courses in Italian.

Now the LIPS-Online Learning Course begins. Marie gets a short introduction into the
course concept by the counselor and logs into the learning platform, where the course is provided. Here she can get in touch with other Leonardo students participating in the program, e.g. Bernd from Germany , who, in turn, plans to go to Sweden and who has contacted her to get first-hand information on the Swedish business culture.

The first key situation dealt with on the course is introducing oneself to others with special focus on cultural and non-verbal aspects in Italy. Most of what Marie deals with is new to her, although she has once been in Rome on a 3-week holiday.

At the end of the module Marie gets the task to analyse a conflicting situation in a company in Sweden. She decides to analyze the situation how an optician in a Swedish optician's
shop approaches a customer who has a complaint and documents her findings complete with photos in her online journal which is part of her portfolio. After a number of online-chats with Bernd from Germany she decides to share her journal with him, as he is very helpful about it and a nice guy as well.

After 3 more modules Marie receives confirmation that her Leonardo-Mobility application has been successful. Before she heads south to Italy she notices that the size of her portfolio has increased remarkably through the last weeks and months. And so has her knowledge about Swedish and Italian (and even German) business customs and habits. She really feels that she has something to offer to her Italian employer.

To cut a long story short, her internship in Italy turns out to be a great success. On the basis of her online course she has been able to make valuable contributions to the strategy of the Italian shop to attract tourists as potential customers. In turn, one of the young employees of the Italian optician's shop has learned a little Swedish from Marie and is planning to visit Marie in Sweden …