Alte Oper

The original opera house in Frankfurt is now the Alte Oper (Old Opera), a concert hall and former opera house in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. It was inaugurated in 1880 but destroyed by bombs in 1944. It was rebuilt, slowly, in the 1970s, opening again in 1981. Frankfurt Opera is now in a modern building nearby, next door to Schauspiel Frankfurt (drama). Many important operas were performed for the first time in Frankfurt, including Carl Orff's Carmina Burana in 1937.

The square in front of the building is known as Opernplatz (Opera Square). The Alte Oper is in the centre of town Innenstadt, near the Bankenviertel.

Inauguration

The building was designed by the Berlin architect Richard Lucae, financed by the citizens of Frankfurt and built by Philipp Holzmann. Construction began in 1873. It opened on October 20, 1880. Among the guests was Kaiser Wilhelm I of Germany, who was impressed and said: Das könnte ich mir in Berlin nicht erlauben. (I couldn't permit myself this sort of thing in Berlin.)

Alte

Alte is a village and civil parish in the municipality of Loulé, in the Algarve region in the south of Portugal. The population in 2011 was 1,997, in an area of 94.33 km².

Situated away from the coast, Alte is known as one of the most typical and unspoilt villages in the region of the Algarve. The village contains Algarve style whitewashed houses, traditional chimneys, and cobbled alleys. The Portuguese poet Cândido Guerreiro was born in Alte, in 1871.

At Fonte Pequena (see photo below), a set of azulejo panels displays a portrait of Guerreiro, probably Alte's most celebrated son, together with some of his poems, the most emblematic of which goes like this:

In James A. Michener's novel The Drifters, Alte serves as the main setting of the chapter Algarve, being recommended to the protagonists by a customs officer who wants them "to know Portugal at its best."

Fonte Pequena ("Small Fountain") waterway.

Fonte Pequena ("Small Fountain") waterway.

Fonte Grande ("Big Fountain") swimming and leisure area.

Association of Language Testers in Europe

The Association of Language Testers in Europe (ALTE) is an association of language exam providers in Europe.

The ALTE (Association of Language Testers in Europe) "Can Do" project developed a simplified set of 400+ descriptors for language examinations which relate to the Common Reference Levels. These descriptors are in the form of "can-do statements", each saying more simply what a learner can do at every level. There are four sections: general, social/ tourist, work and study. The ALTE project also gave its own names to the CEFR levels from the "Breakthrough level" to "Level 5".

The ALTE was founded by the University of Cambridge in conjunction with the University of Salamanca so the first exams to be related to their "Can-Do" statements were the Cambridge EFL exams. However, today many more examining boards link their exams to the system. Below is a table of some examinations as an example.

ALTE now establishes a six-level framework of language examination standards.