The school authorities in Slovenia, who are currently in the process of reforming our elementary schools (a. nine-grade system will replace the present eight grades), are responsible for educational institutions at all levels, from elementary school to university. In addition, they also devote great attention to teaching the Slovene language to Slovene emigrants in seventeen countries, particularly in Western Europe where 1,300 pupils attend extracurricular Slovene classes and in some overseas countries where Slovene communities are still active. One of these countries is certainly Australia, where Slovene is recognized as an elective subject and where until now it has been possible to study Slovene at Macquarie University in Sydney. From 1989 on, there were always enough students at this level, both because correspondence courses were available and because students from all the Australian universities could enroll. Every year, fifteen to thirty-five students chose to study Slovene, most of them of Slovene descent but also students of other Slavic languages; and people who were simply searching for their roots.

In spite of the interest Slovenia demonstrated in its existence, this lectureship encountered financial difficulties throughout its entire existence. Australian Slovenes initially helped overcome the difficulties to some extent, but eventually Macquarie University no longer seemed interested in prolonging the lectureship contract. From this discouraging state of affairs, a modern project was born: the opportunity to study Slovene on the Internet through Slovenian on-line. The idea for Slovenian on-line was also inspired by the fact that Internet correspondence courses are becoming an increasingly popular method for acquiring knowledge in various fields. The Internet is a particularly suitable medium for this purpose because it makes possible the inexpensive transmission of text, pictures, sound, and video clips to anywhere in the world. The idea of an Internet course on the Slovene language was born in Australia, but students from Canada, the United States, or anywhere else. will be able to take the course without difficulty.

The initiator and author of the project is Metka Cuk currently a lecturer in Slovene at Macquarie University, and her company Tivoli Software, which has already conceived several interesting computer projects including two CD ROM's, Slovenian Proverbs and Games, Games, and little Games.

Metka Čuk completed her study of the Slovene language at Ljubljana University and later took her Master Degree in English and linguistics at Nottingham University in Great Britain. She now has seventeen years of experience teaching Slovene as a foreign language, nine of them at universities abroad- She is also the author and co-author of two textbooks on' Slovene as a Second Language and a collection of exercises. Also significant is her experience in developing correspondence courses in Australia.

Metka Cuk has been intensively involved with computers for the last four years and has been creating Internet pages for the School of Modem Languages at Macquarie University for three years. In addition she is enrolled in postgraduate correspondence courses at the University of South Queensland where she is primarily researching new methods of education via the Internet

In June 1998, Tivoli Software published a manual of Slovene grammar on the Internet,(http://mq.edu.au/MDLang/Slavonic/singrammar). It is also possible to find Slovene language lessons at Macquarie University on the Internet at http://www.mqedu.au/MDLang/Slavonic/slovenian.ntm.

Metka Cuk and Tiveli Software will develop and run the new course on the Internet making available from their server in Australia and administering the entire program: registration documentation, and issuing completion certifl-, maces. Students will be able to enroll in the course j whenever they wish, study whenever they have time. and take the exams at their own convenience. These possibilities are also the main lessons this method of study is suitable for adults, for whom the opportunity to schedule their own study timetable is very important.

A semester of study is expected to cost around 300 Australian dollars, which is comparable to prices for similar courses on the Internet The registration fee will be paid to Tivoli Software, which has a copyright on the program Tivoli Software- which can be found at http://tivoli.zip.com.au, already has an address reserved for Slovenian on-line: http://www.slovenian.com.

We are proud that Slovenia and Slovenes have a strong g presence on the Internet and that this presence will soon enhanced by Slovenian OnLine.