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This paper focuses on one important aspect of in-service teacher education: the core competences language teachers should strive to attain. We start considering the 'can-do' descriptors of competences of the Common European Framework of Reference, the European Language Portfolio and the European Portfolio for Student-Teachers of Languages and compare them with both procedures used in teacher training in the Scuola Interuniversitaria Lombarda di Specializzazione per l'Insegnamento Secondario at the Università degli Studi di Milano and with the thoughts and reflections on classroom practices of two student teachers. The study aims to show that a reflection tool like the European Portfolio for Student-Teachers of languages, and observation and reflective practices in general, can be very effective in initial teacher education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]