2005-2025: 20 Years of Discovering Voices (Ceremony held on 3rd April, 2025)
Throughout the ceremony, we aimed to answer this question: Why learn English in a Spanish-speaking country? To this effect we invited several guest speakers to try and answer it from their personal and professional experiences. We also wanted to proudly show how the English-Speaking Union Chile has helped in making our nation one that values the English language and fosters cultural exchanges.
Unity Wins the Day! 2025 Public Speaking Competition Workshops, Semifinals and Final
“Unity, to be real, must stand the severest strain without breaking.” These words—this year’s Public Speaking Competition theme—were written by Mahatma Gandhi in reference to the age-old and seemingly unending fractious enmity between Muslims and Hindus in India. Gandhi’s Satyagraha was a distinct and influential form of non-violent political resistance, in which unity was forged through the shared experience of bearing the strain—or more precisely, the consequences of that strain—by enduring pain (in all its forms) rather than inflicting it.
When Cinderella came to the ball, she dazzled them all!
We’re fairly sure our 2024 champions, Colegio Internacional SEK Pacífico (you can also spot our 2024 Public Speaking winner, Cristóbal Clavijo in the picture above, second from the left), will hate the comparison, cheeky bunch that they are. But, try as we might to find another, this one keeps coming back, leaving us with no choice but to surrender to it. We’ll trust that the high they’re feeling right now will offset any annoyance at the allusion to fairy-tale princesses.
If Music be the food of love… Recite on!
Lovelorn Count Orsino spoke these famous first words from Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night: “If music be the food of love, play on!” Struck with the pangs of unrequited, boundless, and—let’s be honest—purely imaginary love, he fittingly sought sustenance from the most ephemeral and intangible of art forms: music. Which happens to be, of course, this year’s ESU Poetry Recitation Competition theme!
CALL AND RESPONSE, COUNTERPOINT AND HARMONY!
This year’s theme for Duologue and Poetry is ‘MUSIC’, the perfect framing for our youngest and dearest, who through their dialog recitations must follow pretty much the same variables that make or break a musical performance: proper tone, using the right volume, hearing and responding to your partner, making your content legible to the audience, have them enraptured with enthusiasm and conveying your emotions. Did we mention that all of this is achieved by 1st and 2nd graders?
¡VIVA CHILE!
¡Feliz 18! From all of us at ESU Chile we wish all people that call this beautiful country their home, a great long weekend with their loved ones and call to feel proud for the 214 years of Chilean Independence!
ESU Outreach in the South of Chile
ESU OUTREACH IN THE SOUTH OF CHILE The English-Speaking Union (ESU) recently organized two workshops for English teachers in Puerto Montt, Chile, at the University Austral of Chile (UACh) campus. The workshops were focused on enhancing the pedagogical strategies of local English teachers. The initiative aimed to provide them with updated teaching methodologies and tools […]
AND WE HAVE OUR 12!
AND WE HAVE OUR 12! 12 Teams have entered this year’s ESU Tournament, which brings us back to pre pandemic levels. These are the schools fielded: Deutsche Schule Santiago Dunalastair Peñalolén The Grange School Lincoln International Academy The Mayflower School Nido de Águilas International School CPV International School, Las Condes CPV International School, Providencia Saint […]
James Wilkins Cook 1946-2024
May You Rest In Peace!
TO BE YOUNG, CREATIVE AND WRITE!
The morning was decidedly cold on Saturday, June 8th. With skies overcast and ever-threatening a downpour, our twenty finalists arrived in a steady drizzle up the road to the Mayflower School campus in Lo Barnechea, Santiago. Huddled at the feet of the Andes, all carried multitudes inside themselves, ready to be unleashed on the scariest of adversaries: a blank page.