Did you know that a chess grandmaster can lose nearly half a kilo a day during a high-level tournament? The 1984 World Chess Championship was called off after five months and 48 games because defending champion Anatoly Karpov had lost 10 kg. Other contestants said “he looked like death.” A high-stakes, intellectually demanding activity drains the practitioner of every drop of their bodily resources. As well as their mental prowess, they must develop their physical strength. Just to keep up.

We opened up the doors to greet the early morning crowd. Away they stampeded down auditorium way, where duets in the key of Nature waited to be sung. On stage they stood in friendly pairs, this early morning crowd, freeing by turns their inner beasts: koalas woken by snoring horses, roaring lions startling squeaking mice and dogs sniffing for hay. Picnicking elephants, scaredy-cats, forgetful ducks, hanging sloths and perching cheetahs, walruses tiffing with raccoons at bedtime, and cows with more stomachs than anyone could stomach. Funny, words. Yet, through the cacophony, we find we are all alike.

Young and old arrived in leaps and bounds, or in the slow shuffling of age-tired feet, up the three steps, through French doors that led to a well-lit atrium. In the early morning hours, when the winter sun doesn’t bother to care and just hits the snooze button, the light seemed to be emerging from within, as if the people entering were sparks coming back home to a bonfire lit long ago. It was warm inside too, despite the cold streets left behind.

For every hundredth haiku that has survived the bonfires of History there is another, like this one by the 18th-Century Japanese Poet and Painter Yosa Buson, that distils expression and meaning into the simplest poetic reverie, only to be seen, iridescent, by shielding our senses, like the blinding midday sun leaking between pillars of a long-abandoned ruin. This is when our imaginations are startled into play.

There are as many ways we can read poetry as there are poems and readers in this world.

We can read it silently, under the bedcovers with a smuggled torchlight, or nestled in an armchair nibbling on an apple, stitching a broken heart, warmed by a smouldering fire…

One account of what growing up entails is learning to live with contradictions. Whether as individuals, groups, or nations, if we are seduced by the notion of attainable purity (of race, ideology, creed, or even knowledge) we inevitably become blind to our very nature: imperfect, incomplete, and in need of others. To grow up is to learn to have enough, rather than to strive to have it all.

This year’s theme for Duologue and Poetry is “Voices of Wonder: Tales and Verses Through the Years.” In honour of our 20th Anniversary, we’ve selected poems and duologues that have been especially popular in these competitions throughout the years. We hope this selection inspires our students to open their heart to the wonder and delight of speaking in English!

The morning of Saturday, 14 June arrived with hushed drama—cold, grey, teasing an ever-retreating sun that wouldn’t deign to warm us anyway, deep now as it was in early winter slumber. Clouds hung low like closed books with stories untold…

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, 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.

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.

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!

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? 

¡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

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

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

May You Rest In Peace!

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.

Busy, buzzing, spelling bees, from early morning to afternoon. The best English spellers of the land arrived in warm clothes that covered hearts brimming with hope. Heads bursting with words learnt and repeated until etched on their scalps, letter by letter. Each word on stage, taking the trip from the top of the palate to the tip of the tongue.

It is very difficult to convey to anybody that hasn’t attended one of our events the air of competitive camaraderie between participants. Yes, there are heated arguments in our debates, side glances at our judges and more than one heart crushed at our prize giving ceremonies when their name or team comes up and it’s not under Number 1… but every step of the way, you can hear whispers of encouragement, teasing laughters, hugs of celebration and a few tears being wiped away by comforting hands.

Just one week is left for our in-person 2024 Public Speaking Competition semifinals and finals! Each of the ten semifinalists – after a virtual Round 1 in which they had to submit a video – will have the opportunity to present their speeches to a distinguished panel of judges, who will evaluate their performance based on a variety of criteria, including clarity, delivery, and overall effectiveness. The judges are respected leaders in their respective fields, and we extend our heartfelt thanks to them for their time, expertise, and dedication to this competition.

“It’s the deep breath before the plunge,” Gandalf said. Which could be an apt image for our first Kick Off event, right at the beginning of the year and before all others!
Above all, it is a joyous celebration of the talents, enthusiasm, and courage of young people—some of them as young as 1st grade!—who participated and won our competitions in 2023. Our congratulations once again to them all and their teachers and parents who’ve supported them all along the way.

In honour of the International Women’s Day, we would like to take the opportunity to thank and congratulate all women and girls that have been part of our community throughout the years: winners and participants, parents, teachers, judges, ESU board members, you all know who you are!

“All for One and One for All!” That was the Musketeers’ motto in 17th-century France when King Louis XIII’s men contended for the land’s power with Cardinal Richelieu’s guards.

Friendship is discovered in the unlikeliest places. Friendship brings closer together the most mismatched personalities. Friendship is a puzzle like an obtuse metaphor and as evident as the brick wall you fail to climb over (that’s a simile, by the way.)

Teaching and learning English is tough. VERY tough. VERY, VERY tough if it’s taught as a second (or even third) language. And if we add to that the pressure that kids feel to perform well and be recognized for it, we have a concoction that may not suit everyone’s taste…

The Debating Games have begun! Although not a proper death-unless-last-participant-standing kind of tournament -to the chagrin of some- the competition is fierce. 

After a few years of hiatus due to the COVID pandemic, our Spelling Bee came back loud and clear: every corner of our country must surely have been able to hear the spelling of our students from 3rd to 8th grade!

After a three-year hiatus, during which we were unable to hold our competition due to the COVID-19 pandemic or just holding it virtually as was the case last year, the in-person final for our Creative Writing Competition made a triumphant return, with a -fictional- vengeance!

A PROUD FINALIST! What a remarkable achievement! Facing some tough competition from all over the world, our ESU PSC 2023 winner Trinidad from Colegio Cumbres

TRINIDAD IN TRAFALGAR! Well, not exactly in Trafalgar, but close enough! We salute Trinidad from Colegio Cumbres who delivered today not one, but TWO speeches

IPSC FINAL THIS FRIDAY – WATCH ONLINE! Trinidad from Colegio Cumbres, our winner this year, who will be representing us at the ISPC in London

After the pomp and circumstance of the Coronation of Charles II on Saturday, we would like to share with all our community the touching tribute that Prince William paid to his father and mother at the Coronation Concert at Windsor Castle on Sunday night.

2023 Public Speaking Competition Held at Universidad Adolfo Ibañez, March 31, 2023 CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR 2023 SEMIFINALISTS! (MORE PICTURES IN GALLERY AT THE BOTTOM OF

Just one week is left for our in-person 2023 Public Speaking Competition semifinals and finals! Each of the ten semifinalists – after a virtual Round 1 in which they had to submit a video – will have the opportunity to present their speeches to a distinguished panel of judges, who will evaluate their performance based on a variety of criteria, including clarity, delivery, and overall effectiveness. The judges are respected leaders in their respective fields, and we extend our heartfelt thanks to them for their time, expertise, and dedication to this competition.

On International Women’s Day, at ESU Chile we’d like to take a moment to celebrate the contributions and achievements of women around the world. From

2022 SHORT STORY COMPETITION ONLINE WORKSHOP AND RESULTS As you all may know, December tends to be a very hectic month for all so our