Programs Overview

The Andrew Romay New Immigrant Center provides a welcoming and nurturing environment along with diverse educational, cultural and professional offerings. Recent immigrants will improve their English, gain essential skills and cultural fluency, and develop the networks they need to participate fully in American society and exercise the responsibilities of citizenship.

Short Courses

The English-Speaking Union National Shakespeare Competition assists high school teachers across the country with their Shakespeare and language arts curricula. Through the competition, students are encouraged to develop their communication skills and an appreciation of the power of language and literature. 

The ESU Middle School Debate Program is an ESU educational initiative in partnership with Claremont McKenna College's Middle School Public Debate Program, international leaders in middle school debate education.  The program is for students in grades 5-8 to help them develop critical thinking and language arts skills through public speaking. 

The English in Action Luard Morse Scholarships are merit awards for students at Historically Black Colleges and Universities, enabling them to spend a semester of their junior year at the British university of their choosing. Luard Morse scholars have studied at universities including Oxford, Cambridge, and the London School of Economics, where they have performed with distinction as scholars and unofficial American ambassadors.

Through The Secondary School Exchange, American and British teenagers spend a postgraduate semester or year abroad on a full scholarship provided by participating schools.  Since 1928, thousands of students have participated, many describing the SSE Exchange as the most formative experience in their lives.

The Walter Hines Page scholarship gives teachers the opportunity to explore and exchange educational ideas between Britain, Argentina and America. Scholars travel to the USA to study an aspect of education which is relevant to their own professional interests and development.  Page Scholarships are funded by the ESU of the Commonwealth, teaching unions Great Britain and ESU Argentina, and scholars are hosted by ESU members in the United States. This international exchange of educational techniques and ideas benefits the educators -- and their students – on three continents.

The ESU International Public Speaking Contest brings together outstandingly articulate young people from all over the world for a week of public speaking competition and international cultural exchange in London.  Under the auspices of the ESU of the Commonwealth, the finalist contestants meet and learn with their peers of different backgrounds and cultures from some 50 countries.  Through all its qualifying levels, the program engages more than 40,000 young people globally.