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279 middle school students from 6 states debated at the Championship Tournament

National News – May 5, 2018, Nest +m school

Should reptiles be pets? Should the Olympics include video games? Should the US adopt a guaranteed minimum income level? These are just a few of the topics middle school students debated during the English in Action Middle School Debate Championship Tournament on May 5 in New York City. Debaters came from 33 schools in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Virginia, Maryland and Colorado to participate in the seventh annual tournament at the Nest +m public school.

Rachel Carson Middle School from Herndon, Virginia won the final debate against The Dalton School from New York, New York.

Jasmine Sanchez of West End Secondary School in New York, NY won the Top Speaker and coveted Golden Gavel awards.

Click here to see the tournament photos.

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National News

April 23 may have been a normal Monday for most students, but as the birthday of William Shakespeare and the date of the 35th Annual National Shakespeare Competition, April 23, 2018 will be a day that fifty-five high school students will never forget. Students from around the US competed on stage in the Mitzi Newhouse Theater at Lincoln Center as the culmination of a year-long competition hosted by the English-Speaking Union (ESU).

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ARNIC Graduation Date Set

National News – Thursday, May 31, The Fourth Universalist Society of New York

The 2018 Andrew Romay New Immigrant Center (ARNIC) Graduation will be held Thursday, May 31, 6 pm at The Fourth Universalist Society of New York.

The Marietta and Andrew Romay Foundation has announced a special challenge grant of $25,000 in support of ARNIC. For more information about the ARNIC 2018 Benefit and sponsorship opportunities, please contact Rossana Ivanova at rivanova@esuus.org, (212) 818-1200 ext. 220.

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2018-2019 Luard Morse Scholarship Recipient Named

National News

Ms. Kyana Washington of Manvel, TX, an English major from Spelman College, has been selected as the English in Action 2018-2019 Luard Morse Scholarship recipient. Christopher Broadwell, Executive Director of the English-Speaking Union, announced the winner, noting that Ms. Washington will receive up to $25,000 toward a semester of study at a university of her choosing in the United Kingdom during the 2018-2019 academic year.

"Being selected as a Luard Morse Scholarship finalist has been an amazing experience. I've enjoyed meeting inspiring students and alumni from Historically Black Colleges and Universities around the country," Ms. Washington stated at her qualifying interview in New York on Thursday, January 18, 2018. "It was a pleasure to have been able to engage in a thought-provoking discussion about feminism, literature, and current events. My interview has inspired me to continue my intellectual exploration and to continue pursuing my goal of becoming an advocate for women in my study of both English and Philosophy."

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Shakespeare Birthplace Trust

National News – Stratford-upon-Avon

Teachers and lifelong learners from across the US reveled while on TLab's inaugural program at Shakespeare Birthplace Trust: From Page to Stage. Participants spent a week in Stratford-upon-Avon walking in the footsteps of Shakespeare, enjoying lively discussions with renowned lecturers, soaking up the Christmas markets and enjoying four performances by the Royal Shakespeare Company.

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ARNIC Thanksgiving Dinner

National Event Recap – November 20, 2017

English in Action welcomed past and present ARNIC members, friends and guests to the annual Thanksgiving Dinner at the English-Speaking Union. Friends and guests came together to celebrate, share a meal and give thanks. For many ARNIC members, this was their first Thanksgiving in the US and a welcome introduction to one of America's most treasured holidays.

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Learning the Story and Future of English

National News – Oxford University

Twenty teachers, life-long learners, and ESU members have returned from an immersion into the story and future of English -- the ESU's new one-week TLab-UK course at historic Worcester College of the University of Oxford.

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The ESU Supports Immigrants, Asylum-seekers, and Refugees

National News

Welcome back to all of our students, teachers and volunteers. Read the inspiring stories of some of our students here. 

For nearly a century, the English-Speaking Union has employed English as a catalyst to foster global understanding and good will through educational opportunities and cultural exchange.  The ESU is an inclusive organization, in the words of our founder Sir Evelyn Wrench,  "founded in no narrow attitude of race pride, in no spirit of hostility to any people."

In today's shrinking world dominated by dollars and digits, unprecedented migration and bloody national borders, the ESU remains committed to improving the lives of new immigrants to the United States.

Since 2013, nearly 1,000 recent immigrants, refugees, and asylum-seekers from 66 different countries have been welcomed as members of the English-Speaking Union Andrew Romay New Immigrant Center. The Center provides a welcoming environment, resources and information to help immigrants improve their English to explore work and study opportunities, network, pursue citizenship, and acquire cultural fluency in order to participate fully in American society.

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Shakespeare as “Political Theater” Et tu, ESU?

National News

The English-Speaking Union National Shakespeare Competition and "Political Theater"
by Christopher Hodgkins

Now everybody wants into the act! Few people who follow the arts or just follow the news can have missed the controversy over the New York Public Theater's production of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, which had its final performance in Central Park's Delacorte Theater on June 18. The performance is acted in contemporary costumes, and Caesar—wearing a flamboyant suit and an orange-blond coif much like President Donald Trump's—seems to be slain in the American and not the Roman Capitol, meeting an especially bloody end in Act 3 at the hands of very modern senatorial conspirators. In response, some of the President's supporters—and some who simply think that this interpretation disrespects the Presidency and incited a recent attempted massacre of Republican Congressmen—have spoken out against the show, interrupted the performance, or even stormed the stage. Perhaps the producers provoked more audience reaction than they bargained for! And some people think that Shakespeare is irrelevant or boring . . .

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ARNIC Graduation and ESU Founder's Award Ceremony

National News

On June 1, the English-Speaking Union Andrew Romay New Immigrant Center celebrated the accomplishments of its members with a graduation ceremony hosted by the Open Society Foundations, financial supporters of the program, at their offices in New York City.

The Andrew Romay New Immigrant Center (ARNIC), named for the program's key visionary and supporter, Andrew Romay, helps recently arrived immigrants improve their English through free ESL classes and conversation sessions and acquire cultural fluency through field trips, workshops and networking opportunities. Launched in January 2013, the ARNIC Program has served more than 800 new Americans.

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