Dear prospective ESU member,
On behalf of the our Chairman, Toomas Vitsut, and the committee I am pleased to inform you that the Estonian branch of the English Speaking Union (ESU) is now officially registered in Estonia.
Our inaugural meeting, which took place at Tallinn City Hall on Thursday 1st February and which many of you attended, was a great success. At our next meeting, to be held at 18.00 on Tuesday 29th May at the Kadriorg Art Museum (Weizenbergi 37), we shall have the honour of welcoming Count Nikolai Tolstoy as our speaker; the theme of his address will be “The Victims of Yalta: The Unrequited War Crime of World War II”. It is a rare opportunity to get the chance to hear a speaker of such international renown, and you are all warmly welcome to attend!
The mission of the ESU, “Creating global understanding through English”, appears now more relevant than ever, and I do hope that many of you will be interested to join us in our venture. The ESU is very definitely not an organisation for expatriate English residents in Estonia: indeed, there are only two English members on the current committee and at our inaugural meeting the audience was entirely Estonian!
In the coming months and years we hope to provide:
· an interesting series of stimulating speakers, starting with Count Nikolai Tolstoy;
· a programme of social events;
· regular conversation classes in English;
· the opportunity for schools to participate in the well-established ESU International Public Speaking Competition (a preliminary round of competitive debates with teams from schools in Estonia will take place early in 2008, and the winning team will take part in the international competition in London later in the year).
Membership fees have been set at a very modest level, with reduced fees for teachers and students holding ITIC/ISIC cards and for pensioners so as to encourage the widest possible participation. ESU events in Estonia will be free for members, while guests (non-members) may be asked for a small admission fee to participate.
FEES
Adult members: EEK 300 per annum
Teachers*: EEK 200 per annum
Students*: EEK 100 per annum
Pensioners: EEK 100 per annum
* ITIC/ISIC card holders
I do hope that as many of you as possible will feel able to complete the membership procedure by paying the appropriate fee to the our bank account, details as follows:
Bank: SEB Eesti Űhispank
Account name: English-Speaking Union of Estonia
Account number:
When making your payment, please enter the description ESU membership fee 2007/08, and do not forget to include your full name and, if paying a reduced fee, your ITIC/ISIC card number or the designation pensioner.
Once your membership fee has been received you will be notified of your membership number and you will automatically receive news of all our events by e-mail.
Further information about many aspects of the ESU, including the international public speaking competition, may be found on their website, www.esu.org. For more information about the new Estonian branch, including membership enquiries, please contact either the secretary, Richard Carr (servapadrona@yahoo.co.uk) or the membership secretary, Julia Jolkin (julia@officehotel.ee).
I look forward to seeing as many of you as possible at our next meeting on Tuesday 29th May.
With very best wishes,
Richard Carr (Secretary)
STOP PRESS – ADVANCE NOTICE OF THE GUINNESS LECTURE
We have just received confirmation that The Hon Desmond Guinness, Founder and Chairman of the Irish Georgian Society, which has restored many of Ireland’s historic palaces, castles and manor houses, has agreed to give a lecture to the ESU of Estonia on “The Restoration of Historic Properties and Heritage Protection”. This event will be held at KUMU on 25th September 2007, starting at 18.00.
