ESL’s English Full Immersion: Dive into English

Founded in Switzerland in 1996, ESL is a global leader in language study programmes abroad. The brainchild of two teachers passionate about languages, who believed that full immersion in a new language is the most efficient way to learn, ESL began life in the Swiss Alps as a summer school for youngsters. It rapidly grew into an international network of top-level language schools. Twenty years of experience have made ESL teams extremely effective: they now operate in over forty international offices and boast a staff of teaching professionals, all of whom have first-hand experience in immersive learning methods.

For its youngest students, ESL designs personalised stays away organised down to the most minute detail. Adopting a tailored approach means children learn the specific type of vocabulary they need and make productive use of the time they have.

To find out more about ESL, Speak Up contacted Sonia Piccinin, Area Manager for the agency’s Italian branch. Piccinin began by saying that ESL is suitable for an extremely diverse public, with a wide range of languages on offer and study programmes available in numerous countries: 

Sonia Piccinin: ESL is an agency that has been helping students of all ages to organise their language stay abroad for over twenty-five years. In addition to the language travels for English booked by around 80 per cent of our students, we offer experiences for sixteen more languages (Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, Russian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean and many more). It is precisely this diversity of languages and the possibility of traveling all year round, for both long and short periods, which ensures that our audience is heterogeneous. In fact, close to the classic target [group], made up of teenagers and university students, we have a wide range of adults and professionals who contact ESL to improve their language skills, for work-related needs but also for personal and cultural reasons. 

LANGUAGE STAYS

A characteristic feature of ESL is its immersive ‘Soggiorni Linguistici’ or ‘language stays’. We asked Piccinin to say more about this.

Sonia Piccinin: A language stay is a 360-degree experience, which allows [you] not only to improve the knowledge of the language you are going to study, but also to grow on a personal level. Leaving for a country with a culture and habits different from your own, challenging yourself by speaking a foreign language, meeting the locals, are all experiences that allow you to grow and open your mental horizons. A language stay is therefore a full immersion in a new and stimulating reality, which brings with it an incredible added value for the future.

A HOLIDAY LIKE NO OTHER

A ‘soggiorno linguistico’ differs from a regular holiday; Piccinin lists the crucial differences.

Sonia Piccinin: Obviously the main difference is [given by] the language course, an element that is missing in the classic holiday: by going to class and participating in excursions and activities organised by the school, you easily connect with people from all over the world, creating new friendships and relationships that will last forever. In addition to this, there are many points in common between the two experiences. Those on a language study abroad trip enjoy the traditional elements of a holiday (for example, discovering new places and trying new dishes) while adding a local touch and a markedly international setting. Let’s take the accommodation: you are hosted by a local family, experiencing their schedules, uses and traditions, or you live in a school’s accommodation together with other students who arrive from all over the world. In short, a language study stay is a holiday 100 per cent, enriched with academic and cultural components. Besides, it’s not always necessary to choose just one! A language stay can easily be combined with a holiday in the same country: for example, after taking a course in a city like New York or San Francisco, you can take the opportunity to go on a nice coast-to-coast tour of the United States! There are also destinations that lend themselves perfectly to combining the educational aspect with the holiday aspect. Our partner schools are also located in seaside locations, where students can enjoy the beach after class!

LANGUAGE AND FUN

There is a wide range of schools and courses to choose from, in addition to housing options and leisure activities. ESL goes out of its way to help its students organise the study plan that will best suit them. This allows students to focus on the language and on having fun.

Sonia Piccinin: The solution is to talk to us about ESL. Our staff are passionate about languages and travel abroad regularly, visiting partner schools and experimenting their proposal at 360°. This in-depth knowledge of the portfolio allows us to do what we like best: advising you in a personalised way! By asking many questions and listening to all your needs, we try to offer exactly what you are looking for. Do you prefer a half-day course and [to] use the rest of the time to discover the destination with your new friends? Or do you need a more intensive course, and [will] focus on having fun at the weekend? Do you want to have a local experience and live with locals? Or are you more independent and prefer to enjoy an international residence? All this is discussed and validated with ESL consultants, to give life to a unique and successful project.

HIGHLY PROFESSIONAL

ESL’s long history and its highly-trained and enthusiastic staff distinguish it from other agencies, believes Piccinin.

Sonia Piccinin: Our sector is rich in agencies and professionals who love languages and travels, and it is a privilege to work within it. We at ESL are certainly special for several reasons, but I like to underline two: our history and our people. First of all, ESL is not just an agency that offers partner schools all over the world: we, in turn, were born as a language school for teenagers. Since that distant 1996 and a summer camp in Switzerland, we have grown and changed, but have maintained a fundamental trait: we know the needs of our students, both during counseling and after, when they are on site. Furthermore, as I said before, our staff loves and breathes the job: an ESL consultant speaks on average four languages and has always had at least one language study stay abroad (one of us has already done twelve!). This symbiosis with the student’s project allows us to directly experience their wishes and fears, to then find the best option together.

Programmes for Young Learners

ESL offers a wide range of programmes for young learners. The summer camps for juniors and teens from eight to seventeen-years-old, for example, allow students to learn a language and enjoy a wide range of activities and sports: from football to watersports. In addition to summer camps, ESL offers high school study programmes abroad, which enable students to spend a year, a semester or a term at a school in the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand or in Europe.