We have just hosted a major gathering of study-abroad industry leaders in the beautiful city of Milano. It’s been a while since we all had the opportunity to attend a face-to-face ESL Workshop and have our international staff meeting with our partner schools who came from more than 25 different countries. After the planetary mess we’ve all been through, this 8th edition of the ESL International Workshop meant a lot. Intense and joyful days, with all attendees full of energy to touch base about 2022 and plan the year ahead.
The personal dimension and 2023 preparation
You can learn a language online or at home, but it’s simply not the same thing as learning face-to-face, in cultural immersion. Same goes for meeting face-to-face which offers something unique. This is true for the students who come and meet us in our ESL offices to prepare their adventure abroad and for our partners schools who have just been with us in Milano.
The best way to get information is directly from the source, and a tremendous amount of knowledge was shared between ESL staff and our partner schools. This helps everyone better understand student needs and expectations.
A good relationship between a language school and an agency is based on trust, respect, teamwork and sharing information. We collect a huge amount of student and staff feedback throughout the year, and the workshop offered the perfect moment to share this with a selection of 40 key ESL partner schools from around the world. In turn, schools passed on their insights into their latest developments, allowing everyone to fine-tune the student experience even further for 2023.
Access to education
Providing high quality education is our specialty but having access to education is unfortunately far from being a reality worldwide. With this in mind, our workshop was also an opportunity to support a charitable association from the north of Italy involved since 1983 in different development projects in Ethiopia, in particular, building school infrastructures for children of all ages, from kindergarten to university.
To raise funds, we organized an auction night where attendees could purchase tasty specialties brought by other attendees. Delicious emblematic food and beverages from all over the world, representing the variety of countries of the ESL portfolio got ESL staff and partner schools bidding for being the one to bring a gourmet basket of local specialties back home while contributing to the project “una scuola per tutti”. As a result, we raised funds to complete the pavement and equip a classroom with furniture and desks for 60 children in the primary school of Sike Danama in Ethiopia.
Many thanks to all participants, who contributed to this initiative and to these productive and enjoyable days in Milano. We look forward to seeing you again soon.
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