Reykjavík Grapevine - 18.06.2010, Blaðsíða 39

27
The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 08 — 2010
Article | Language
English is the world’s lingua franca
(although isn’t it ironic we use a for-
eign term to describe it?). Here in
Iceland, home to one of the world’s
purest languages, English remains
the necessary choice for communica-
tion with the Outside World, for relat-
ing to new arrivals to the country, for
multi-national businesses, and in the
lucrative tourist industry.
Almost 100 years ago, in 1918, an
international charity called the Eng-
lish-Speaking Union was founded to
promote international understand-
ing and friendship through the use
of the English language. The charity
is non-political and now has branch-
es in over 50 countries.
Here on our North Atlantic home,
a steering committee to establish
a branch of the English-Speaking
Union was set up at the end of 2008.
Since then, with the goodwill of
the English-speaking embassies in
Reykjavík (those of Canada, India,
the United Kingdom and the United
States), the seven-member commit-
tee, comprised of mostly Icelanders
from various professional sectors,
has been organising events, lectures,
and tournaments in English. We
expect to launch as an official ESU
branch in spring 2011.

From film nights to public speaking
ESU Iceland promotes and hosts
events that are generally free of
charge and open to all. Previous
events include lectures by BBC cor-
respondent Brian Hanrahan, UK
House of Lords member Lord Wil-
liam Wallace, and folklorist Terry
Gunnell. We have hosted a film night
featuring an award-winning Ameri-
can documentary and members of
the ESU mailing list were invited to
a free screening of a Bollywood film
hosted by the Indian Embassy.
In addition to lectures and social
events, ESU Iceland sent two Icelan-
dic secondary school students to Lon-
don this May to compete in the ESU
International Public Speaking com-
petition. The competition attracts
participants from dozens of coun-
tries around the world and Iceland’s
two students, both from Verzlunar-
skóli Íslands, performed amazingly
well. There will be another such com-
petition next year.

Find out more
ESU Iceland will be promoting and
organising several more events this
year. If you’re interested in keeping
up to date on upcoming activities,
you can join our mailing list by vis-
iting either www.esu.is or our Face-
book page, the English-Speaking
Union of Iceland. If you’re really im-
pressed, you may wish to become a
full member of ESU Iceland, which
comes with discounts at participat-
ing businesses, invitations to dinners
with speakers, and benefits around
the world at other ESU branches. All
the information is on our website.

Coming up next
The next event we are promoting is
a performance of the wildly-popular,
sold-out show London Assurance, a
Victorian comedy performed at Brit-
ain’s National Theatre, which will be
broadcast live on 28 June at Kringlan
cinema and at hundreds of other ven-
ues globally.
London Assurance stars Simon
Russell Beale and Fiona Shaw, two of
Britain’s best-known theatre actors.
The Sunday Express calls it “the fun-
niest and most assured comedy in all
of London.”
This performance, part of an ini-
tiative by the National Theatre, will
be broadcast in high definition and
include behind the scenes footage
and interviews with artists.
ESU Iceland is working with
Sambíóin and the British Embassy in
Reykjavík to promote this event. Any-
one who purchases tickets in advance
at the Kringlan box office and men-
tions the ESU will get a 20% discount
on the ticket, which is normally ISK
2200.
We look forward to seeing you at
Kringlan or another of our events in
the near future.
Can You Read This?
Great, then ESU Iceland wants to hear from you
Eliza Reid is the chair of ESU Iceland
No wonder she wants you to join.
ELIzA REId
MICHAEL CIANCIO
PRICE AROUND
BIG PORTION
1.100 - 1.400 ISK
OPENING HOURS
Daily from
11:30 - 20:30
Weekends from
11:30 - 20:30
OVER
COUR
SES50
RESTAURANTTHAI
www.nudluhusid.is
LAUGAVEGI 59
Step into
the Viking Age
Experience Viking-Age Reykja­vík a­t the
new Settlement Exhibition. The focus of the
exhibition is a­n exca­va­ted longhouse site which
da­tes from the 10th century ad. It includes
relics of huma­n ha­bita­tion from a­bout 871, the
oldest such site found in Icela­nd.

Multimedia­ techniques bring Reykja­vík’s
pa­st to life, providing visitors with insights
into how people lived in the Viking Age, a­nd
wha­t the Reykja­vík environment looked like
to the first settlers.
The exhibition a­nd
museum shop a­re open
da­ily 10–17
Aða­lstræti 16
101 Reykja­vík / Icela­nd
Phone +(354) 411 6370
www.reykja­vikmuseum.is
ENJOY
AND RELAX
1919 restaurant offer a new and very
exciting menu in a relaxed atmosphere
at a prime location.
Radisson Blu 1919 Hótel
Pósthússtræti 2 101 Reykjavík +345 599 1050
1919
R E STAU R A N T
AND LOUNGE
Probably the best pizza
in town
Pizzeria tel. 578 8555 Lækjargata 8 Downtown