The Universal Language: now on DVD!
New documentary on the history of Esperanto by Academy-award nominated director Sam Green available on DVD
The Universal Language, produced with the financial support of Esperantic Studies Foundation, charts the tumultuous history and humanistic ideals behind Esperanto. Drawing on archival footage and interviews with present-day speakers, the film finds passion, poignancy and humor in the people, events, and ideas that have kept the movement alive through some of the darkest episodes of the last hundred years.
The film is one part of Green’s chronicles of utopian thinking and practices, a project that asks the basic questions of how ideals and idealism can spur or fail to spur historical change. In addition to providing a primer on the history of Esperanto, this straightforward and fascinating documentary serves as the perfect touchstone for discussions on an array of topics including the contexts of political action, social movements, language studies, European history and the currencies of hope and futility in today’s cultural climate.
Tracing an arc from the language’s birth in the Russian empire through the optimism of the early 1900s, two world wars, the ideological divides of the Cold War, and the rise of globalization, the film places Esperanto in the context of larger social and political struggles. What emerges is a portrait of a complex utopian project, resilient enough to withstand punishing setbacks, yet still largely marginalized and ignored.
Sam Green is a San Francisco-based documentary filmmaker. His film The Weather Underground was nominated for an Academy Award in 2004, broadcast nationally on PBS, and included in the Whitney Biennial. Green’s most recent documentary Utopia in Four Movementspremiered at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival and is currently screening widely. His other films include Utopia Part 3: the World’s Largest Shopping Mall, lot 63, grave c, The Rainbow Man/John 3:16, N-Judah 5:30, and Pie Fight ’69. Green received his Master’s degree in journalism from the University of California, Berkeley, where he studied documentary with acclaimed filmmaker Marlon Riggs. He has received grants from the Creative Capital, Rockefeller and Guggenheim Foundations, as well as the National Endowment for the Arts. He is currently an Artist in Residence at the Exploratorium Museum in San Francisco (www.samgreen.to).
The Universal Language is available for purchase through the Internet at: http://esperantodocumentary.com/en/store. Institutional and educational organizations that would like to add the film to their collections or organize a public screening should contact Sam Green by email Samgreenfilm@gmail.com or phone 1-415-345-7716.
2011-12-28 23:00:14
Eventful year for ESF
Dear Supporter,
The last year was an eventful one, not only for Esperantic Studies Foundation! Many and varied developments around the world demonstrated that a new generation is not willing to remain stuck in the dead ends of recent decades. This generation has not yet fully defined its goals or strategies. We can state with confidence, nevertheless, that a neutral common language is perfectly adapted to these efforts to establish a more just and harmonious global society.
As you know, ESF is deploying its modest resources to help clarify this vision of diversity, justice and mutual understanding and to bring it closer to reality. Very few associations and foundations are active on language issues at a global level. To tell the truth, even we have been surprised at the level of interest and support our various initiatives have attracted in recent years. This year, Lernu.net surpassed the threshold of 100,000 registered users; Edukado.net – now celebrating its 10th anniversary – reattained the level of 2000 active collaborators; and the documentary film The Universal Language, which ESF supported with a significant grant (and advice), has begun touring film festivals worldwide. We are proud that through these projects – to name just a few – we are succeeding in positively influencing the public image of Esperanto, along with its learning and use not only in North America, but in dozens and dozens of countries around the world.
But we are not satisfied. We view lernu! and the other internet projects as constituting the embryo of a new type of Esperanto speaking community, one that could offer many more possibilities and forms of interaction than any existing model. In the first nine months of 2011, we worked closely with the activists of E@I to plan what such a community might look like. Now the preparations have started. Even with another whole year of hard teamwork ahead of us, we strongly believe that this project will open up new perspectives for ESF’s work around the world, and for promotion of the ideas and values associated with Esperanto.
Stay the course with us! Your support is very important for our work. If you can, please consider the possibility of making a monthly contribution to ESF (https://esperantic.org/en/donations/online). Or you could make a one time contribution to the campaign “100,000 euros for ESF” (http://kampanjo.ikso.net/). Spread the word about our work among your friends. Join our online projects and use them for your own purposes. The more we work together, the more weight our actions will carry in the development of a global society.
We wish all of you a new year that is peaceful, happy, and full of hope!
Bondezire,
Mark Fettes
vice-president,
ESF
2011-12-18 01:41:34
Normand Fleury joins ESF’s Advisory Board
Esperantic Studies Foundation (ESF) has announced the appointment of Normand Fleury to its Advisory Board. Normand’s three decades of experience in organizing and managing Esperanto activities and events will greatly enrichESF’s “human capital” and expertise.
Normand Fleury has been an Esperanto speaker since 1979. He is a co-founder of the Quebec Esperanto Society (1982) and is a member of its board. He has also been actively involved in the Canadian Esperanto Association, including managing its book service since 1984. Normand also served as president of the local organization committee of the International Youth Congress of Esperanto in 1992 and was the lead organizer of the Pan-American Esperanto Congress in 2008 in Montreal; he also created and continues to head up a number of regional Esperanto events. Normand has a degree in horticulture and landscape planning and works for the City of Montreal as a greenery and parks technician.
Normand’s nomination is already the second nomination to the Advisory Board this year. It is part of an effort to involve subject matter experts in ESF’s work who would provide expertise and guidance on the planned expansion of Lernu.net (an expansion which will also facilitate purchases, sales, subscriptions, events, donations, etc.) and redesign of NASK, the North American Summer Esperanto Institute, making it more affordable and accessible for students across North America and the world.
More information on the expansion of Lernu: https://esperantic.org/en/communications/news?n=53
Please also read about the joint Lernu – E@I campaign “100 Euros for ESF”: http://kampanjo.ikso.net/
2011-10-24 19:54:07
100,000 EUR for ESF!
In order to celebrate the registration of the 100,000th user of Lernu.net, the lernu!-team, in cooperation with E@I, has launched a fundraising campaign on behalf of Esperantic Studies Foundation (ESF). They aim to raise 100,000 EUR byDecember 15th, 2012.
“Without ESF, the Esperanto community would offer fewer services to Esperantists, as well as those who want to learn the language” – that’s how the lernu!/E@I team explains their wish to help ESF continue its good work in the article “What is ESFand why it deserves your support” that appeared in the October issue of La Ondo de Esperanto. “This is quite an ambitious venture”, admits the team, “but it can be done if many Esperantists support this initiative”. The team created a special website for this campaign: http://kampanjo.ikso.net.
Founded in 1968, ESF became one of the largest investors in the modern Esperanto community, and even though a relatively small number of Esperantists has heard of the Foundation itself, people from all over the world may enjoy the fruits of its work. Many large and well known projects have received ESF’s financial support, including websites promoting Esperanto instruction(lernu.net and edukado.net), Esperanto teaching programs in schools (‘Springboard to Languages’ in Great Britain) and teachers’ training courses (Renato Corsetti was given an ESF scholarship to train teachers in Africa). The instructional video course ‘Esperanto – Pasporto al la Tuta Mondo’ and informational film ‘Esperanto estas…’ were also created thanks to ESF’s support. The foundation has supported non-Esperantists as well: for example, the film director Sam Green received a grant for his documentary on Esperanto. Many tools for those who already speak Esperanto were created due to ESF investments, including the Esperanto web corpus tekstaro.com, where one may find out the historical usage of an Esperanto word. ESF has also invested in the conservation of Esperanto history: to cite one example, it financed the long term effort of UEA to preserve the collection of the Hodler Library. These are only a few examples of the many projects supported by ESF over the course of its 40 year history.
The lernu! team decided to launch this fundraising campaign because of ESF’s important role in the creation and support of lernu.net. “Thanks to ESF’s support, lernu.net has grown to a community of more than 103,000 users and it exists in 37 languages”, explains the team. Even though a large part of the modern Esperanto movement is centered in Europe, Lernu has many thousands of users outside Europe: over 2600 in Africa, over 3000 in Oceania, over 11,500 in Asia, and over 35,000 inAmerica. Almost all countries are represented among lernu! users. There are learners in Burma, Afghanistan, Reunion; there are lernu! users in Turkmenistan, in Palestine and in Botswana. Many of these students don’t have Esperanto teachers, but with the help of the Internet, lernu! brings Esperanto courses to their homes free of charge.
Many prominent Esperantists have expressed their support for the fundraising campaign. Mark Fettes, vice president of ESFand former UEA board member, noted: “With the internet era, our world has shrunk, while the possibilities to quickly communicate, decide and act have significantly grown. Gradually, our whole movement will need to adapt, but ESF is already showing the way by supporting promising initiatives in the fields of education, science and technology. If you donate to ESF, be assured that your money will be used for specific, well managed projects that will increase the prestige, visibility and value of Esperanto in our era of globalization”.
Read the full version of the article at http://blogo.ikso.net/2011/09/kio-estas-esf-kaj-kial-gi-subtenindas/ (Esperanto only).
Visit the website “100,000 EUR for ESF!”: http://kampanjo.ikso.net
About ESF’s plans on the expansion of Lernu.net https://esperantic.org/eo/komunikado/novajxoj?n=57
2011-09-29 22:19:47
Lee Miller appointed to ESF Advisory Board
In a move signaling its commitment to the ongoing development of the North American Summer Esperanto Institute (NASK), the board of directors of the Esperantic Studies Foundation has appointed Lee Miller to its Advisory Board. An experienced instructor and administrator at NASK, Lee has been a leading force in recent changes to the program to make it more affordable and accessible for a range of students across North America and the world.
A resident of Columbia, Missouri, Lee Miller has spoken Esperanto since the age of 16. He graduated from Drury College (B.S.) and the University of Missouri-Columbia (M.S.), and holds C1 certification in Esperanto within the Common European Reference Framework for Languages. Fluent also in ASL (American Sign Language), he now works full time as a certified ASL interpreter, following a career with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
Lee first attended NASK as an advanced level student in 2000, when he initiated the tradition of the “NASKa Fasko” daily newsletter. First asked to teach in 2003, he has since functioned as the Institute’s “coordinating instructor,” working closely with the program’s administrator, Ellen Eddy. He was instrumental in transitioning NASK from a 3-week to a 1-week program in 2011, and chaired a subsequent evaluation and planning meeting to examine ways for NASK to attract more students while maintaining or enhancing the quality of the overall experience.
ESF’s Advisory Board currently consists of 13 members from 6 countries (U.S., Canada, Germany, India, The Netherlands, andSwitzerland). ESF is considering inviting more experts to its Advisory Board as it proceeds with planned expansions to its programs and activities, including web-based projects such as Edukado.net and Lernu.net, currently with more than 100,000 registered users.
To learn more about ESF’s future plans, read our news release: https://esperantic.org/en/communications/news?n=53
To learn more about NASK, please visit www.esperanto.org/nask
2011-08-21 16:18:29
ESF appoints a new treasurer
ESF has announced the appointment of Anna M. Bennett as the new treasurer of Esperantic Studies Foundation. Anna will bring to the Board exceptional expertise in accounting and financial record-keeping for non-profits, as well as great enthusiasm for education, volunteering and for Esperanto as a means of peaceful communication. The outgoing treasurer, Wally du Temple will continue to be actively involved in the Foundation’s work and will stay on as a regular Board Member and as Development and Investments Officer of the Foundation.
Anna Bennett defines her personal mission as sowing the seeds of peace through communication. In fact, her interest in Esperanto grew from this interest in contributing to peaceful relations between peoples. A number of years ago she attended a peace conference in Caux, Switzerland. Related to this mission of peace is her interest in Nonviolent Communication, as developed by Marshall Rosenberg.
Anna graduated with a degree in Business Administration and Masters Degree in Accountancy. In the mid-70s she attended the SGPiS (Szkoła Główna Planowania i Statystyki) in Warsaw, Poland on a joint Fulbright-Hays/Polish Government grant. Upon returning to the U.S., she worked for a number of years, as a CPA, first as a Cost Accountant and later in her own tax preparation business.
Anna’s interest in education began with tutoring math and reading at her children’s school. She received training to act as a Junior Great Books discussion leader and later on she tutored adults learning to read under the P.L.U.S. Program. She also tutored adults learning to read English with the local refugee program. Having decided to volunteer for Habitat for Humanity, she was asked to organize and manage a Volunteers Coordination Committee in the growing local HfH organization.
She established the financial record-keeping system for a local not-for-profit organization and prepared the financial statements and annual budgets for a few years and was Treasurer for a local square dance club. Anna served several years as Treasurer of Esperanto-USA and she continues as a member of its Investment Committee.
Anna resides in Boise, Idaho with her husband, Larry.
2011-07-20 15:45:52
Come study interlinguistics in Poznań!
The Interlinguistics Certificate Program at Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, the second largest university in Poland, invites people from all over the world to take part in a three-year postgraduate correspondence program in interlinguistics (2011-2014). The application deadline is August 15th, 2011.
Participants of this program will get an overview on general and applied linguistics, will study in depth international and intercultural communication, planned languages, grammar, literature, culture and history of Esperanto. The third-year students may specialize in communication, linguistics, literature, translation, planned linguistics or language pedagogy. The studies are based on a distance learning model, with active mentoring, regular checking of exercises, essays and course tasks. One week intensive study sessions will take place ones each semester. Upon the graduation thesis and a final exam, the participants will receive a post-graduate certificate.
The Interlinguistic Certificate Program in Poznań has been offered since 1998, under the guidance of Ilona Koutny and with contributions from outstanding esperantologists such as Vera Barandovska-Frank, Detlev Blanke, Vilmos Benczik, Tomasz Chmielik, Ziko van Dijk, Michel Duc Goninaz, István Ertl, Michael Farris, Zbigniew Galor, Aleksander Korzhenkov, Katalin Kováts, Lidia Ligęza, Aleksander Melnikov, Humphrey Tonkin, Kristin Tytgat and John Wells.
Entrance requirements: university diploma and a good knowledge of Esperanto. For participants requiring a language proficiency course there is a possibility of an advanced level intensive course before the first session taking place September, 2011.
Tuition per semester: 1850 PLN (approx. 460 EUR), reduced to 700 PLN (approx. 175 EUR) for B countries. Some scholarships are provided by Esperantic Studies Foundation and UEA – ILEI.
Further information and registration form: interlinamu.edu.pl or ikoutnyamu.edu.pl.http://www.staff.amu.edu.pl/~interl/index.html.
2011-07-06 15:57:36
ESF plans expansion of Lernu.net
The online Esperanto learning site lernu! is ready for a new stage in its development. ESF’s board, meeting on June 17th inEmeryville, California, reached this conclusion after studying a detailed proposal produced by a joint ESF-E@I work group.
“When we decided to invest in lernu! in 2002, we didn’t foresee the exponential growth of online communities”, observed ESFvice president Mark Fettes, who headed up the work group. “Now the one hundred thousand registered users of lernu! make up the largest Esperanto community online. That is a good basis on which to build new services that all esperantists will use.”
The work group proposed redesigning lernu!, linking it to the information portal aktuale.info, and potentially creating various new services, including a multilingual payment system to facilitate purchases, sales, subscriptions, event registrations, donations and other economic activities. The proposal anticipates that, after the start-up phase, the community will be able to produce sufficient revenue to be self-supporting. The ESF board accepted this as a strategic goal and agreed to finance further research, analysis and intensive planning required by a project of this nature.
In addition to Mark Fettes, other members of the work group included ESF board member Derek Roff, ESF administrator Joel Amis, E@I leader Peter Balaž, lernu! administrator Erin Piateski, and Yevgeniy Gaus, director of the web enterprise Studio GAUS.
2011-06-19 05:14:41
Edukado.net continues to grow!
Edukado.net – the educational web portal created and supported by Esperantic Studies Foundation (ESF), has announced that on Thursday, June 9th, 2011, it has reached again the number of 2000 registered users. “We are writing again because we reached that number over a year ago, but due to this January’s cleanup and elimination of inactive users, we lost approx. 500 members. Now we are 2000 again, which is a nice number. Bravo to all of us”, writes the website’s editor Katalin Kováts. Edukado.net was fully redone at the end of the last year, enriched by the new tools, maps and collections (e.g., a collection of graduate theses related to esperantology and interlinguistics). This reconstruction was accomplished thanks to the website users.
The other important news is that Edukado.net has recently launched RITE (Internet Teachers’ Training Program, Reta Instruista Trejnado ĉe edukado.net). The course was created, financed and is administrated by D-r Katalin Kováts. Among the partners are International League of Esperanto Teachers (Internacia Ligo de Esperantistaj Instruistoj, ILEI), the Literary Academy of Esperanto (Akademio Literatura de Esperanto, ALE ), as well as teachers from the Esperantological Faculty of Adam MickiewiczUniversity in Poznań, Poland. 15 people have already begun the studies (from Belgium, France, Greece, New Caledonia,Australia, Vietnam, Swiss, Portugal, Great Britain, and the U.S.).
This course aims at helping to acquire professional knowledge and Esperanto teaching skills in theory and practice, complemented by cultural and grammatical knowledge of Esperanto. The main target audience of the course are leaders of Esperanto groups, teachers and all those inclined to teach who either haven’t had an opportunity to participate a face to face training session or would like to deepen their knowledge and acquire new skills. One may study at RITE according to one’s own pace and abilities, all year long. The projected median time to complete the course is approximately one year, with a few hours dedicated to study each week. In order to participate, one must have at least B2 language level of Esperanto, internet access and pay a participation fee depending on the country of residence. An internal scholarship fund will be set up soon, and one may also ask for financial help from ILEI. By the way, the materials from the Open Studies section will be progressively made available to the general public, so don’t hesitate to visit the RITE website even if you don’t plan to officially study there. For more information, please visit edukado.net/rite
2011-06-15 02:26:05
Edukado.net continues to grow!
Edukado.net – the educational web portal created and supported by Esperantic Studies Foundation (ESF), has announced that on Thursday, June 9th, 2011, it has reached again the number of 2000 registered users. “We are writing again because we reached that number over a year ago, but due to this January’s cleanup and elimination of inactive users, we lost approx. 500 members. Now we are 2000 again, which is a nice number. Bravo to all of us”, writes the website’s editor Katalin Kováts. Edukado.net was fully redone at the end of the last year, enriched by the new tools, maps and collections (e.g., a collection of graduate theses related to esperantology and interlinguistics). This reconstruction was accomplished thanks to the website users.
The other important news is that Edukado.net has recently launched RITE (Internet Teachers’ Training Program, Reta Instruista Trejnado ĉe edukado.net). The course was created, financed and is administrated by D-r Katalin Kováts. Among the partners are International League of Esperanto Teachers (Internacia Ligo de Esperantistaj Instruistoj, ILEI), the Literary Academy of Esperanto (Akademio Literatura de Esperanto, ALE ), as well as teachers from the Esperantological Faculty of Adam MickiewiczUniversity in Poznań, Poland. 15 people have already begun the studies (from Belgium, France, Greece, New Caledonia,Australia, Vietnam, Swiss, Portugal, Great Britain, and the U.S.).
This course aims at helping to acquire professional knowledge and Esperanto teaching skills in theory and practice, complemented by cultural and grammatical knowledge of Esperanto. The main target audience of the course are leaders of Esperanto groups, teachers and all those inclined to teach who either haven’t had an opportunity to participate a face to face training session or would like to deepen their knowledge and acquire new skills. One may study at RITE according to one’s own pace and abilities, all year long. The projected median time to complete the course is approximately one year, with a few hours dedicated to study each week. In order to participate, one must have at least B2 language level of Esperanto, internet access and pay a participation fee depending on the country of residence. An internal scholarship fund will be set up soon, and one may also ask for financial help from ILEI. By the way, the materials from the Open Studies section will be progressively made available to the general public, so don’t hesitate to visit the RITE website even if you don’t plan to officially study there. For more information, please visit edukado.net/rite
2011-06-15 02:26:05
2010 Annual Report
ESF’s Annual Report and Tax Return for 2010 Are Now Available Online
June 14, 2011 — The Esperantic Studies Foundation (ESF) announced today that its Annual Report and Tax Return for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2010, is now available on its website (esperantic.org/en/about/finreports).
The Foundation was able to report a year of stability and growth. It continued to make annual grants to the Center for Research and Documentation on World Language Problems, which in turn supported numbers of small research initiatives, and to the Interlinguistics Program at the University of Poznan, Poland, as well as providing support to ongoing projects, such as Lernu, Edukado, and NASK. It also made investments in some new projects, such as an automated grammar checker Lingvohelpilo. The foundation has also participated in a number of conferences and organized one or two events of its own, according to Humphrey Tonkin, president of the Foundation. Among the events supported by the Foundation were a seminar on Esperanto literature at the University of Louisville, and a conference organized in conjunction with the Universal Esperanto Association at the United Nations in New York. Tonkin added that more such activity will become possible when the foundation’s efforts to generate new forms of revenue begin to bear fruit and make it less dependent on investment income.
While the year 2009 was a year of reduced spending due to a diminished portfolio and thus some hard choices for the Foundation, “in the year 2010 we were able to stabilize the Foundation and begin to think once again about expanding our efforts in the future”, said Tonkin.
The foundation’s overall objectives remained the same in 2010, including: (1) improving the visibility and prestige of Esperanto as a research topic and teaching subject, (2) focusing attention and academic resources on the study of Esperanto and of interlingual communication generally, (3) establishing an intellectual community of teachers and researchers in higher education committed to the above goals, and (4) improving and expanding the operational capacity of the foundation itself.
For more information, please contact ESF by email at admin@esperantic.org.
2011-06-14 12:56:08
Lernu.net passes the threshold of 100,000 registered users!
Dear friends,
It is a great pleasure to inform you of a very important milestone for Lernu.net: it has just reached 100,000 registered users! Lernu.net is a multilingual website which aims to inform internet users about Esperanto and help them to learn it easily and free of charge.
ESF is grateful to Lernu’s team and all the volunteers, as well as to all Esperantists whose generous donations contributed to this success. In fact, Lernu.net is one of the most ambitious and successful projects sponsored by ESF, and this anniversary is a great achievement not only for the Foundation, but for the whole Esperanto-speaking community. ESF is proud that our financial support has enabled the existence of this unique and most visited Esperanto website in about 30 languages, with approximately 100,000 page views every day, with well over a hundred volunteer language tutors and translators, and now with a community of 100,000 registered users in 240 countries / territories! To celebrate this special event, the lernu! team is holding a competition for the best advertisement for the website (for more info, please visithttp://lernu.net/konkurso).
ESF is very proud of its achievements, and lernu!’s anniversary is a clear example of that. But we see even more possibilities for developing innovative Esperanto projects, and at the same time we need to continue to support and develop the existing ones. Lernu.net, NASK (Nord-Amerika Somera Kursaro de Esperanto: http://esperanto.org/nask) and Edukado.net are actively growing. For example, edukado.net recently launched Internet Teachers’ Training (Reta Instruista Trejnado ĉe edukado.net – RITE, www.edukado.net/rite), and we have invested in an automated grammar checker for lernu! to give quick answers to learners and help the language tutors. This is just one example of the many initiatives which deserve your support.
In fact, our ambitions are already exceeding our financial capacities, and that is why we would like to ask for your financial support. Our foundation does not pursue government funding, and we rely on the generous contributions of people like you, who are passionate about working to establish greater equality and improved communication and understanding amongst peoples of the world, in order to continue to sponsor Esperanto related educational and research activities.
We invite you to visit our website to learn more about ESF’s activities: esperantic.org and also how you can support our foundation: https://esperantic.org/en/donations/support.
2011-05-29 17:43:06
NASK 2011: a month until the registration deadline!
Act now to be a part of the international study program NASK at the University ofCalifornia, San Diego (UCSD). This year, NASK (North American Summer Esperanto Institute – Nord-Amerika Somera Kursaro de Esperanto) will consist of a short 9-day study session, from July 2nd through July 10th, 2011. There are still some rooms left at the residence apartments. The registration deadline is June 14th, so don’t delay!
The registration fee, which includes an individual room and the meals, is 895 USD (which is less than half of the last year’s fee); full time students and Latin Americans will enjoy the special price of only 695 USD!
Participate in this unique course to immerse yourself in Esperanto study, and you will even have time to participate in the Independence Day celebrations with fireworks in the neighboring city of La Jolla. Birke Dockhorn from Germany, Bertilo Wennergren from Sweden and Lee Miller from the U.S. are planning three levels of classes every day, with additional activities in the afternoon and in the evening. Hoss Firooznia, assistant teacher, will be responsible for excursions and will edit the course’s journal, La Naska Fasko. Grant Goodall, professor at theUniversity of California, San Diego, and the director of its language program, will lead the course.
For more information and photos, please visit http://esperanto.org/nask. If you have any questions about registration, scholarships etc., please contact the course administrator Ellen Eddy, at eddyellen@aol.com.
2011-05-14 16:01:45
Reissue of Masquerade by Tivadar Soros launched
New York, April 12th, 2011. Tonight a party was held to launch the reissue of the English translation of Tivadar Soros’s memoir in Esperanto Maskerado ĉirkaŭ la morto. Titled Masquerade in its English version, the book is set in Budapest. It describes the Soros family’s success in surviving the systematic persecution and murder of Hungarian Jews by the Nazis in the final years of World War II.
The launch, at the Fifth Avenue home of Tivadar’s son, the financier George Soros, brought together some of the city’s leading intellectuals, among them the editor-in-chief of the New York Review of Books, representatives of the New York Times, well-known writers, and others – among them TV commentator Bill Moyers. Esperanto and interlinguistics specialists Esther Schor and Arika Okrent also participated. The principal speaker was Humphrey Tonkin, who, as the book’s translator, described the work and its genesis. In so doing, he took the opportunity, in front of an attentive audience, to talk about Esperanto and its formative role in the life and thought not only of the father, but also of the Soros sons George and Paul.
The book originally appeared in Esperanto in 1965 and in a second edition in 2000—the same year in which the English language translation appeared in Britain. Later, German, Russian, Hungarian and Turkish translations were published; translations into Italian and Chinese are also in preparation. The U.S. edition appeared in 2001; the reissue will be published in New York by the Skyhorse publishing group.
George Soros was a surprise visitor last December during the kick-off event for the translation of his father’s other book, Modernaj Robinzonoj, also translated by Tonkin (as Crusoes in Siberia). This earlier book, first published in Esperanto in 1923, describes Tivadar Soros’s escape from a Siberian prisoner-of-war camp at the end of World War I. The December event was organized by the group Esperanto for the U.N.
Tivadar Soros. Masquerade: The Incredible True Story of How George Soros’ Father Outsmarted the Gestapo. New York: ArcadePublishing. 2011. 275pp.
Tivadar Soros. Crusoes in Siberia and The Fairest Judgment. New York: Mondial. 2010. 31+93pp.
2011-04-26 01:22:04
NASK 2011: Only a few days left for discount registration rate
As you may already know, NASK – the North American Summer Esperanto Institute – has changed its format for the 2011 session. Instead of the usual three weeks, it will now occur over 8 days, 2-10th of July, 2011. This change was made to reduce costs and accommodate those who might not be able to take 3 weeks off from work or school (in this format, you will need only 4 days off from work if you come from the U.S.). In fact, the price was reduced by over 3 times compared with the previous year, and there are now only two weeks left until the end of the discount registration rate! Through March 15th, 2011, you can sign up for 865 USD (665 USD for full time students and residents of Latin America), which includes a private room, three meals a day and the course itself.
NASK is the oldest Esperanto course in North America and one of the best Esperanto courses in the world. Indu Thapaliya from Nepal wrote the following: “NASK is really valuable to me, it is without a doubt the most worthwhile course anywhere. The kind instructors answered my questions with charm, patience, and intelligence. The programs were enjoyable, and all of them helped me to improve my command of the language, as well as my knowledge of various topics. I only regret that I didn’t take part in NASK many years ago!” And Marlon Garren, a Spanish instructor from Tennessee wrote: “It was great to be able to improve my ability to speak Esperanto and at the same time make new friends from all over the world. My experiences at NASK were fulfilling in a way that no other language learning environment could provide. … It’s impossible to come away from NASK unchanged in some way. At the very least you’ll make new friends, which will give you very good reasons to travel the globe.”
We invite you to come and discover (or rediscover) this wonderful course, make new friends and enjoy sunny California during the 4th of July holiday week!
More information: http://esperanto.org/nask. For any questions regarding registration, scholarships etc., please contact the administrator, Ellen Eddy at eddyellenaol.com.
2011-03-02 19:36:35
IpI: “Informilo por Interlingvistoj”, 1/2011, already available on the internet
The 76th issue of “Informilo por Interlingvistoj” (IpI) – “Bulletin for Interlinguists”, 1/2011, is now available on the internet:https://esperantic.org/en/communications/ipi/archive. Among the topics covered are interlinguistic conferences, new linguistics-related books, KURISU Kei and his works, Renato Corsetti and Detlev Blanke – on the occasion of these two eminent interlinguists’ 70th birthdays.
IpI is published by the Centre for Research and Documentation on World Language Problems. It appears thanks to (partial) continuous support from Esperantic Studies Foundation (ESF), and it strives to cover most important news on interlinguistics events and publications, including news on language policy. The bulletin started back in 1974 (until 1977 it was edited by Ulrich Lins, from 1983 to 1990 – by Ryszard Rokicki); since 1992 it has been edited by Detlev Blanke. It is mostly bibliographical; however, it also publishes news from the academic world, essays, critiques, reports and other materials. Thus, IpI facilitates orientation in the interlinguistics field for both specialists and those new to interlinguistics. Through the end of 2010, 75 issues of IpI with approximately 1300 pages had been published. You can order the paper version of IpI from the Central Office of UEA (libroservo@uea.org, all issues are still available). The electronic version of the bulletin is available from the ESF website (https://esperantic.org/en/communications/ipi/archive). Please send the materials to the editor: detlev@blanke-info.de.
To learn how you can help ESF continue to sponsor various activities aiming at the advancement of Esperanto, please visithttps://esperantic.org/en/donations/support
2011-02-22 16:54:17
NASK 2011: Same Course, Different Format!
North American Summer Esperanto Institute (NASK) has changed the format of the 42nd session 2011! Instead of the usual three week duration, NASK will offer a short seven day intensive Esperanto course during the week of the 4th of July holiday (July 2-10, 2011). This change was made in order to accommodate students that might not have enough time or money for a longer session. The place—the sunny campus of the University of California at San Diego (UCSD) remains the same. Everyone, from age 16 to 96 (or more!), from all over the world are welcome!
A shorter and less expensive non-credit session allows more flexibility in the activities. Due to the Monday holiday, Americans will need to be off only four days (five days for non-Americans)—you can arrive on Saturday, July 2nd, and depart on July 10th!
Each participant will have their own private room in a four-person suite, with three meals a day, in the International House apartment complex. The restaurant and the classroom are located nearby. You can learn Esperanto in depth and even have time to celebrate U.S. Independence day with fireworks in the nearby town La Jolla!
Birke Dockhorn from Germany, Bertilo Wennergren from Sweden and Lee Miller from the U.S. will teach different levels of formal classes every day, with informal activities in the afternoon and in the evening. Hoss Firooznia, assistant teacher, will organize excursions and non study related events. Grant Goodall, professor at the University of California at San Diego and the Director of its Language Program, will lead the course. This is already the second time for this team which already successfully taught at NASK in 2008.
This year NASK offers a discount rate for everyone who signs up by March 15th (865 USD). The price for full time students and Latin Americans is 665 USD (until March 15th), all included. For more information, go to http://esperanto.org/nask; for prices and payment options, go to https://esperantic.org/en/education/nask. For more information about registration, scholarships etc, please contact the administrator: Ellen Eddy eddyellen(at)aol.com.
2011-01-20 19:02:43
Participate in the seminar on the literature of Esperanto! NEW: the program is now available
Sign up to participate in this unique event now!
Where: University of Louisville, Louisville, Kentucky
When: Saturday-Sunday, 26-27 February 2011
Topics: Writing in Esperanto, Esperanto literature and history.
Under the leadership of:
- Ulrich Becker, poet and publisher
- Duncan Charters, linguist
- Humphrey Tonkin, critic
- Tim Westover, author
Duration: The seminar will begin on the morning of February 26, and end at noon on February 27. It will partly coincide with the 39th Conference on Literature and Culture since 1900, organized by the University (http://www.thelouisvilleconference.com/), for which visitors can register at a daily rate of $10. A special session “Esperanto Authors Read from Their Work” will be included in this conference.
Location: Meeting rooms of the University of Louisville
• Friday: 1:30 – Humanities 121 (Louisville Conference Session E-11)
• Saturday: 10:15 – Humanities 208 (Session G-8) | 1:00 – Ekstrom Library W210
• Sunday 9:00 – Humanities 300
Parking: In The Speed Art Museum garage, near Ekstrom Library and the Bingham Humanities Building, on the UofL main (Belknap) campus.
Languages: Seminar languages will be Esperanto and English.
Accommodation: For hotels, see the conference website. You may arrive on Friday, February 25th, and leave on Sunday, February 27th.
Registration: $35 ($15 for students); includes lunch on Saturday. You can pay at the Esperantic Studies Foundation’s website (Online Giving); scroll down and click on the Paypal button “Research Initiatives”). Please also announce your wish to attend by writing to the organizers:
PROGRAM (Note adjustments to schedule and additional details!)
Saturday, February 26th.
Louisville Conference, session G-8 Esperanto Writers Read from Their Work (Sponsored by the Esperantic Studies Foundation, organized by Bonnie Fonseca-Greber, Department of Modern and Classical Languages, University of Louisville). 10:15 – 11:45 AM
Location: Humanities Building, University of Louisville, Room 208
Chair: Duncan Charters, Principia College.
Readers: Tim Westover, Georgia Gwinnett College, School of Science and Technology; Ulrich Becker, publisher, New York City.
- Tim Westover is a writer of fiction, whose acclaimed collection of short stories, Marvirinstrato, appeared in 2009.
- Ulrich Becker is a publisher (Mondial Books, the literary journal Beletra Almanako), and writer, His “New York Poems” Ĉiuj dioj estas for were published in 2004.
Lunch 12:00 – 1:00 PM
- Seminar on Esperanto Literature, session 1. 1:00 – 2:50 PM
- Seminar on Esperanto Literature, session 2. 3:10 – 5:00 PM
Location: Ekstrom Library, Room W210
The four sessions of the seminar (February 26-27) will be led by Tim Westover, Ulrich Becker, Duncan Charters, and Humphrey Tonkin. All four members of the team will participate in all four sessions, with each member of the team serving as leader of one session.
Among the topics to be covered: writing poetry in Esperanto, writing fiction in Esperanto, the history of Esperanto literature, literary criticism and analysis in Esperanto, and translation to and from Esperanto.
- Duncan Charters is Professor and Chair of Foreign Languages and Cultures at Principia College, Elsah, Illinois, and Vice-President of the International League of Esperanto Teachers.
- Humphrey Tonkin is President Emeritus and University Professor of Humanities at the University of Hartford, and a member of the Esperanto Academy.
Dinner on own
Sunday, February 27th
- Seminar on Esperanto Literature, session 3. 9:00 – 10:45 AM
- Seminar on Esperanto Literature, session 4. 11:00 AM – 12:45 PM
- Seminar closing session. 12:45 – 1:00 PM
Location: Bingham Humanities Building, Room 300