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Esperanto List Faq

This FAQ is geared toward people who already have some knowledge of Eperanto and are wanting to learn the language. For more basic information about Esperanto, reasons to learn it, how to type the circumflexed letters, and other information please see the Esperanto FAQ for the soc.culture.esperanto newsgroup at http://wwwtios.cs.utwente.nl/esperanto/faq.html. For further information you can also visit http://www.distrito.com/esperanto/espefaq.htm

Who is this list for?
What language should I write in?
Using the list.
How do I learn Esperanto?
What Esperanto courses are available?
What are some good books for learning Esperanto?
How can I work on pronunciation all by myself?
What other resources are available?
What's next after E-B-L?
Who is in this list?

1 Who is this list for?

This list is for people who are learning Esperanto and want to practice the language or ask questions or meet other beginners. It is also for any speaker of Esperanto interested in helping beginners by answering questions, helping with translations or pointing out errors in beginner messages (tactfully!). The list is also an appropriate place to announce Web pages or other resources that might be of interest to beginners.

Next ~ Again ~ Menu ~ Silento ~ Muziko ~

2 What language should I write in?

Write in Esperanto as much as you can and English (or Spanish in interlenguas@coollist.com) the rest of the time. Try to write first in Esperanto, then add an English translation or summary or explanation at the end if you are unsure of your Esperanto message or you want to add what you did not know how to express in Esperanto. Your practice messages in Esperanto need not be profound. Simple practice sentences that you made up yourself are perfectly acceptable, no matter how random the subject matter. List subscribers are encouraged to post an introduction as their first message to the list.

Next ~ Again ~ Menu ~ Silento ~ Muziko ~

3 Using the list.

Kindness, understanding and tolerance are the best investment you can do in these lists, as in any others you can find in the net, even if you are the only one who follows this advice. That does not mean to give in your personal views or opinions.

There are a few pieces of advice to follow to avoid conflicts:

Avoid too long messages, and do not quote all the message you are answering to, but you are strongly advised to delete that part you think is not needed to understand what you are answering to.
Before answering, think it twice, and of course never start answering before you have read all the message. These are useful questions before answering:
1. Did someone already say what I am going to say?
2. Is my answer useful?
3. Is it better answering jsut the author (private mail) instead of replying in the open (to the list)? The difference between being admired and despised can reside only in that a touchy message was sent in private instead of in public: what some people are ready to acknowledge in private can make him or her feel uncomfortable or ashamed if said in front of 300 people or so. Sometimes you want to send a message in private, but because of lack of expertise with the soft, the message goes to the list instead! This is easy to avoid in Netscape, but other programmes, like Eudora, may demand that you edit the field "To:", or that you delete what is in the "CC:" or "BCC:" fields. It is not a lot of work for you, and it can save a lot of bother later on, trying to explain what you did and what you did not mean to. After all, mailing lists are something to talk to your friends, not for finding new enemies.
Do not use just capital letters, because then it would be understood that YOU ARE SHOUTING. If you want to emphasize something, it is best using asterisks at either side of your text. Did you *undertstand*? :-) Book titles are the obvious things to emphasize, as it is not the same to say that God save the Queen as *God Save the Queen* is a nice tune!
Do not attach files to any message to the list, because it could collapse traffic in the long run: when your message comes to the list, the program which manages it multiplies it by the number of suscribers (which can be anything between ten and several thousands, according to the list), and if there is an attached file, it will be copied also by that number. If you want to send your photo (something nice to do!) or any other file to the members of the list, just send me a private message with the attached file, and I will provide a nice solution so that all the members can have it without anybody complaining. An example of this is in the page listanoj.htm.
Use smilies moderately, but don't be mean about them. The need to use them comes from the lack of suprasegmental elements in written communication: how do I know if what somebody is writing about is said in a funny mood, or he or she is serious about it? Of course, in a personal interview I'd know from his or her smile or frown. Well if you see this sign :-) all you must do is turn your head 90 degrees to your left and you will see the structure of a smile, where : are the eyes, - the nose, and ) the curved lips. If the lips are like this: (, it is not a smile, but the opposite: concern, sadness or anger. I'll sum up the ones I use:
1. ;-) winkle, a smile of intelligence,
2. X'-)) laughing aloud (X are my closed eyes when I laugh), double )) means laughing louder than ),
3. O:-) innocence, I don't know what you are thinking, but I am a saint!, and I don't pick on anyone,
4. :'-( I am crying, I am feeling sad, please, comfort me..., (cuddling appreciated),
5. :-x I'd better be quiet, because if I talked...,
6. :-* a kiss .
  
  In general, multiplying the number of any element amounts to multiply the intensity of its meaning. For example, )) is the same as laughing more, and ** are two kisses instead of one.
  
  Using smilies is more improtant than it seems. However, overusing them can prevent communication. Practice makes perfect, however, and also watching other messages can lead us to understand what must and what must not be done.
Next ~ Again ~ Menu ~ Silento ~ Muziko ~

4 How do I learn Esperanto?
Common starting places are the free postal course (also available over email) and textbooks geared toward self-study. There are also Esperanto clubs and classes in some areas. Generally, you will want to set aside a small amount of time every day to practice. Practice can mean reading, learning new vocabulary, writing, speaking, and so on.
Next ~ Again ~ Menu ~ Silento ~ Muziko ~

5. What Esperanto courses are available?
- The Free Esperanto Course is a 10 lesson email correspondance course introducing the fundamentals of the language. To get an English-speaking tutor, contact Marko Rauhamaa at Marko.Rauhamaa@tekelec.com. If you want to preview the course, or study it without at tutor, all 10 lessons are available via the Web at http://www.aitec.edu.au/~bwechner/Documents/Esperanto/fec.html.
  
  For the postal version of this course, please see the soc.culture.esperanto FAQ mentioned above for addresses for your country.
- Esperanto Viva! is a Web-based course for which a tutor is also available.
- A HyperCard stack for Macintosh An Introduction to the International Language Esperanto is available at ftp://ftp.stack.nl/pub/esperanto/hypercourse.dir. The Esperanto HyperCourse is a Web version (http://wwwtios.cs.utwente.nl/esperanto/hypercourse/index.html) of some of this HyperStack.
- San Francisco State University offers a three-week beginning (as well as intermediate and advanced) course in Esperanto every summer. Contact ELNA for more information.
Next ~ Again ~ Menu ~ Silento ~ Muziko ~

6 What are some good books for learning Esperanto?
Some of these may be available at your local library. Most are available through national Esperanto associations, such as ELNA in the United States.
- Esperanto: Learning and Using the International Language by RICHARDSON. This book has English information about Esperanto and the language problem, an extensive section for teaching beginning Esperanto that goes beyond what you will learn in the free email course, a selection of readings in Esperanto, and a great beginner's Esperanto-English dictionary covering the words used in the lessons and readings.
- Teach Yourself Esperanto. This is strictly a text for learning the language and has none of the information about Esperanto that you will find in Richardson's book, nor the collection of readings, although each lesson does have its own readings in the exercises. It is truly greared toward teaching yourself, with plenty of exercises and answers in the back to check your work. It also includes a two-way dictionary covering the vocabulary it teaches. This book can sometimes be found at your local bookstore.
- Step by Step in Esperanto is an old, but still useful textbook.
- Gerda Malaperis! by Clause PIRON. A suspense story that helps you increase your vocabulary little by little. Also available in Web form at http://www.aitec.edu.au/~bwechner/Documents/Esperanto/gerda.html among other places.
Next ~ Again ~ Menu ~ Silento ~ Muziko ~

7 How can I work on pronunciation all by myself?
If you cannot find any Esperanto speakers near you, you can still hear Esperanto spoken via radio or on cassette tape.
A few places in the world have local radio stations that broadcast in Esperanto. Short-wave radio stations can be heard all over the world.

RealAudio clips can be accessed via Web pages. One good Web resource is at http://members.aol.com/OSIEK/AERA/son.html. A RealAudio version of the four-minute news broadcast from Polish Radio Warsaw is updated daily at http://www.wrn.org/stations/poland.html.

Next ~ Again ~ Menu ~ Silento ~ Muziko ~

8 What other resources are available?

Dictionaries... Magazines... Books, cassettes, magazines and other materials are for sale through national Esperanto association catalogs. Here is some contact information:
1. Esperanto League of North America.
  Box 1129
  1-800-ESPERANTO (800-377-3726)
  El Cerrito, CA 94530
  USONO
2. British Esperanto Association
  140 Holland Park Av.,
  London W11 4AUF
3. UNIVERSAL ESPERANTO ASSOCIATION,
  Nieuwe Binnenweb, 176
  3015 BJ Rotterdam,
  The Netherlands.
4. Sennacieca Asocio Tutmonda
  67, Avenue Gambetta,
  75020 Paris
  FRANCIO.
5. Spanish Esperanto Federacio
  Apartado 119
  ES47080 Valladolid
  HISPANIO
6. Spanish Association of Esperantist Workers
  Nicolás Gil Carballo
  Ap. 305
  ES24080 León
  SPAIN
Next ~ Again ~ Menu ~ Silento ~ Muziko ~

9 What's next after E-B-L?

The obvious next step is joining esperanto@coollist.com if you haven't already done so.

You are encouraged to subscribe to the newsgroup soc.culture.esperanto any time. You will find a wide variety of fluency (and opinion) there as well as people from all over the world.

Find a penpal.

Join or start up a club.

Go to a conference.
You can also subscribe to Kajeroj el la Sudo, the magazine for the Spanish Esperantist Workers, but which is readable all over the world. You can order a sample copy and receive it by return. However, you can also see what it looks like at http://www.distrito.com/esperanto/kajeroj.htm or http://www.dragonfire.net/~Esperanto/kajeroj.htm for free. Subscribing to the paper format costs you $10 a year, and it is the only way to support both editions; but don't subscribe if you are not certain this kind of magazines should exist. :-)
Next ~ Again ~ Menu ~ Silento ~ Muziko ~

10 Who is in the list?
People, just people like you and me, from any country in the world. You can see some of them at the "Listanoj (list members) document. This document is in Esperanto. If you belong to a list in Esperanto and you would like to see what your correspondents look like, think that they would wonder about you, too. If you would like to be in this Hall of Fame you are welcome to send me your photo and a little presentation letter and I will include you in the document in a short time.
Jesuo de las Heras, February 1998

~ Beginning ~ Lists ~ Esperanto Spain ~ Fernando Sor ~ Narciso Yepes ~

HTMLed by Jesuo de las Heras using WebEdit Pro 2.0 on Tuesday 3rd of february 1998 at 23:23:42

Esperanto List Faq

Table of Contents

1 Who is this list for?

2 What language should I write in?

3 Using the list.

4 How do I learn Esperanto?

5. What Esperanto courses are available?

6 What are some good books for learning Esperanto?

7 How can I work on pronunciation all by myself?

8 What other resources are available?

9 What's next after E-B-L?

10 Who is in the list?