^?|r^p"TKFOR\4ATfbN CENTER W B ESPERANTO LEAGUE for NOR MERICA VOĴl III No. >NEWSLETTER iOBfcober 19-.67 36' ^1968 DESIGNATED INTERNATIONAL YEAR FOR HUMAN RIGHTS The year 1968 has been named by the United Nations as the International Year for Human Rights, marking the 20th anniversary of the adoption by the U.N. General Assembly of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The non- governmental organizations (N.G.O.'s) represented at the United Nations had a conference on this topic on Sept. 13. Representing the Universal Esperanto Association were Margot Gerson and Mark Starr with Thea Kohn as observer. Information about present attainments in the human rights field was presented, and preparations necessary for further advances during the International Year were outlined. The U.E.A. delegates called attention to the danger of lingual discrimination and the current difficulties in India, Belgium and Quebec as proof of the resistance to accepting the language of the ruling powers. The U.E.A. has already officially accepted the invitation to participate in celebrating the Year of Human Rights and has made its own work program. This includes issuing a second edition of the Universal Declaration (this was widely circulated in Esperanto circles at the time of its adoption), articles about human rights in Esperanto journals, a series of radio programs, and emphasis on the subject at the international summer university. Clubs and individuals wanting documents and information on this subject may obtain material from E.I.C. -o- ^EASTERN REGION CONFERENCE REPORT Fellowship and the exchange of useful information distinguished the East- ern Regional Esperanto Conference in New York City on Sept. 22-23. There were 31 participants from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Massachusetts and New York and two guests from Korea and Poland. The E.I.C. premises had never heard so much competent use of the international language, and even the non-experts took a chance. After all, how can you swim on dry land or prepare for inter- national meetings unless you practice in your own conferences? For the first two sessions, a section of the very useful "Manual for Esp- eranto Clubs" had been reproduced, and in the old Sunday School fashion we went over it paragraph by paragraph to secure comparisons with the experience of our conference participants. Every one agreed that to change lingual habits is difficult and that Esperanto lacks the economic motivation that often spurs people to acquire new languages. Publicity through local news and personal contacts with the editorial offices was agreed to be very important. Lively, accurate letters and constant follow-up were also warmly recommended. The E.L.N.A. Congress at St. Louis and the U.E.A. Congress at Rotterdam were reported on. From Rotterdam, the chief emphasis was on the follow-up -2- NL 10/67 for the Esperanto Proposal presented to the United Nations last year, which will be necessary to secure greater recognition and publicity for it among U.N. affiliates so that one of the member states will put the matter on the offi- cial agenda at some future time. During the coming International Year for Hu- man Rights, it was thought that E.L.N.A. and its members could emphasize the right of peoples to speak the language of their choice—a field where discrim- ination often exists. There was great interest in the new U.E.A. multi- lingual magazine which will deal with the problem of world languages and for which adequate initial capital has already been secured. At the last conference session there was a spirited discussion of teach- ing methods in which the direct method was both advocated and criticized. John Lewine reported on new textbook materials. Duncan Charters of the University of Indiana explained at length his "situation teaching" technique in which a speaking facility is acquired while the fundamentals of grammar are being learned. Now the participants are looking forward to seeing his teacher's manual, student workbook and language laboratory tapes. In all, the younger members benefited from the experience and competence of the pioneers such as Conrad Fisher and Donald Munro, and the seniors were inspired by the youthful enthusiasm of the J.E.N, members. The conference committee included Mrs. Thea Kohn, Eugene Calvert, Desmond Moneypenny and Dewey Prezzolini. The participants decided to make the Eastern Regional Con- ference a regular affair, with Pittsfield, Mass., suggested as the location for the next meeting. — Mark Starr. -o- • San Diego to Play Host to Southern California Conference The Southern California Esperanto Conference will meet October 27-29 at the Bahai hotel, on Mission Bay Drive in San Diego. Discussion will center around Esperanto and tourism—the significance of the United Nations designa- tion of 1967 as the international Year of Tourism; how Esperantists can get more out of travel and the special opportunities open to them; how the usefulness of Esperanto can be impressed on travelers and the agencies serving them. There will be a get-together at the home of President and Mrs. Helmuth on the eve of the conference; morning and afternoon sessions on Saturday with a banquet in the evening at which William Glenny of San Marino will be the main speaker; a breakfast session on Sunday with discussion groups reporting their findings and a trip on the ship Bahai Belle. The conference fee is $8.00, in- cluding the banquet and breakfast. -o- "Greeting Cards Glen Turner of the Esperanto Library (Middleton, Wis. 54562) has a sup- ply of the Christmas-New Years cards put out last year by the British Society of Esperanto Teachers. There are four cover designs in black on white and a uniform message, "Paco kaj <3ojo estu Viaj je Kristnasko kaj tra la Nova Jaro," on the inside of the 4"x5" cards. With envelopes, 2 dozen for $1.20, pp. -3- NL 10/67 LIONS LACK LUCK AT LEAPING LANGUAGE LINES "After meeting so many non-English speaking Lions, I have for the first time realized what an international language could do for the world, and have become intensely interested in the project," said a district official in a letter to John Kailenta of Staten Island, N.Y., following the international convention of Lions Clubs in Chicago this summer. A pharmacist in the convention hotel who found his smattering of Spanish, Italian, French, German and Japanese inadequate in dealing with the foreign delegates, wrote: "I do believe that the Lions' organization should start a great campaign among all Lions members to learn Esperanto so that next year at their convention, wherever it may be, they could face each other in a more bro- therly fashion. We noticed the same thing in the New York United Nations head- quarters where so many speak differently. If they could only apply Esperanto it would be a better world for all mankind." During the second Brazilian Esperanto seminar at Santo Dumont, the Lions Club unveiled a large statue of Dr. L. L. Zamenhof, the founder of Esperanto. It overlooks a highway to Rio de Janeiro, according to one of Mr. Kailenta's South American correspondents. The Israeli ambassador to Brazil presided at the ceremony. -o- .School Principal Finds Esperanto Opens Doors Everywhere After a year's sabbatical leave during which he and his family made contact with Esperantists in 26 countries and attended conferences in four of them. Dr. Edwin Feldman has returned to his job as principal of the Meadow Heights school in San Mateo, Calif. "A knowledge of Esperanto opens magic doors everywhere," he told a San Mateo Times reporter on Sept. 22. Dr. Faldman was one of several San Mateo school principals and teachers who first learned Esperanto in 1962, according to the Times. After three months they were teaching it to fifth and sixth graders, and now more than 20 San Mateo teachers are equipped to teach it to their classes. Joining the local Esperanto corps will be a new group of San Mateo teachers and other interested adults who will begin a University of California extension course at the local high school. Teaching the 10-week course will be Philip Vandor, principal of Highlands school, with Dr. Feldman and Mrs. Cathy Schulze, director of the Esperanto Information Center at Hillsborough/as aides. -o- "Facts about Sweden" is a 2-page flyer which may be obtained, along with a tourist folder of Turko, Finland, by sending a legal-size 4-£-stamped, self- addressed envelope to E.L.N.A. secretary, Conrad Fisher, R.F.D. 1, Meadville, Pa. 16335. For quantities of the Swedish fact sheet, write Swedish Institute, Kungsgatan 42, Stockholm C, Sweden. -o- CARTOON in Look magazine (Oct. 3): One parrot with that sullen, baffled look of somebody who hasn't understood a word that's been said so far, is be- ing asked by another parrot, a hail-fellow-well-met type, "Well, do you know Esperanto?" NL 10/67 >INDIAN FOREIGN MINISTER RESIGNS OVER LANGUAGE IMBROGLIO A language controversy in India recently brought about the resignation of M. C. Chagla as Foreign Minister. The constitution adopted in 1949 promised that Hindi would become the sole national language by 1965, but pressure from the southern non-Hindi speaking sector was so great that the promise was never implemented. The government this year proposed as a start to eliminate English as the language of instruction in the universities. Mr. Chagla charged that the government was preparing a switchover to the 15 regional languages and that this would result in chaos and a sudden fall in academic standards. Although English is spoken by less than 3 percent of the population, it is regarded as a status-giving accomplishment. Commenting on this situation, MarK Starr, chairman of the Esperanto Infor- mation Center, wrote to Newsweek: "Your 'Tower of Babel1 paragraph (Sept. 18) was a brilliant summary of the difficult situation in India. Unfortunately lin- gual discrimination is the cause of friction elsewhere too. From personal experience in East Africa I have met a deep-rooted feeling against the carry- over of the language used by the previous colonial power. This is resented as cultural colonialism. The ruling elite in that area knew English, as apparent- ly they do in India, and had a vested interest in its continuation. "Moreover, the adoption of a language is not always determined by econ- omic and rational reasons. Otherwise the Irish and the Israelis, as well as many other new countries, would not have been at pains to develop their own languages. To them this is the only way to prevent cultural genocide. The United Nations has designated 1968 as the International Year of Human Rights, and human rights include the right to choose one's own language. The adoption of a neutral international language such as Esperanto may well be worthy of consideration." -o- >WHAT TO GIVE THOSE GREEN-STAR FRIENDS Looking for a neat little gift for your foreign correspondents? (Domestic ones too J) Consider the packaged stationery offered by the Portland Esperanto Society for $1.00. It includes: 10 printed top sheets 10 plain second sheets 10 printed envelopes 10 printed postal cards Light weight and neatly packaged All for $1.00 postpaid The imprint on the 5^"x8%" top sheets and envelopes is a 2-line design of a tiny star and "ESPERANTO—Lingvo Internacia" in green ink. Cards have an Esperanto sentiment adjacent to the address section. If you order now it will (a) keep you from mislaying the address and (2) enable the Society to estimate the quantity they will need to prepare. Order from: Mrs. C.A. Nehls, 18110 Ed-Anna Court, Portland, Ore. 97222. -5- NL 10/67 />R O U N D THE COUNTRY CALIFORNIA: Guests at the Los Angeles club picnic in July were Dr. and Mrs. Leandro Taccani of Italy. Dr. Taccani is director of Milan's technical schools and for many years was U.E.A. education delegate for that area. Mrs. Yukiko Isobe of Japan told the September club meeting of her 99-day trip through the United States and Canada. At Covina Leslie Green is teaching two evening classes at the high school, one for beginners and one for intermediates. The latter will include taped and written correspondence, debates and discussion groups. Mildred Ashley has a 3-hour beginners class at Vincent school. Scott Aleshire broadcasts on and in Esperanto over KSPC, the college radio station at Pomona and invites Esperanto clubs and individuals to send him news of their activities. Address him at Oldenborg Center, Claremont 91711. In San Mateo Dr. Edwin Feldman, principal of the Meadow Heights school, has returned from a sabbatical year in Europe. He will be the luncheon speaker at a conference on foreign languages in elementary schools at San Francisco. He was interviewed for Station KTVU and the San Mateo and Burlingame papers. (See extracts from an interview elsewhere in this issue.) Doris Vallon, who has used Esperanto so successfully in teaching, addressed a session of the 1967 curriculum conference of the California Teachers Association at Foot Hills College in Los Altos Hills on October 7. The San Francisco Regional Esperanto Organization held its 38th monthly meeting on October 7 at the Civic Center. Mrs. Yukiko Isobe of Tokio spoke on a proposal set forth by the Japanese Esperanto Institute for closer coopera- tion between Esperantists in the lands bordering the Pacific ocean. Robert Williams, president of the Stockton society, gave a slide-illustrated talk on "Mexico via the Esperanto Trail." Edwyn C. Pollock of Morongo Valley calls attention to the fact that the title of the late Joseph Scherer's book, "Across the United States with a Roll- ing Home" was misquoted in the August Newsletter. (Just a case of association when the word "rolling" automatically brought "stone" to mind.) A story on the coming Southern California Esperanto Conference at San Diego October 27-29 appears elsewhere. Local papers carried interviews with Duncan Charters and Richard Wood during their California visit this summer. The two Indiana University men demonstrated the use of "Modern Esperanto," the new Charters text for high school and college courses. Summer visitors who speak the international language included Kunimaro Kakehi of Kameoka, Japan, and Karen Salmose of Sweden. At the September meeting of the San Diego Esperanto Associa- tion, Bonnie Helmuth showed slides of the U.E.A. Congress at Rotterdam. IOWA: From the "Have You Heard" column in the Iowa City press Citizen for September 23: "The first Esperanto reading course conducted by the Esperanto Society of Iowa City concluded this month. And according to the teach- er, Prof. L. A. Were of the University of Iowa Department of Electrical Engineer- ing, excellent ability was shown by the nine students who participated. -6- NL 10/67 Extending from April to September, the course was for the benefit especially of those students who finished the two beginning courses given in Adult Educa- tion during the two terms of 1966-67. Prof. Ware is a long-time Esperanto enthusiast who published his first technical article in the language as a graduate student in 1929." The reading course group will continue this fall with further reading of novels, and greater emphasis upon speaking ability and composition. A beginners course will be offered again this fall in the adult education program at Iowa City high school. WASHINGTON: Newspaper articles, recommendations by former students and an Esper- anto display at the fair at Walla Walla all played a part in a large sign-up for a course beginning September 18 with Albert Estling as teacher. Copies of "Zamenhof, Creator of Esperanto" by Marjorie Boulton were given to the public library and the high school library by the Walla Walla society. OREGON: A public information meeting on Sept. 11 marked the opening of the Portland Society's fall program at the Day Music Center auditorium. The society meets at the center the third Friday of each month and classes are held there on the other Fridays, with teaching provided for beginning, intermediate and advanced students. Two classes, one advanced and one for tutoring, have continued through the summer at the homes of the teachers, Sara Ann Nehls and Nellie Campbell. For the Society's October meeting, members have been asked to write to each of their foreign correspondents for a postcard view of their cities and a brief description thereof. The Oregon Foreign Lan- guage Conference at Gearhart will include an introductory session on Esperanto for classroom teachers conducted by Hazel Huesser, a teacher at Portland's Wood- mere school. Mrs. Huesser and two students engaged in Esperanto conversation on TV this summer. The Oregon state fair included an Esperanto display. As its annual fund-raising project, the Portland society is promoting the sale of packets of Esperanto stationery, described elsewhere in this issue. PENNSYLVANIA: Floyd Clarke, 73, of Allentown, who died on August 20, wrote more than a thousand letters between 1959 and 1964 to newspapers and individuals in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico, urging the wider use of Esperanto—this despite a. paralytic stroke which had left him virtually housebound and rendered his right hand useless. The Lehigh Valley Esperanto Club made Mr. Clarke an honorary member in recognition of his efforts on behalf of the international language. NEW YORK: The Cinema Club and the Esperanto Club of the United Nations Secre- tariat cooperated in presenting the film "Angoroj" ("Anguish") on Sept. 19. This chilly thriller, the first fictional film ever made in Esper- anto, is directed by J.L.Mahe, with movie stars Jana Ravselj and Srdjan Flego of Yugoslavia and Marc Darnoult of France. The setting is the underworld of Paris. An English summary of the film's action was distributed to non-Esper- antists in the audience; on the reverse side was information about the inter- national language, and an Esperanto translation of the Preamble to the United Nations Charter. A beginners class sponsored by the Esperanto club is being taught by Mrs. Thea Kohn. Mrs. Kohn also has classes two evenings a week at E.I.C. headquarters. Mark Starr is teaching a class in the adult evening program at Brvant hiah school in Queens for the- sixth veax = -7- NL 10/67 >A Non-Political Language The viability of Esperanto as a neutral international language without national, colonial or chauvinist overtones is attested to by the fact that at a time when Israel and Egypt are standing eyeball to eyeball, books in Esper- anto are launched in both countries. In Tel-Aviv it is the translation of a novel, "Fresh Morning," by Reuvan Kritz; in Cairo it is an original Esperanto book by Nassif Isaac describing his travels. Meanwhile polemical articles are issued in Esperanto by both Israel and Arab citizens. -o- E.L.N.A.'S EXPANDING WORK How about getting your 1968 E.L.N.A. dues paid up now, before all those Christmas lists begin to haunt you? You saw from the annual reports in the Aug- ust Newsletter how E.L.N.A.'s activities have been expanding. To keep up the work of Esperanto education, organization and publication, $$$$ are necessary. Every month this year, for the first time in the League's history, you have had news of the movement at home and abroad through the E.L.N.A. Newsletter and the J.E.N. News Digest. The Esperanto Information Center has filled a real demand both from the public and from the movement, and never has the public interest in the international language been higher. These activities are possible on a small budget because no one, from the editors on up to E.L.N.A.'s president, receives any salary—it's all voluntary work. Unfortunately, printers, postoffices and public utilities like to get cash for their services. Do your part to help E.L.N.A. carry on and expand its work by paying your dues promptly. Fill out the form below. Contributions are tax deductible. Special Rate for New Members: Those who join before January will receive full credit for 1968 plus copies of Newsletter and News Digest for the remain- ing months of 1967. Conrad Fisher, Secretary Esperanto League for North America R.F.D. 1 Meadville, Pa. 16335 I enclose payment for 1963 dues in the category checked below: ___ Regular membership --- $ 8.00 ___ Sustaining membership — $15.00 ___ Husband and wife---- 12.00 ___ Patron membership---■— 25.00 ___ Student (under 21) --- 4.00 ___ Additional contribution- Name and Address ______ ZIP CODE New membership ;?,;. "&*'" Renewal -8- NL 10/67 The "Manual for Esperanto Clubs" from which extracts were reproduced for the Eastern Regional Conference was prepared several years ago by Cathy Schulze and David Richardson. Some of the material is now out-dated but on the whole it is a useful manual. A limited number of copies are available for club use at 50 cents from E.I.C. -o- A new and thoroughly revised edition of the U.E.A.'s "Basic Facts About the International Language Esperanto" (Doc. RDC/7) is now available from E.I.C. at 25 cents per copy. This is a convincing 12-page document which can be sent to educators and linguists because it deals with the history and philosophy as well as the current attainments of the international language and gives a summary of its grammar. -o- Just in case you meant to order and didn't, here are the details again for the new publications described last month in the J.E.N. News Digest: "Research Bibliography on Esperanto and International Language Problems" by Humphrey Tonkin. 50 cents. Available from E.I.C. (156 Fifth Ave., New York, N.Y. 10010) and the West Coast Esperanto Book Service (2129 Elizabeth St., San Carlos, Calif. 94070). "Modern Esperanto" by Duncan Charters. Textbook, $2.00; Teachers' manual, $1.50. For orders on these and inquiries about the student workbook and lan- guage laboratory tapes, write: Modern Esperanto, Ballantine 844., Indiana University, Bloomington, Ind. 47401. -o- ^Esperanto Songs for Your Record player "Ni Kantu," the popular l.p. record which has been out of print for some time has now been re-issued. The price is $3.00 ($4.00 abroad), but write E.I.C. for discounts to E.L.N.A. members. "Jen Nia Mondo" Ts^^stereo l.p. disk containing eight songs made'famous by Bob Dylan and Pete Seeger, translated intoEsperanttTland sung by the Dutch brother-and-sister stars, Hanny and Adri. Songs include "If I Had a Hammer," "Israeli Lullaby," "We Shall Overcome," "Where Have All the Flowers Gone," "Blowing in the Wind." Available on order from E.I.C, $5.00 postpaid. INFORMATION CENTER ESPERANTO LEAGUE k* NORTH AMERICA -*«SrW 156 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010 ALWAYS FIRST CLASS