JUNULARO ESPERANTISTA JUNULARO tSRERAN 1 ISTA _, _ . , , _ _ , _ ,■:.■ „ . ■-':>i\ . de nord-ameriko (JEN) fhe °nan%zati-on Ĝf Beptrtmto^Speaking Zoung. Ameptcane 4 Central Street____________________________Millers Falls, Massachusetts 01349 No. 12 October, 196 8 HARDENING OF ATTITUDES IN EAST EUROPE FEARED: In Eastern Europe the Esperanto movement, sometimes a sensitive political barometer, seems set for a difficult time in the wake of the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia. For several years the governments of East Europe have given increasingly enthusiastic support to Esperanto, while the U.S.S.R. has loosened its restrictions on the international language only slightly. But delegates returning from this year's world congress of young speakers of Esperanto, held in Spain shortly before the invasion, report that a shift of attitudes in East Europe has been apparent for several months. As evidence, they cite the last-moment withdrawal of a Polish invitation to host the 1969 congress; the sudden termination of the just-revived and expanded Polish youth magazine in Esperanto (Tamen) after only one issue; and the apparent standstill in efforts to gain permission for a nation-wide Esperanto organization in the Soviet Union, where Esperanto movement activists are still prohibited from even putting out a mimeographed bulletin. In Czechoslovakia itself since the invasion, it now seems unlikely that a national Esperanto convention scheduled for October will actually be held. The main purpose of the meeting was to be the founding of a Czechoslovakian Esperanto Association. It is reported that two members of the executive Board of the youth section of the Czechoslovakian Esperanto Committee, attending conferences in the West at the time of the invasion, have elected to remain in Switzerland. The U.S.S.R. has long advocated the use of Russian as a bridge language in East Europe. This interest, and the resistance of many East Europeans to it, are considered one reason for the greater official support of Esperanto in East Europe than in the Soviet Union itself. At times, Esperanto has been a source of friction between the Soviets and their allies, as when (according to some Polish sources) Radio Warsaw changed the location of the transmitters used for its daily broadcasts in Esperanto so that they would no longer be audible in Russia, after the U.S.S.R. objected to the unusual liberality of the program contents. While the increased Soviet presence may dampen Esperanto activity, the evidence is not all in. Only last month Radio Warsaw announced plans to double its programming (to one hour a day) and triple its broadcast time (to 90 minutes a day) in Esperanto beginning in October. And in East Germany, just months after the lifting of a long ban on Esperanto, there are reported to be 2000 organized Esperanto speakers. Even Albania is reported (by Peking) to have published its first book in Esperanto. CONVENTION PROTESTS YOUTH TRAVEL CURBS: Delegates from 19 countries, meeting July 27 - August 3 in the Spanish seaside city of Tarragona for the 24th annual convention of the world organization of young Esperanto speakers (TEJO), formally protested a number of barriers to international youth tourism. The con- vention passed a resolution calling for half-price international travel fares for young people and students, abolition of visas, an end to restrictions on currency exchange, and increased study of the language problem. The appeal for an end to red tape at the border came after several delegates were prevented from entering Spain until half of the convention was over, in a sudden clampdown on visas for Esperanto speakers. Except for these delayed arrivals, the program of excursions, official receptions, and cultural events went ahead without a hitch. Helene Salmose of Sweden, one of the contestants in the annual oratory competition, was elected Miss Esperanto of 1968 during the convention ball, and H.M. Maitzen, a young Austrian astronomy professor, was elected the new President of TEJO. Page October, 1968 NEW RIGHTS MILITANCY SETS CONGRESS TONE: The 53rd World Congress of Esperanto, attended by 1770 people from 38 countries, took place August 3-10 in Madrid, with linguistic and other human rights the main item of discussion. The action-filled convention was the occasion for business meetings, competitions in original and translated Esperanto poetry, prose, and drama, 2 evenings of theater in the international language, and the 21st session of the Internacia Somera Uni- versitato, with lectures by scholars from 8 countries. Through almost all of the events ran the thread of human rights, which has become the campaign theme of the world Esperanto movement since the United Nations proclaimed 196 8 International Human Rights Year. The plenary sessions stressed the Universal Esperanto Associ- ation's recent activity against linguistic discrimination, both internationally and domestically. Speakers assailed discriminatory policies toward linguistic minorities; a few delegates from the host country openly attacked Spain's own anti-minority language policy. This new militance appeared to disturb some of the participants, however. One leading delegate from Poland warned the organi- zation to confine its attention to international language problems, so as not to appear to be interfering in various countries' domestic affairs. RECENT EVENTS SCOUTS' USE OF ESPE- RANTO PRAISED ON CAPITOL HILL: "Esperanto has gained consider- able prestige as an interna- tional language." This assess- ment was made by U.S. Represen- tative Seymour Halpern (N.Y.) in a speech on the House floor on Aug. 1, in which he called attention to the adoption this summer of Esperanto alongside of English as an official lan- guage of the 6th Essex Inter- national Jamboree, in England, attended by 2000 Scouts from 20 countries. The photo shows some of them with (standing at right of pole) Mr. and Mrs. William Schulze, representing San Mateo (California) Mayor Roy Archibald, and Jamboree Commissioner Tom Parrinder. '"•-• INTENSIVE COURSE GIVEN IN INDIANA: Eight persons, mostly professors and teachers, came from California, Oregon, Illinois, and Ohio to a special one- week intensive course in Esperanto conducted August 12-17 at the University of Indiana in Bloomington by augio-lingual teaching expert Duncan Charters, who is an instructor at the university. Participants reported significant improvements in their proficiency at the end of the week, attesting to the effectiveness of Charters' advanced teaching method. STUDENTS CONFER ON SOCIAL, ACADEMIC, ORGANIZATIONAL PROBLEMS: The World Leage of Esperanto-Speaking Students met in Aix-en-Provence, France, in August. In addition to hearing papers on psychosocial aspects of the Esperanto movement and discussing student rights, participants joined with local students in an open forum (in French and Esperanto) on "The Modern University". Problems of Indian society and of human rights were among those discussed at another mid- summer meeting of Esperanto-speaking young people, held in southern Sweden. In Brussels, leaders from Catholic, Protestant, humanist, student, and federalist movements attended a successful seminar run by the world organization of young Esperanto speakers (TEJO) on problems of practical organization. Four observers from TEJO also attended rhe World Youth Festival in Sofia, which had a number of events in or about Esperanto. Page 3 October, 1968 COMING UP NEW FOUNDATION TO PUSH INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE RESEARCH: How easy is Esperanto to learn? What economic effects would its worldwide use have? How do its grammar and literature develop? These and a page-full of other topics are some of the important questions about Esperanto that deserve more attention from the American academic community, according to the incorporators of a foundation just established in Washington, D.C. Dr. E. James Lieberman, Dr. Humphrey Tonkin, and Jonathan Pool, combining their respective fields of psychiatry, English, and political science with a wide knowledge of Esperanto, have set up the Esperantic Studies Foundation (ESF) to encourage and support multi-disciplinary university- level teaching and research on Esperanto. More information, including the list of topics, is available from ESF at 6451 Barnaby St., N.W., Washington, DC 20015. CALIFORNIA NIGHT COURSES ABOUND: California will lead the nation this year in Esperanto evening courses. Hillsborough's Esperanto Information Center has announced courses in San Francisco, Alameda, Daly City, Mill Valley, Monterey, Napa, Palo Alto, Redwood City, Sacramento, St. Helena, Santa Rosa, and Stockton. In Southern California, notice of a night course in San Diego has been received. SUMMER '69 PLANS UNDERWAY: With this summer's Esperanto conventions over, many are already planned for a year hence. Among the foremost are work- camps scheduled in Yugoslavia and Bulgaria, international summer courses to take place in Denmark and England, and the 25th International Youth Esperanto Congress to be held in Tyreso, Sweden, after the World Congress of Esperanto in Helsinki. Those traveling this winter can attend the 12th in the highly acclaimed series of international social-scientific seminars of the German Esperanto-Speaking Youth, this one in Cologne at the year's end. TEJO TO SURVEY VOLUNTEER ORGANIZATIONS: The External Relations Commit- tee of the world organization of young Esperanto speakers (TEJO) is conducting a survey of organizations which send multi-national teams of volunteers to develop- ing countries. The Committee hopes to gain information about the teams' language problems and their possible solutions. PUBLICATIONS JOURNAL ON LANGUAGE PROBLEMS SET FOR DEBUT: Vol. I, No. 1 of La Monda Lingvo-Problemo, a multi-lingual scholarly journal dealing with the many aspects of the world language problem, will be issued on December 10 by Mouton, the well- known publisher specializing in linguistics. The first issue will include arti- cles on the language policy of the U.N., the limits of second language learning, "linguicide", and other topics. Each article, whatever its language, will carry an Esperanto summary. Subscriptions ($7 a year) may be made through JEN. NEW DICTIONARY NEARS GOAL: The newly compiled Complete Illustrated Dictionary of Esperanto (Plena Ilustrita Vortaro) was advance-ordered by about 1700 persons as of mid-August—only 300 short of the number needed to guarantee publication. To push this important 1600-page book into production, ask JEN for information on placing an order. BOOK SERVICE OFFERS NEW TEXTBOOK, MAP: The West Coast Esperanto Book Service (address on p. 4) has received a supply of Secondary School Esperanto (Vol. I), by R. Markarian and J.H. Sullivan, just issued by University Tutorial Press and highly recommended (143 pp., $1.50). Also now available is a full- color up-to-date world map with place names in Esperanto (38" x 27", $1.15). JEN ANNOUNCES 1969 PLANS: The News' Digest^viill henceforth be dated with the even-numbered months; JENi'«s^h^ghiLv^.successful Magazine-a-Month Plan will continue in 1969; the JEN-Bulteno, expected!this summer but delayed by technical difficulties, will appear starting in the fall. These are the most important of recent JEN decisions concerning future plans. Enrollment and subscription blanks will be included with the December issue of the News Digest. Meanwhile, please inform us of your new address if you have moved during the summer. Publications of JEN are normally not forwarded. Page 4 TO INFORM YOU . , . October, 1968 —MEXICO: New youth Esperanto organization has just joined TEJO. New organ- ization also founded in Greece. --JAPAN: Recognized student Esperanto clubs exist in 70 colleges and univer- sities . —TEJO MEMBERSHIP: Rose 50% in '67-8 to c. 10,000; Poland and South Korea had especially big membership increases. —PENNA. M.L.A.: Recent issue of their Bulletin carried article on viability of Esperanto. —EASTERN CONFERENCE: Regional Esperanto meeting Oct. 11-12 in Meadville, Penna. —HAM FIRST?: 1st transpacific ham Esperanto contact claimed Sept. 2 by KH6GT, Hawaii, & XE1M, Mexico. More on 21400 kc at 2300 GMT planned. —DISKS: New Esperanto records recently from Austria, Bulgaria, Finnland. New Decca carillon album has jacket in Esperanto. —U.S. NAVY: Papers supplied by Navy for ocean-current tracing bottles carry instructions in Esperanto and 7 other languages. —E3: Art postcards on sale to benefit African blind (IOC, 8 for 75C) . Write SFERIDO, 6029 Harwood Dr., Oakland, Calif. 94618, or EIC (N.Y.) —SCIENCE FICTION: June '68 issue International Science Fiction has an English translation of an Esperanto story. INFORMATION BOOKS IMPORTANT ADDRESSES Esperanto Information Center 156 5th Avenue, Room 821 New York, N.Y. 10010 Esperanto Book Center 156 5th Avenue, Room 822 New York, N.Y. 10010 Esperanto Information Center 410 Darrell Road Hillsborough, Calif. 94010 West Coast Esp. Book Service 2129 Elizabeth Street San Carlos, Calif. 94070 JEN: GENERAL INFORMATION, MEMBERSHIP, SUBSCRIPTIONS CORRESPONDENCE COURSE NEWS DIGEST Mrs. Julie Tonkin (Corresponding Secretary) 2131 Tryon Street; Philadelphia, Pa. 19146 University of Chicago International Language Soc. 1212 East 59th Street; Chicago, 111. 60637 Jonathan Pool (Editor) 5238 South Kenwood, Apt. 1; Chicago, 111. 60615 PEN PALS Miss Ellen Lewis (Correspondence Service Director) 15 Salisbury Road; Brookline, Mass. 02146 JEN 4 Central Street Millers Falls, Massachusetts 01349 Return Requested New Address Requested Non-Profit Organization U. S. POSTAGE PAID PERMIT NO. 5 MILLERS FALLS, MASS. 01349 DATED MATERIAL