EM NEWSLETTER NEWS OF THE LANGUAGE PROBLEM AND ESPERANTO AS A SOLUTION September-October 1984 M : MESAGO DE LA PREZIDANTO DE ELNA AL LA MEMBRARO Karaj samideanoj kaj kunlaborantoj, La venontaj tri jaroj ĝis la centjara datreveno de Esperanto alportas al ni aparte favoran okazon por antauenigi nian komunan laboron. Por atingi li vastan konsciiĝon pri la ekzisto de Esperanto, unuflanke, kaj la seriozeco de giaj pretendoj, aiiflanke, necesas daŭre plifortigi nian bazon per taŭga informado, instruado kaj lernado de la lingvo, kaj harmonia, celtrafa agado de la lokaj grupoj. Tiucele, interesas min informiĝi pri ĉiuj ideoj de la membraro. Kolego mia en alia landa asocio deklaris okaze de lia elektiĝo kiel prezidanto, ke ĉiujn bonajn novajojn oni sendu al la redaktoro de la informilo, kaj ĉiujn plendojn al li! Mi nun ripetas tiun inviton, kaj atendas ricevi dum la venontaj monatoj ĉiajn plendojn, ideojn, agadproponojn por nun aŭ kiam favoros la cirkonstancoj. Tio ebligos al mi kaj la Estraro havi maksimume klaran perspektivon pri la eblecoj, por ke ni povu fari kiel eble plej inteligentajn decidojn rilate la laboron por Esperanto en Usono. Mi fine deziras danki al Tom Goldman, pro lia sindediĉo al la prezidantaj taskoj dum la pasintaj tri jaroj, kaj esperas ke mia propra laboro iel meritos vian fidon dum la venonta ofic-periodo. Kun dankoj kaj sinceraj salutoj, Duncan Charters INSIDE Satire Language in the News SFSU - 84 in '84! Japanio Aktivas lupak and Esperanto DECEMBER IS ESPERANTO BOOK MONTH - DECEMBER IS ESPERANTO BOOK MONTH IT COULD HAPPEN ANYWHERE... [Ed. Note: As you might have guessed from the pen name, the following satire was written by Prof. David Jordan, UCSD. Since writing it, Dr. Jordan has escaped to Taiwan where he is spending a year in special Chinese studies.] I just came from a regular meeting of the San Diego Esperanto Club, and I want to tell you it's not like the old days, and / don't like :t\ i've been watching it happen before my very eyes and haven't said very much, but it's time I spoke out, because I think this movement is going to the dogs, and we have got to make people see that and stop some of the things they are doing. Let me describe what it was like tonight just as an example of how bad things are getting. First we met for supper together in the Esperanto Restaurant up the street. (I kid you not; that's its name.) The place serves pasta, and these people get all hopped up on it and make so much noise you can't hear yourself think. Now what kind of way is that to behave? I'm old enough to remember all those great Esperanto banquets where all you could hear was the sound of chewing as people wondered how you say "loose dentures" in Esperanto. (It's nefiksita proteza dentaro in case you need to know. I memorized that when I learned Esperanto nearly half a century ago because I thought that someday I might have to explain to some foreign visitor why I wasn't saying too much. I only used it once; the foreign lady looked surprised and told me that in Italy they were usually blue. I'm not sure she understood what I said.) But these San Diegans didn't sit chewing in silence tonight. They all yakked it up as though they were speaking English, except they weren't. I never can figure out when people like that get time to work out how to say the next sentence in Esperanto, unless they have it all memorized before they come in. I can't believe they just make it up as they go along, like in English, or the way foreigners do. (I always try English with the, but they don't like to use English if they can help it. They say the point of the club is to use Esperanto. But why use Esperanto? I know that everybody in the club can speak English-except maybe the foreigners — otherwise what would they be doing in an Esperanto club?) The club still meets in the same old bank where it always has. Some things at least don't change, except the complimentary coffee has gone downhill, and the room gets pretty crowded a lot of the time nowadays. The program always begins with a "warm-up", which tonight meant we had to sing songs. Now I don't mind a good song or two: "My Bonnie Lies Over The Ocean" or "Oh My Darlin' Clementine" are real good Esperanto songs. But these people sang original songs! Can you imagine? How's a person supposed to be able to sing a song he's never even heard in English? But they don't even think about that. They just sing all these songs, weird bits and all, and never seem to mind that they don't have any English originals to work from. Some of these club people have gotten pretty loud over the years, too. Remember the days when we used to light into a translation of "I Been Workin' On The Railroad"? Like all Esperanto songs, it was always slow and majestic because people'd get lost otherwise. Even so, we'd all come in heavy on the chorus and sort of fade on the verses. I always liked that: loud and soft, loud and soft. Whatever we sang, it was like waves breaking on the shore. But the majesty of the old songs is a lost art in San Diego these days. Today people sing these new-fangled Esperanto songs the way they would sing any other songs. And I keep losing my place. Then came the business meeting. They conducted it all in Esperanto. We've been doing that for a long time now, but I don't like it. How is anybody supposed to know what he's voting on if they keep it all in Esperanto? Oh, you can speak English, all right. But if you do you have to hold a little rubber crocodile all the time you talk. Imagine me— even ME, a veteran of decades in the movement - having to wave a little crocodile around just to object to the telephone bill! And of course holding the crocodile doesn't make anybody else speak English; they all just go right on in Esperanto, even when they talk about important things, like money!! Then came the coffee break. More Esperanto! Isn't that amazing? Even during the coffee break! Is there no rest for the weary? I won't even try to describe the program that followed the coffee break. It was in Esperanto, of course, and I couldn't follow it very well. Something about Hawaii. (Nice slides, though.) It really is beginning to make me mad that in my own club people keep saying things I can't understand. For all I know, they could even be talking about me. Time was when you could at least depend on the eternaj komencantoj to say something you could understand. But in San Diego the komencantoj aren't very eternaj. Oh, there were some beginners there tonight, all right. But would you believe that out of a dozen "beginners" at the meeting none of them had been studying more than two or three months? Somehow the club has two or three beginning classes going all the time, and they shoot these beginners out of them like bullets that just whiz right past you and never even stop to say "saluton." I am far and away the seniormost beginner, and do you think that gets me anything? Why no, the other beginners just move right along till they are so prattly they get just as bad as the others about making me hold the rubber crocodile whenever I talk English. Talk about not getting any respect! And it's not just the young people who move fast like that, although Cod knows the younger ones don't waste any time getting to the end of the book. Tonight I counted at least a dozen mature people - by that I mean people my age - that had been tongue-tied just two or three years ago, and there they were, sitting around tonight chattering away, happy as heirs at a wake, and not even bothering to bring their dictionaries to the meeting. Whoever heard of going to an Esperanto club meeting without a textbook and a dictionary? (I always bring Stuttart and my faithful Edinburgh. It's one of the old ones bound in real cloth, and I've always kept it in mint condition. It'll probably be very valuable some day.) And that is the point of this letter: as I think about it, I don't know whatever became of all the people that spoke only English. It seems as though there used to be a lot of them, back before we started having the meetings in Esperanto. I guess most of them just drifted away, lost to the movement forever, most likely. Everybody knows that Esperanto clubs are supposed to be full of eternaj komencantoj. But they are an endangered breed! It's happened at San Diego, and unless people are attentive to the problem, I am afraid it could happen all the way from Florida to Washington. It is important for your readers to realize that if the eternaj komencantoj die out, there isn't going to be anybody to talk to at meetings any more. Think about that! — Crock O'Dyle, San Diego ABONU AU REABONU La Cinan Monatan Gazeton en Esperanto EL POPOLA OHIO Twelve thick issues a year via Airmail, each with three large color sections. EPC contains material about the People's Republic of China, the national Esperanto movement, and on the international Esperanto move- ment as well. 1 Year $6.00 2 Years $10.00 3 Years $14.00 El Popola Clnio Is one of the most outstanding Esperanto publications in the world. Look it over and you'll agree! Subscribe through your local agent: ELNA CENTRAL OFFICE BOX 1129 EL CERRITO, CA 94530 LANGUAGE IN THE NEWS John Naisbitt on English "About 125 years ago, when the steam engine and railroads came on the scene, the writers of the day said we would become one world with one language: English. That didn't occur then and it is not going to happen now, although English will continue to grow as a business language off to the side. "In everyday life, however, as we become an increasingly interdependent global economy, I would look for a renaissance in cultural and linguistic assertiveness." - Megatrends, p.79 NOTE: Megatrends was on the New York Times "bestseller" list for sixty weeks. (reported by Gene Buckley) High Hopes on BBC May 27th was played by popular British actors. The play, whose central theme is Esperanto, resulted when the playwright, Jill Hyem, came across a basic Esperanto lesson published by the British Esperanto Association. The general opinion is that "High Hopes" makes a very favorable contribution to public information about Esperanto. There has been a noticeably increased interest in Esperanto by the British media. - UEA Internacia Gazetara Servo Translating Japanese Technology into U.S. Terms "...The failure of American industry to reciprocate by tapping the increasing store of Japanese technology and research results recently prompted the House Science and Technology Committee to insert a $750,000 item in the National Bureau of Standards authorization bill to fund activities to increase the availability of Japanese science and engineering literature to U.S. scientists and engineers. "...A critical issue is language. Few Americans are proficient in Japanese and fewer still 'are also experts in a scientific or technical field, able to assess the significance of what they read'...otherwise untouched are the linguistic shortfall and the other deficiencies that contribute to U.S. technological myopia." - John Walsh, Science magazine, April 201984 ESPERANTO FOR COMPUTER TRANSLATION "...Because Esperanto is the easiest language to use on a computer...the European Economic Community has awarded large contracts to develop a mechanical translating sytem using Esperanto as an intermediate language. The system will translate from each of the eight EEC languages into Esperanto and from Esperanto into the target languages. This system will require only 16 translators rather than 56, reducing the EEC's tremendous translating costs." - The Futurist, June 1984 American Film Institute Salute to Lillian Gish, CBS April 17. Interviewed during the program honoring her, Miss Gish stated she wants to bring back silent films because only 5% of the world's people speaks English and that "when we went into talking films, we lost 95% of our audience." Esperantists Still Waiting Worcester MA Sunday Telegram, Aug. 5: "At the Olympics in Los Angeles this week, athletes from around the world are using the international language of sport to communicate. Wherever he is, chances are that Ludovic L. Zamenhof is shouting, 'I know a better way'," wrote Chris Pope in an interview with David Wolff, the newest member of ELNA's Executive Board. "Weapon of Peace" was the title of a lively interview by Harvey Simon in the Natick MA News July 22. Among other things he quoted Florence Mack and David Wolff about the use of Esperanto by writers of science fiction. "President Reagan's trip to China helps to emphasize the inability of Americans to speak to or understand peoples of different languages. When a foreigner comes to the United States, be it statesman or private citizen, we expect him to speak English. Yet when we visit a foreign country, very few of us are able to communicate in the native tongue." So writing, Daniel Baright makes the case for Esperanto in a letter to the Lebanon MO Da/7y Record May 3. Reagan After China - an article by James Reston, New York Times, May 6. Referring to differences in East- West cultures, Reston writes: "This raises the question of whether we are doing enough to educate the rising generation of Americans in the varied languages and cultures of Asia...to deal with the problems and opportunities that lie ahead." He quotes the Japanese Minister of Trade: "...maybe one of the main barriers is that while our people are learning your language, not so many of yours are trying to learn ours." About 13,500 Japanese are enrolled in U.S. colleges but only some 240 Americans are enrolled in programs in japan. According to the U.S. State Department, between 200 and 300 Americans are studying in China while over 10,000 from China are studying here. Reston's article is a thoughtful one but sceptically he asks Whether the president will encourage a policy for the future of our young or just acquire photos for his presidential campaign. Reston states further: "There are still a lot of adventurous young people in this country who would go anywhere and learn anything if they had a chance and a little money, and a vision of the Pacific world." And, writes Reston, "In the hardware of high tech we'll probably do all right, but in the software of language, America is in some ways an underdeveloped country." ESPERANTO: TOO LOGICAL FOR A CHAOTIC WORLD? Houston Chronicle, July 13 carried an interview by staffer Eric Lawlor with ELNA Vice President Ken Thomson about his experiences worldwide using the international language. He quotes Thomson: "There are as many as 30 very competent writers working exclusively in Esperanto, and they manipulate the language as adroitly as a T.S. Eliot or a Dylan Thomas." And what of Esperanto's future? Thomson says: "The world has still to address the problem of linguistic diversity, but when it does, and when — if ever —human beings decide to act logically, they'll turn to Esperanto." Methodist Ministers in Retirement Step Up Esperanto Contacts Reuben Tanquist of Portland OR keeps busy talking about Esperanto with fellow Methodist ministers and to retiree audiences. F. Lee York, now 95, spends his time between St. Petersburg FL and Los Catos CA where the sunshine permits him to ride his adult tricycle and tell people about his Esperanto penfriends. Sun City, Arizona was one of the stops on the post- convention tour of Esperantists from Australia, France, Sweden, Belgium, Switzerland, Finland, Great Britain, Italy, Germany, Israel, Austria, New Zealand, Mexico and the Netherlands. Lots of comparisons were made with retirement communities in their countries and the affluent Arizona community. Cleo Fort arranged for an interview with the visiting European Esperantists for Julie Wessel, Staff Writer for the News-Sun August 9th. The 34-person mixed group excursion through the major attractions of western U.S. was arranged by Lucille Harmon, Esperanto Travel Service. All 34 of the visiting European toursts had attended the World Conference of Esperanto in Vancouver in July. Santa Barbara News Press May 25 carried an interview with Arthur Eikenberry, local teacher and ELNA member, on the value of Esperanto postal friends as a people-to-people peace initiative. Napa CA Register, June 29, carried a memorial letter by Rose Norlund of the Napa Esperanto Club on the anniversary of Martha Walker's death. Martha, who had worldwide Esperanto contacts, is best remembered through ELNA's Martha Walker Memorial Student Fund. The So. III. University newspaper Alestle on April 26 carried an extensive interview about Esperanto with Prof. Ronald Glossop by reporter Toni Oplt. Glossop mentioned that, in his lectures on War and Peace, he often mentioned Esperanto, but never had learned the language. On one occasion, asked by a student to say something in Esperanto, it occurred to him that it was high time he did. He now teaches Esperanto at SIU. Atencion San Miguel, Mexico City, carried a story July 13 about ELNA member Julie Regal's participation in the world Esperanto convention in Vancouver, where she represented the Mexican Esperanto Association. The Indianapolis News carried an article January 5th by Norm Bess, titled "The Polish Solution" in which he interviewed Randy Gilliland of Lafayette IN. Gilliland participated in an international Esperanto chess tournament in Hungary. His interest in chess and Esperanto led to his membership in a four-man American team held in conjunction with the Esperanto convention in Budapest. ESPERANTO ON POSTAGE STAMPS is the title of an excellent article by Prof. Frank Nuessel, Dept. of Classical and Modern Languages, University of Louisville. Prof. Nuessel is Associate Editor and Book Review Editor of the international journal Language Problems and Language Planning. The 3-page article contains photos of many postage stamps with an Esperanto theme. Petition for a U.S. Commemorative Stamp with an Esperanto theme is available from the ELNA Newsletter editor. The petition is addressed to the Citizen's Stamp Advisory Committee, requesting the stamp for the Esperanto Centennial 1887-1987. IT'S RENEWAL TIME! A SPECIAL MESSAGE TO ELNA AND UEA MEMBERS ELNA's Central Office is, as most of you know, very lightly staffed compared to most organizations. ELNA is a non-profit organization and operates on a very tight budget. The end of the year brings an extremely heavy workload dye to membership renewals for both ELNA and UEA, subscription renewals, and the purchase of Esperanto books as gifts. Yoy can help greatly to spread out the workload at this time of year by renewing your membership(s) as early as you possibly can, preferably in November or early December. Your ELNA membership renewal form, UEA membership and subscription renewal form, and information on next year's SFSU classes will be mailed to you in the near future. However, it would help even more if you would use the renewal form on page 11 of this issue (or a xerographic copy, if you don't want to cut up your magazine) and send it in just as soon as you receive this issue. It's very easy to overlook membership renewals during the rush of the end-of-year Season - another good reason to send it in early. Thanks for your help! ELNA Central Office 84 IN '84! FIFTEENTH ANNIVERSARY ATTRACTS BIGGEST CLASS EVER TO SAN FRANCISCO STATE UNIVERSITY! Final figures from San Francisco State University show that 84 persons took advantage of this summer's Esperanto program. Contributing to its success and international flavor were not only the instructors - John Wells (London University), Duncan Charters (Principia College, Illinois), and Nikola Rasiĉ (Zagreb University) - but also students from Japan, Australia, China, and New Zealand. On hand to report the festivities celebrating fifteen years of continuous summer Esperanto Workshops at SFSU were the editors of Esperanto, Heroldo de Esperanto, and El Popola Ĉinio, respectively Simo Milojevic, Ada Fighiera-Sikorska, and ZOU Cuoxiang. The courses are offered on four levels: Basic, Intermediate A and B, and Advanced. This year a fifth course was offered in Methodology. The course, designed and directed by Dr. Charters, a specialist in foreign language teaching methods, meets a real need and was well attended. Final course evaluations by the students indicate that the diversity in methods and approach by the three instructors (all instructors teach all levels) was much appreciated. This opportunity for an international study-living experience is not all work. Evenings and weekends are filled with dancing, singing, garden parties, and excursions in which everyone finds something to do. As usual, many go on to the ELNA and UEA conventions -this year in Portland and Vancouver BC. This year's scholarships to deserving young students totalled about $2,000. Participants in this year's courses contributed about $250 toward the 1985 Student Fund. [P.S.: One nice thing about being the volunteer typesetter for ELNA is that I can sneak something past the Editor from time to time. This is one of those times. Cathy's natural modesty led her to leave an important part of this report on SFSU out, so I'm putting it in. Toward the end of this year's courses, a special party was held in the Verducci Hall lounge, ostensibly to celebrate the 15th anniversary of these successful courses. But the highlight was a well-planned surprise for Cathy Schulze, the person who almost single- handedly managed to interest SFSU in Esperanto in the first place, nursed the courses through the lean years at the beginning, orchestrated the publicity, found outstanding instructors (remember William Auld?), initiated the Scholarship Fund, and has generally been motor, fuel and steering wheel for these courses. Without her, there wouldn't have been 84 in '84, and very possibly there wouldn't be anything like the SFSU courses in this country. A large number of alumni from the past 15 years gathered to cheer, applaud, and even shed a tear or two when Cathy was presented with laudatory plaques and scrolls, poetic tributes, a special costume, and a long banner made of U.S. currency (which Cathy promptly donated to the Scholarship Fund). The room was vibrant with high spirits, devotion, and love for this great lady, our own Cathy Schulze. -Bill Harmon CAPTIONS FOR PHOTOS ON PAGE 6 1. Local Esperantists meet incoming students at airport: (l-r) Prenda Cook (TX); Kent Huff (TN); Charlotte Kohrs (CA); John Reinmuth (OR) 2. The 3 professors: (l-r) Nikola Raŝic (Zagreb University); Duncan Charters (Principia College); John Wells (London University) 3. Advanced class poses during a break 4. Intermediate-B faces the camera 5. Prof. Charters chats with visiting Prof. Zhou of Beijing 6. Intermediate-A at break time 7. Su Jones stumps Prof. Wells 8. Some Basic Class students take time out 9. (l-r) Liz Warner (CA); Michael DeLory (Halifax); Prof. Zhou (Beijing) 10. Patricia and Duncan Charters with Petra and Pippa, and Su and Kim Jones. All four children speak Esperanto. 11. (l-r) Gene Buckley (OR), Derek Roff (NM), Prof. Glossop (IL Univ.) discuss Prof. Wells's Lingvistikaj Aspektoj de Esperanto 12. Some of the sunbathers at the Schulze garden party 13. Richard Sturm (MA) and Kim Jones (IL) in a studious mood 14. Kent Huff (TN); Lusi Harmon (CA); Nagayuki KASAI (Tokyo) 15 Derek Roff (NM) and Mary Napolitan (Ml) assemble lesson material 16. Prof. DAI Songen, Ĉ.ina Esperanto-Ligo, Beijing, and XUE Meixian, Radio Pekino 17. Garry Norris (Vancouver BC) and Billy Waldon (CA) CAPTIONS FOR PHOTOS ON PAGE 7 1. General photo of some of the SFSU Esperanto students 2. 15th Anniversary Cake 3. Famous editors: ZOU Guoxiang, El Popola Cinio; Ada Fighiera-Sikorska, Heroldo de Esperanto; Simo Milojevic, UEA's Esperanto. 4. Parchment containing tribute to Cathy Schulze for 15 years as SFSU Course Coordinator - calligraphy by Eugene Buckley, holding parchment 5. Prenda Cook holds the long string of $10 and $20 bills contributed by the 1984 class toward the 1985 SFSU Student Fund - total $250. Cathy Schulze wears Prenda's "Lone Esperanto Star" hat, holds silk tapestry of Esperanto's creator presented by the Chinese delegation, wears the gold chain and holds the flowers presented by the class - and still the gifts kept coming! 6. UEA Chief Delegate Bill Harmon and Judy Montell, producer of the Steve Allen Esperanto documentary pose with DAI Songen, ZHANG Qicheng, ZHU Mingyi, and CHEN Yuan of Beijing 7. The incomparable Su Jones entertains at the 15th anniversary festivities 8. Prof. James Kohn, SFSU Administrator of the Esperanto courses. Dr. Kohn is spending a sabbatical year at Shandung University in China 9. Australians at SFSU for advanced Esperanto studies: (l-r) Bettie Hart, Arthur and Phyllis Cocking, Teri Metherall 10-12. SFSU Course Thespians in Dolta Emilino: Prenda Cook, actress; Ruth Culbert, author-director; Lorraine Burtzloff, heroine, and Bill Waldon, villain 13-14. ESPERANTO-in-SCHOOL, a daylong conference held during the World Esperanto Convention in Vancouver, BC. Teaching methods received major emphasis. Prof. Duncan Charters chaired the conference. Prof. Robert Blair (Brigham Young Univ.) demonstrates with Univ. of B.C. non-Esperantist students the sugestopedia method. Prof. Charters examines Derek Roff in a demonstration of what he had learned at SFSU. 84 IN '84! SAN FRANCISCO STATE UNIVERSITY - SUMMER 1984 (Pholos: Vallon-Wheeler] (For photo captions, see page 5] I «» V: .\u samkŭ Khi bonkoruiinoi llmh ŝi sorjis fcti semis 1;eJ Latxrrtis una $ineesc I /_.„rc.i=. rn r,yr«ie> fan:di.x' 13U .