ELNA UPDA TE Quart.-- Newsletter publish 1 by the Esperanto I iqne fo ^orth Atn "a 1/1 998 FO box 1 129 • El Cerrito CA 94530 • USA ISStt 1081-6224 ESPERANTO IN 1997 More than a third of the mail sent to Radio Poland was addressed to the Esperanto section, more than any other foreign language section. During the first year after its acceptance, the Mani- festo of Prague (sqqELNA Update 1996/3) collected more than ten thousand signatures. As a follow-up to this Manifesto, Kampanjo 2000 was launched to con- cretize and continue the ideas therein expressed. Serious lobbying was begun by UEA and the Trans- national Radical Party to induce the Economic and Social Council of the UN to officially investigate lan- guage issues. A coalition was founded of UN-associated Non- Government Organizations in favor of an interna- tional language. The Center for Research and Documentation on World Language Problems conducted a conference in the New York office of Unesco. The UN's High Commissioner for Human Rights agreed to support a seminar about the linguistic di- mensions of human rights, which UEA will arrange at the end of April of this year at the UN headquarters in Geneva. 117 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) of the total 626 (18.7%) expressed their support of an official study of Esperanto. Two MEPs attended the European Esperanto Congress in Germany. The University of Amsterdam named a professor of interlinguistics and Esperanto. Esperanto stamps and telephone cards were printed in Croatia in recognition of the TEJO congress to be held there this summer. The International Railroad Union printed a series of 13 volumes of standardized terms of the railroad busi- ness, each printed bilingually - in Esperanto and one national language. The ELNA-supported video course Pasporto al la tuta mondo was launched and one-third completed. The project also received official support from UEA. The editors of Eventoj introduced a new e-mail ser- vice which keeps all editors of Esperanto periodicals informed about news in Esperanto-land. ELNA made its debut on the World-Wide Web at www.esperanto-usa.org where our home-page joined the hundreds of other Esperanto-based home- pages of periodicals, clubs, individuals, etc. (com- piled by Aleksander Korzhenkov and posted to Even- tofs e-mail list) Also worth mentioning is the first Universala Kon- greso ever held in Oceania last summer. Although only about 1,000 people participated, it was consider- ed a great success by all who were there. Esperanto was used for background public-address announcements in the Hollywood film Gattaca. Although the voices were only barely audible, ELNA got a full-screen reference during the credits. A Japanese group made an Esperanto film of Che- khov's In a Summer Villa. It is slated for release this summer during the UK in Montpellier. OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES FOR ESPERANTO When Esperanto was created over a century ago, the biggest language problem in the world was the lack of understanding between various nations due to the dif- ferent languages. For this reason Zamenhof created Esperanto, intending to facilitate linguistic communi- cation between different nations. The non-sameness of national languages is still the basic language problem in the world. But the modern world language problem is the tendency of the world's languages to unify into one ethnic language, namely English, or more precisely, the American lan- guage. In fact the English language has become the unofficial but actual international language, not only between individuals and for commerce, but also in inter-state organizations. In principle, the UN uses six official languages for formal official meetings, but for practical everyday administration, "working lan- guages" (mainly English) are used. The spread of English as world communal language is caused mainly by the political, economic, techno- logical and mass-media strengths of the USA. In the modern world the English language almost monopo- lizes the world's mass media, especially satellite TV stations and computer programs. The popularity of satellite TV and the computer internet facilitates the spread of English as a world language. The intrusion of English as de facto common lan- guage brings up several problems. This ethnic lan- guage brings along the culture and life-style of the USA, and this has a tendency to replace the culture of the nation which accepts English. But the most important destructive problem is that the use of an ethnic language in this role is cannibal- istic. The English language eats the other national languages in the fields of international meetings, commerce, science, technology and tourism. For ef- fective international discussion, successful commer- cial trade, serious scientific dissertations, discussions about technology and guided tourism for mixed- nation participants, one most often uses the English language. Even citizens of the same country must sometimes resort to English to express precise scien- tific and technological notions. Soon ethnic languages will be spoken only at home and in cafes! This is a symptom of the beginning of the death of a national language. Even British English is being eaten by American English! The problem of the language-eating and culture- eating tendencies of the English language has caused politically strong languages to defend themselves. France already forbids the use of English in commer- cial advertisements. As of last September the Minister for External Affairs of China no longer uses English during his weekly press conferences. Russia's Presi- dent Yeltsin, noticing that all of Moscow was plas- tered with English-language advertisements, an- nounced that he intends to forbid the use of English in advertising. The new Hong Kong government an- nounced that instruction by means of the English lan- guage will no longer be allowed. The contemporary world language problem provides opportunities, favorable chances for a neutral, con- structed (that is, without an ethnic culture) interna- tional common auxiliary language to show its useful- ness, not only due to the differences between world languages but also due to the universal tendency among [the world's peoples] toward the use of only one ethnic language. These are opportunities for Esperanto! The most important opportunity for Esperanto is that politically and linguistically strong countries such as France, Russia and China also sense the destructive threat of the incursion of the English language and have begun to defend their own languages. In fact now all languages need a protective shield against the invasion of the culture- and language-eating English language. A constructed, ethnically and culturally neutral language can well serve this protective goal. During the last century, Esperanto has demonstrated and proven its effectiveness as a neutral language, and as a linguistic shield against the invasion of other ethnic languages. The most immediate and practical opportunity for Esperanto is in the European Union. The unification of Europe in economic, monetary and political realms will not succeed without linguistic unification. Now in principle, languages of all members of the Euro- pean Union must be officially used equally. Accord- ing to this principle, eleven languages must be used officially in the EU. Imagine the problems of simulta- neous translation between eleven languages when MEPs speak in the EU parliament! This non-sameness is only a surface problem. A more important problem is the tendency toward lin- guistic monopoly. Also in the EU the practical work- ing languages are most often English and sometimes French. A common auxiliary language without an ethnic culture is needed for the European Union not only for internal communication but also to defend its linguistic diversity. The language problem is the most important key to the success of the unification of Europe, much more important than economic or monetary unification. Therefore in the EU there are often serious official discussions about language problems. During the coming year there will be two international confer- ences about language problems within the European Union arranged under the auspices of the European parliament to recommend a language policy for the European Council and the European Union. There are indications that more than twenty percent of the 627 MEPs support considering Esperanto as common in- ternational auxiliary language. I would like to say that if any inter-state organiza- tion were to adopt Esperanto as its international auxiliary language, probably the European Union would be the first. In this sense, Europe is a strategic location for the Esperanto movement. A similar language problem exists in the United Nations, due not only to the existence of so many national languages, but also the language-eating power of English. The problem is that the UN does not want to recognize the existence of its language problem, or more accurately said, does not want to touch the language problem, because it is a "political bomb". This year the UN is discussing its reorganiza- tion plans for more efficient and economical function- ing. But the committee has not touched the language problem, because "it does not exist". Now the transla- tion costs of the official six languages are paid by all member-states, including the countries whose lan- guages are not official. The delegates are all able to use English to some level [remember that they all live in or near New York! -ed.]: the translation is done for mostly political reasons. If they were to officially use only the English language, this would solve economic and practical problems, but would cause even bigger problems of linguistic hegemony and language- eating. Everybody knows this, but nobody dares raise the issue. In the sphere of the UN and other interna- tional organizations, there are opportunities for Espe- ranto as anon-ethnic international auxiliary language. Next year the UN will celebrate the fiftieth anniver- sary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The UN has done much in the sphere of human rights, especially in the realm of political refugees. But the UN has yet to address the linguistic aspects of human rights. Many people cannot defend their own rights in a foreign country because they do not know the local language. Many refugees, recent immigrants, and tourists suffer because of language problems. All of these represent opportunities for Esperanto! If Esperanto has opportunities to solve the world's current language problem, how can we take advan- tage of these opportunities? There must be a two- level approach: international organizations and inter- national citizens. Firstly, at the level of interstate organizations, we must insist that they recognize that they have lan- guage problems, and that they include "International Auxiliary Language" as one of the items of the agenda during some official meeting, and that they seriously discuss the issue. If an official discussion begins, this will be the first step on the way to a solution. State representatives from politically and economically influential countries, such as China, Germany, Japan and Italy, can influence the UN [and other international organizations] to discuss their in- ternal language problems. Secondly, to demonstrate the practical usefulness of Esperanto as a living language and to demonstrate its practical propaedeutic value in learning ethnic lan- guages, we must initiate experimental instruction of Esperanto as a tool for more easily learning other lan- guages. Li this way we can begin to teach Esperanto as a tool, and then afterwards it can become a goal. The recently launched "Campaign 2000" aims at ad- dressing these challenges. Esperanto needs the sup- port and active participation of every Esperantist and member of our community. [UEA President LEE Chong-Yeong, from Eventoj 2, Oct 1997] NEW 2AMENHOF STREET They're still naming streets after the creator of Espe- ranto! In addition to the 655 streets and plazas already de- dicated to Ludwig Zamenhof, as listed in Monuments pri Esperanto, a new Zamenhof Street has just been built in St. Briuc, capitol of the department of France called Cotes d'Armor in the Breton region. At least seven streets have been named for Zamenhof since the publication of Monumente a year and a half ago. And the Zamenhof Square in Bialystok Poland has been given a face-lift. Several dozen old and sickly poplar trees were removed and replaced by attractive flowering shrubs and ornamental trees. Also the tiles of the central square were replaced. So the bust of Bialystok famous son is now in more fitting sur- roundings! ESPERANTO tAVSZVIA ON-LINE The International Esperanto Museum in Vienna, Austria, is one of the few state recognised and state financed Esperanto libraries. It is a part of the Aus- trian Library, which as of March 1998 offers internet access to the new catalog, which is called Trovanto (Finder). The search language of Trovanto is exclu- sively Esperanto. It includes books, manuscripts, non- commercial literature, cassettes, disks, electronic pub- lications, etc. and even lists individual articles in sci- ence and literary books. One can search the docu- ments according to many categories, for example by author, title, theme, etc. so it is quite a useful instru- ment for any kind of search and study. All documents acquired by the IEM since 1996 are now fully cata- logued, and little by little the complete collection will be computerized. The address of Trovanto is www.onb.ac.at/online_s/esperanto/espdb . htm. Pay them a visit; check it out. Online visits help the Museum's statistics; good statistics help then- state support. CANADIAN VALENTINES On the fourteenth of February, on Valentine's Day, Esperantists from Victoria, the capitol of the Western Canadian province of British Columbia organised a variety show for 100-150 spectators on the theme "Amu la Teron" (Love the Earth). The program, or- ganised by Wally du Temple, was a mixture of art and amusement. There was harping and singing and various groups performed skits. There was dancing and poems were read and slides of Nature preserves were shown. The citizens of Victoria learned about Esperanto thanks to this show. Posters and press re- leases sent to 200 organizations and the local press all mentioned that the event was sponsored by the Ca- nadian Esperanto Association. An article which ap- peared in the Victoria "Times-Colonist" emphasized the fact that for du Temple Esperanto was an "edzper- anto" (marriage arranger): Wally and Olga du Temple are one of the two couples in Victoria who met by means of Esperanto. (From the Eventoj newswire) »998 CALENDAR "& North-Western Esperanto Gathering, Olympia WA, May 29-31, 1998. HEllen M Eddy, PO Box 4055 Tumwater WA 98501; 0)360/754-4563. "& Summer Esperanto Workshop, San Francisco State University, Jul 6-24, 1998. H Cathy Schulze, 410 Darrell Rd, Hillsborough CA 94010; 0) 650/342- 1796. ^ ELNA Annual Convention, Montreal Canada, Jul 25-27,1998. H ELNA, PO Box 1129, El Cerrito CA 94530; 0) 510/653-009. "S" International Youth Esperanto Convention, Rijeka Croatia, Jul 25 - Aug 1, 1998; H TEJO, Nieuwe Binnenweg 176, NL-3015 BJ Rotterdam, Nether- lands; 0)+31/10/4361044. «s* World Esperanto Convention, Montpellier France, Aug 1-8, 1998; H UEA, Nieuwe Binnenweg 176, NL-3015 BJ Rotterdam, Netherlands; Q) +31/10/4361044. INTERNET CALENDAR The site maintained by the magazine Eventoj is the best source of a comprehensive calender of Esperan- to-based events throughout the world. So whether you are planning to travel, or if you simply wish to see the richness of ongoing activities, take a look at www.hungary.net/esperanto/kalendar.htm LITERARY SUPPLEMENT COMING Ionel One£, editor of the main ELNA newsletter Es- peranto-USA, has issued a call for submissions for the Literatura Suplemento, which will go to press this summer for the first time since 1991. Poems, short stories and all other forms of literature are welcome in Esperanto or as translations from Esperanto. The deadline is June 26, 1998, but you are encouraged to send your works in earlier. Send submissions to ionel@esperanto-usa . org or to the address on the letterhead. 1998 ELNA BOOK SERVICE CATALOG This 28-page catalog details every item available from the ELNA Book Service. The catalog is sent to ELNA members and "Friends of Esperanto" at no cost. Non-members should send $2.00 to: ELNA PO Box 1129, El Cerrito CA 94530. Those purchas- ing the catalog will receive a coupon worth $2.00 off their next order. Esperanto League for North America PO Box 1129 El Cerrito CA 94530 Nonprofit Organization U.S. POSTAGE PAID Berkeley CA Permit No. 330 m THIS ISSUE». ♦ Esperanto in 1997 ♦ Esperanto in 15-S ♦ Esperanto Museum ♦ Esperanto Valentine ♦ W . fiom ilu ' .. *