" / esperanto E3i-monthly bulletin published by the Esperanto League for North America ik 3/2001 Dumonata bulteno publikigata de Esperanto-Ligo por Norda Ameriko liV Junio 2001 Look insicte for-. President's message Conventions About Literature and Literary Supplements Menciinde Sister Cities 1 ot5 4 4 pTondaJo Klara Zamenhof 6 Decidoj de la Estraro 6 Reviews Esperanto Documents 8 fiew from the Book Service 9 Esperanto in the media 10 Alvoko de AAIE Five most wanted 11 11 plus Ktp! We of the United States usually want to be up-to-date in all lines of endeavor, but we do seem woefully reticent, if not ac- tually backward, in facing one big prob- lem of our age - the international lan- guage problem. (Evelyn Oline, Let's Take Another Look at Language, New York: Exposition Press, 1958 1U Etvftiil hJ*/A*r4*fy Den DROWN As of late I've had the good fortune in my life to be able to travel frequently to Europe for my job. Since I am from the United States, a friend of mine in Ger- many told me that I have an advantage because all my life I have spoken the clos- est thing we have to an international lan- guage: English. I suppose that he's right, but still, I find that I have absolutely no desire to have that advantage. I am a citizen of the United States of America, and I am very proud of that. I am also proud that we are such an impor- tant nation in today's world. What I am not proud of is the way in which we keep ourselves so important. I am talking about the usage of English in our world as a means of international communication. I have an advantage. We in the United States have an advantage. We are the elite, we rule the whole world, and we'll keep on ruling because all the others will never be able to communicate as well as we do. They will work at it for years, de- cades even. They will never get to where we are. We are the elite. Foreigners. So often they think they are using our language perfectly, but we talk about them behind their backs and make jokes about the errors they make. I want to cry out to them, "Can't you see what you're doing? You are the ones that take away your power to communicate. You are the ones that constantly put us above you." And above you we will stay. We are the elite, and we rule the world. I don't want to be elite. Here is some- one from the USA who isn't interested in ruling the world. I am a citizen of the United States, but more than that—yes, more than that—I am a citizen of the world. People everywhere, I see you as my friends, as my brothers and sisters even. I don't want to stand above yc . because of an unfair advantage. I would much rather walk by your side. That way we can share our cultures with each other. That way we can be equals. We can re- spect one another. You refuse though, you who are not the chosen ones. It seems to me that you are blinding yourselves to the truth. People seem less intelligent than they re- ally are when they talk to someone in that person's mother language. I got that idea from Claude Piron, an Esperantist, and working abroad I have seen it time after time. Esperanto was created to be a lan- guage that one can learn quickly, but more importantly, it was created to be flexible so that all people can use it without sounding foreign and without sounding stupid. That is not the case with English. Unless you live for years in an English-speaking country, you will never master the unwritten rules, the countless expressions, and the subtle nuances of the language. A national language is a labyrinth, confusing to the foreigner. It's like the lay- ers of an onion, and when you understand one aspect of the language, you can be sure that underneath lie exceptions and nuances that you do not understand. Learn English. It is a rich and beautiful language, spoken in many different lands full of friendly people and interesting cul- tures. But you must understand, that it is in no way appropriate as an interna- tional language. Think about people in your country who don't speak their own language properly. Think about the errors that you yourself make with your mother tongue. Do you think that people who have not spoken the language from birth can compete fairly? Is this the kind of unjust world you want to create? As a citi- zen of the world, as a member of the hu- man race, are you proud of this, our world? (see Advantage p. 2) Esperanto League for North America PO Box 1129, Ei Cerrito CA 94530 USA/USONO if 510/653-0998; i 510/653-1468 H eina@esperanto-usa.org www.esperanto-usa.org President/Prezidanto: David T Wolff Vice PresidenWicprezidanto: Grant Goodal! Secretary/Sekretario: Ellen M Eddy Other Board Members/Aliaj estraranoj: Thomas Alexander, Jennifer Bondelid, Peggy Dolter, D Gary Grady, Angela Harlow, Ralph Lewin, Elizabeth Raible, Orlando E Raola, Derek Roff Director, Central Office/Direktoro de la Centra Oficejo: Joel Brozovsky Vice Director, Central OfficeNicdirek- toro de la Centra Oficejo: lonel Onef esperanto USA Bi-monthly bulletin published by the Esperanto League for North America Dumonata bulteno publikigata de Esperanto-Ligo por Norda Ameriko Vol. 37, No. 3 ISSN 1056-0297 Editor/Redaktoro: lonel One| te 510/653-0998; i 510/653-1468 S ionel@esperanto-usa.org Materials for esperanto USA should be sent to/Materialojn por esperanto USA oni sendu al: esperanto USA PO Box 1129, El Cerrito CA 94530 USA/ USONO or by e-mail/aŭ e-poŝte al: e-usa@esperanto-usa.org The opinions expressed in this bulletin are those of the authors, and don't necessarily represent the point of view of ELNA or its bulletin/La opinio] esprim- itaj en ĉi bulteno apartenas al la aŭtoroj, kaj ne nepre prezentas la vidpunkton de ELNA aŭ ties bulteno. Reprinting materials from this bulletin is permitted, provided that due credit is given, and a copy of the reprinted material is sent to ELNA/Estas permes- ate reaperigi materialojn el ĉi bulteno, kondiĉe ke oni ĝuste indiku la fonton kaj ke oni sendu ekzempleron de la re- publikigita material© a! ELNA. Deadline for the next issue/Limdato por la sekva numero: 27.07.2001. 2 *kt % Saluton ĉiuj, % The LK is over, elections have been held, and the voice of the voter rules. First, my thanks to outgoing Board members Sylvan Zaft and Michele Zielinski. They have each served you well for three years, but have decided not to run for the Board again. You'll continue to see Sylvan's contributions to Esperanto USA for a long time, I hope. Next, congratulations to Ellen Eddy on her reelection as Secretary. Taking a leaf from my 1996 election, she ran a clever stra- tegic campaign involving zero opponents. Ellen has been on the Board for many years and has always worked hard for the Move- ment. Congratulations to Orlando Raola on his reelection. Orlando recently became head of the Esperanto Library Committee. This com- mittee coordinates the saving and making good use of Esperanto books and magazines that would otherwise be thrown out or lost. And congratulations to our newest Board members, Angela Harlow and Tho- mas Alexander. All of these are experienced activists and I am looking forward to work- ing with them. If you want to know who all twelve of your current Board members are, see the box on the left. Unfortunately we are losing Don Bushaw as our Treasurer. Don can no longer continue as Treasurer due to health and time difficulties. Thus we are looking for a new Treasurer; the main qualifications are expe- rience with budgets and small-officej Financials, plus being a member of ELNA." If you want to know more, or know some- one who is qualified, please contact me. We'll work together with Don and others to explain exactly what is involved in this cru- cial post. Once again this newsletter contains a list of the "Five Most Wanted" volunteers for ELNA. Check it out! If you are an of- ficer of a local group, please show this list to your local members. Perhaps one of them can help, and our volunteers don't have to be ELNA members. (And perhaps one of these tasks could be an interesting job for your whole local group!) And last, at a recent Chinese lunch with other Esperantists, my fortune cookie for once did not say that I'm very handsome. Instead it said, "The philosophy of one cen- tury is the common sense of the next." Of- ten an idea simmers for years, decades, even centuries before people put it into action, before it becomes a part of the everyday life of each person. Let's make this fortune cookie come as true for Esperanto as my other cookies are. I know we can do it. Thanks- David WOLFF, President dwolff(g>vvorld.8td.corri 978/264-0286 (8-10pm Eastern time weekdays, noon-5pm weekends) (Advantage, continued from page 1) Before I go, I would like to give you something to think about concerning this world that we are creating. I began by talking about the United States, my own country, and about how it is an impor- tant nation in this world of ours. Why is it so important? I think that one of the best reasons is our strength. Not neces- sarily military strength, but strength in commerce, diplomatic relations, fine arts, sports, and in so many different areas. Why are we so strong in such diverse ways? I think that it's because we are a nation of 50 states. Those states work together, communicate together, share their strengths with each other, and thereby create a union which is so much stronger than the sum of the 50 individual states. We are now seeing that the Euro- pean Union has the same idea. I invite you to think about this world of ours. What kind of world is it? What kind of world could it be if we, its citizens, could effectively communicate with each other, understand each other, and share our many strengths. I say that we cannot cre- ate such a world using any national tongue as the international language. Luckily, we have a language that works, that is fair, that allows every person to declare, "Here I am, a citizen of the world, a member of the human race. Let me show you who I arn." This is what it means to understand each other. This is what is possible through Esperanto. This1 is our world. esperanto USA 2/2001 A Take on TAKE by Lorraine BOUCHARD It was a grand idea: I would conduct an send me alone, allowing me to return to tioning and I did not see his name on the experimental immersion in languages for my share my enthusiasm lecture-style. I re- roster. But we accidentally happened on to 13 middle school students. They had been treated from the idea, licking my wounds. his three students who were each very studying Spanish, some of them for five or After stewing for several months, I friendly to my students. Among the journal more years. A few had taken an intensive polled the families: did anybody want to par- entries that I collected from the three boys: Esperanto mini-course with me a couple ticipate? I even asked a few of my alumnae "They were willing to speak English to us... years before. I would teach them Esperanto and former Esperanto students. Three fami- when we were talking with other Esperan- concurrently as they studied Spanish. We lies, all experienced in world travels, tists, it made it feel like a more formal con- would rendezvous with similar students warmed to the idea. Two of the parents versation than talking with our teacher." from a Spanish-speaking country. Together, signed on to accompany the three boys, and However, the activities were dampened by we would participate in the TAKE, using our an alumna agreed to take time off from her the lack of air circulation in the rooms, es- new Esperanto language, then alternate ac- new school. pecially at the Benito Juarez convention tivities or days so that they could practice Lessons continued in earnest for the rooms, as described by Andreas: "The build- their English, and my students could prac- three travelers, Banks Beasley, Chris Bierley, ing was a literal inferno, reeking of the sweat tice their Spanish. All would have the op- and Andreas Eilert-Olsen, as well as the of 75 people crammed into one unventilated portunity to feel alternately confident and other class Esperantists who could not go auditorium. Even worse was the lightning confused. Hopefully, my students' arrogance on the trip. I spent hours composing humor- course room, where a man gave an Espe- with respect to the sovereignty of English ous dialogs of anticipated scenarios of shop- ranto course in Spanish, decimating all hope would abate. They would practice being ping, searching for restrooms, and finding of picking up anything, leaving us to fry to Global Citizens, not Ugly Americans! the lost tour group. Drama and humor help a golden brown like fish in a skillet." I spread the word in Esperantio and re- to cement memory, right? Wrong. The three The excursions appealed to the kids, ceived warm support and enthusiasm from nervous boys put minimal effort into their Banks wrote: "Teotihuaca was full of cool- many folks, includingAtilioOrellanaRojas, performances and even less into learning ness, even though it was quite hot outside, ike Porter, and Bill Maxey. Luis Jorge barely functional phrases. They refused to The pyramids were awesome... As we Santos of Columbia offered his Esperanto/ study or practice. They would not be able to climbed to the top, we always thought that English students for a match. The game was speak to anybody nor understand what they the next landing would be the top, but of afoot! Surely my students and their parents were told! They would embarrass me. My course, we were only right once. But when would be enthused about our lofty goals, grand and noble idea was a disaster. I was a we did reach the top, we could see every- They would love the adventure of visiting a failure as a teacher. Perhaps they would see thing for miles, just like the gods could that foreign country; and what better country all the interesting activities going on around they were built for." Chris wrote about our than our nearest neighbor to the south? them at the conference and wish that they boating afternoon: "We went to the Float- Much to my chagrin, a double wave of had better prepared. Perhaps the enthusiasm ing Gardens of Xochimilko, but there were anti-Esperanto and anti-Mexico fever and friendliness of the other participants almost no gardens. What the floating gar- washed over the students and parents. What would woo them and they would pick up dens really were was a big market on a stupid language! Nobody speaks it! What some words. The conference program, avail- boats... Other boats were filled with one or a dangerous country! One mother, a patholo- able on the Internet, promised a Fulmo-Kur- more salesmen and flowers or food or jew- gist, went so far as to let everybody know so in (lightning course) Esperanto. Just right elry or whatever else they were selling, that if the children got sick, we would have for their attention spans! When no one else on our boat wanted any- 24 hours to return them to the civilized hos- The kids did find the people interesting thing, then the boat with salesmen paddled pitals of the United States or they and very friend- quickly away to catch the next boat." The would die. Another set of parents ^^^^ ^^ ly. I had lost kids had great fun interacting with the fa- filled everybody in on the details ^S^^HHp2| I I IT hope mous Mexican Esperantist family Najera. of the hotel room burglary inva- jgf ^1^ a «i There is nothing like a trampoline to bridge sion they experienced in the act of jgpfP? * Jfck. /\ IfYl (P* f*[ fC /*J me language barrier! honeymooning in Mexico City. *^—^llk \J ^1 l*xc* While our TAKE experience Vocal and negative students loudly ' V y C'yV ■ IB lvO M G I © S O 06 d*d not fan ^e ^ds' enthusiasm for protested the agony of learning two Wf^' -;:'^Km P* i, Esperanto, and their performance languages simultaneously. So I ?5|f tHoD©I Oil lO whittled down my arrogance as a much for the enthusiastic learning ■ teacher, I must say that Esperanto connec- of gifted students and the open- tion smoothed our first field trip to a for- mindedness of their parents. Several parents of ever meeting Sinjoro Santos' students eign country. Perhaps it is time to start think- suggested that they pool their money and because his e-mail address had stopped func- ing about Sweden... esperanto USA 2/2001 3 LITERATURE AND LITERARY SUPPLEMENTS IN ESPERANTO "Literature" is not one of the great goals almost every speaker, not the first language when one-third of the people in the room of most foreign-language students. The stu- - a language which, in fact, by some stan- raised their hands, his immediate comment dent of Spanish will generally hope that his dards has very few speakers - Esperanto has was that two-thirds of his audience consisted command of the language will someday produced a prodigious amount of literature, of liars. reach the ability to trade barbs with a waiter If you have a link to the internet, use your But where can you contribute? There while ordering an enchilada. The excep- favorite web browser to check out http:// are more literary publications in Esperanto tional student of Spanish may hope that his www.best.oom/~-donri/Esperarito/ than you might expect; even I, who am in- command of the language will someday Mteratoo/frterato terested in the topic, didn't even know about extend to reading Don Quijote in the origi- iary pages for a sampling; I was told a couple the existence of such magazines as nal. I don't think I've ever encountered a of years ago that this (privately generated Debrecena Bulteno and La Tradukisto until student of Spanish who hoped to reach the and sporadically updated) page had already recent years. But with one or two exceptions level of being able to do the moral equiva- passed the Dutch Project Coster in terms of (Fonto being the most obvious), someone lent of writing Don Quijote in Spanish, amount of literature referenced (Dutch, by from the English-speaking world can access Leave that sort of thing to those who have a the way, is spoken by more than 20 million these, at least as a contributor, only with dif- "native" command of the language - i.e., Pe°ple)- ficulty (La Tradukisto, for instance, only the native speakers. Even the Esperantists don't know how publishes translations into and out of Ice- Esperanto is, in many ways, quite dif- much literature there is in Esperanto. Last landic). ferent from Spanish. It won't take you, as a year someone in soc.culture.esperanto dif- For myself, I'd recommend submitting student, long to gain the ability to trade barbs fidently asked whether Kipling's poem If... to ELNA's Literatura Suplemento - when with a waiter while ordering an enchilada; had ever been translated into Esperanto, and one of its rare and magical appearances is the problem will be finding a waiter who a well-known expert on Esperanto immedi- announced. I had the honor and pleasure of has the ability to counter those barbs (or ately advised him that it almost certainly had editing the first two issues of this occasional understand them). And you don't have to not; three hours later, another well-known publication; the first was in 1980, the sec- be a particularly exceptional student of the expert posted bibliographic information ond in 1990. A third appeared several years language to expect that someday in the about the three different translations of the ago. Now lonel One! has announced a fourth not-too-distant future, if you wish, you'll be poem that had been published in Esperanto issue, and those of you who have something lj able to read Julio Baghy's Hura! in the origi- at one time or another. To make matters literary that you want to say - whether you nal, and even laugh in all the right places, worse, a fourth translation has appeared (in want to write a poem or a short story, or Even more to the point, with the right level La Ondo de Esperanto) in the intervening "stretch the envelope" by trying to render a ofcompetence-which, for Esperanto, is far year. favorite English-language short work into from unattainable - and inborn creativity - Are you interested in contributing to Esperanto by translation - should catch the with which Esperanto, unfortunately, can- Esperanto's corpus of literature, either opportunity before it passes. Who knows? not provide you - you too could write the through translation or by writing something It may be another five or ten years until the Great Esperanto Novel, or a poem in Espe- original? Don't say an immediate "No..."! next such opportunity. Or... maybe sooner, ranto which will be remembered and recited The distinguished science-fiction writer if by proposing your contributions you in- for the next century. Robert A. Heinlein once asked an audience dicate your desire. Send submissions to: Remarkably, for a language that is for how many wanted to write and be published; ELNA, PO Box 1129, El Cerrito CA 94530, Don HARLOW (Pinole CA) MENCIINDE Gratulojn al Peggy Dolter kaj ŝia edzo Gratulojn al Mitchell Abidor (Brook- Finnish". Where is the E word, Peter? (Saint Louis MO), kiuj gepatriĝis antaŭ ne- lynNY), kiu edziĝis komence de aprilo. Par- Gratulojn al David Pardue (Lawrence longe adoptante filinon. La juna Isabella jam to de la geedziĝa ceremonio estis en KS), kies artikolo Uma so lingua, uma so partoprenis sian unuan ELNA-kongreson! Esperanto, kaj la geedziĝa kontrakto estas bandeira, urn so pastor: Spiritism andEspe- Gratulojn al Ana Luisa Velasco kaj Ben- skribita en la angla, hebrea kaj Esperanto. ranto in Brazil aperis en la revuo Esperan- jamin Stevens (Wellsboro PA), kiuj gepatr- Gratulojn al Peter E Browne (Edinburg tologio/Esperanto Studies. La reta versio iĝis en januaro. TX), kies poemo The Poem Is Lurking There legeblas ĉe: http://www/math.uu.se/ Gratulojn al Beverly kaj Mark Fettes aperis en 2001 a di'verse'city odyssey (an esperanto/ees2.htrnl. (VancouverBC,Kanado),kiuj gepatriĝisen Austin International Poetry Festival Anthol- Kondolencojn al John G Champlin —- februaro (la trian fojon!). ogy). Laŭ la prezento, la aŭtoro ŝatas legi (Berkeley CA) pro laĵusamortodeliapatro. Gratulojn al Sybil Harlow (Orangevale Fonton kaj "Jorge Camacho - a Spanish poet Adiaŭon al Charles Martoccia (Green- CA), kiu patriniĝis komence de aprilo. who writes about Finland and he's fluent in ville NC), mortinta pasintan decembron. 4 esperanto USA 2/2001 Unconventional Conventions [ Joel Brozovsky ■■■. 'Tiz the season for conventions! Throughout the year, but especially in sum- mer, Esperanto conventions are taking place all over the world. I have recently been to the Tut-Amerika Kongreso de Esperanto (TAKE) in Mexico City in April, and the 49th annual conven- tion of ELNA in Salt Lake City on the last weekend of May. Both conventions gave me wonderful opportunities to meet active Es- perantists in this part of the world, to con- nect faces and personalities to the names and voices that I had heard, and to get to know more about the Esperanto activities in South and Central America, respectively in the United States. Conventions provide an opportunity to put into practice our language skills, and give us a chance to connect with the Espe- ranto community, which is so spread out that it is normally hard to experience as a com- munity. The feeling of community is strong enough during the conventions to be main- tainable between them through correspon- f dence, telephone and Internet. Conventions also provide a good chance to be in the public eye, to let the pub- lic know that Esperanto exists and is alive. TAKE made good use of the opportunity. It took place within walking distance of the seats of government for the Mexican Fed- eration, the State of Mexico, and the City of Mexico. Leonora Torres, the head of the local organizing committee, arranged a spe- cial visit for the convention participants to City Hall, where we were welcomed in the ornate room where special guests are cer- emoniously given the golden key to the city. An exhibit of children's artworks from around the world was on display in two places in the city. Several famous non-Es- perantists came to the conference for cer- tain programs. Journalists were not unaware of Esperanto during the conference. "Utah's locally owned daily newspa- per", the Deseret News, ran a favorable ar- ticle about Esepranto and the ELNA con- vention on May 24th, written by staff writer Elaine Jarvdc, who interviewed several of the organizers. At the end there was a local 9P telephone number for more information, and even the prices of one-day tickets to the confernce. ELNA's convention in Salt Lake City esperanto USA 2/2001 was memorable for several reasons, but I would like to talk a little about its organiz- ers. The local organizing committee this year was one of the youngest and least experi- enced to organize an ELNA convention in several decades, I think. Only one member of the committee, Charles Hall, in charge of the program, had ever attended any Es- peranto convention before, although several members had been to the NASK courses in San Francisco. The person responsible for coordinating with the housing and conven- tion center, Cherie Thomas, had never even met an Esperantist other than those in the local group. Her daughter Camille, a teen- ager, was the primary instigator and coordi- nator for the organizing committee. Anarie White, who was in charge of organizing the Talent Show Evening, is only 15 years old. As if all that inexperience weren't enough of a challenge, there was very little time (less than half a year) to make the ar- rangements, because the decision to have the convention in Salt Lake City was made af- ter the turn of the century! The result, though, was a very pleasant breath of fresh air, a conference that appealed to all ages (the youngest full-time participant was only 20 months old) and still found time for the necessary work. Especially memorable is the music. Not only that of the famous Mormon Tabernacle Choir, but also the delightful vio- lin music (with various accompaniment) presented at the banquet by the family Kuzmich, and flute and piano music by the young conference organizers Camille Tho- mas and Anarie White. All of us who en- joyed this conference owe a huge thank you especially to the Thomas family, who really gave 100% to make it happen. Many thanks also to Peggy Dolter, ELNA's new convention commissioner, who got her "baptism by fire": while she was still trying to figure out what a convention commis- sioner does (it is a new position at ELNA), she was constantly called upon to advise the organizing committee members who had never attended an Esperanto convention. llnctxiveatirasi Ppices Conventions are big business. Hardly a week goes by that we in the Central Office of ELNA don't get some kind of printed material advertising con- vention sites or services. It's a whole world that is mostly new to me. Not that I haven't been to any con- ventions before. I've been to many Es- peranto conventions ) including semi- nars, conferences and other get- toegethers, probably more than a hun- dred. But there seems to be a big differ- ence between Esperanto conventions, and those that are advertised so lavishly in the magazines and flyers. The main difference seems to be money. Such luxurious locations, hotels, banquet rooms, etc in the brochures! I get the impression that people go to other conventions not for the convention itself, but to take advantage of the lav- ish luxury offered by the convention site providers. For many organizations, the convention is a way of making money. Even some major Esperanto conven- tions usually make money for the spon- soring organization, for example, the UK for UE A. This is surprising, considering how much less any Esperanto conven- tion costs than typical conventions in the "real world". Even the Universala Kongreso, one of the more expensive (and largest) regular Esperanto conven- tions, costs only 120-180 euros this year, depending on when you pay ($100- $160) for a whole week of full-time con- vention activities. In the "real world", for that much you wouldn't get more than one or two days of international conference. A five-day conference can cost over a thousand dollars (not includ- ing housing). Most conventions are organized by a staff of hired professionals, either full time, or by contract. Esperanto conven- tions, on the other hand, are organized by volunteers, with minimal help from hired staff in the central office. To my knowledge, in the whole world there is only one professional convention orga- nizer for Esperanto conventions, Nikola Raŝic at UEA. He is active in a trade or- ganization for convention organizers. His colleagues there are amazed that a convention the size and complexity of the UK can be organized every year with only one paid organizer! Esperanto con- ventions are organized by volunteers, and thus can be comparatively very in- expensive. Joel B Sister Cities Swing (Can you say that in Esperanto?) The purposes of sister city relations are usually congruent with many of those of Esperanto: cultural exchange, respect for the other's culture, friendship, etc., across na- tional boundaries. The difference is, firstly, that sister city relations are usually arranged officially by the city governments, and there- fore have a budget, and secondly, that there is usually no common language to ease the communication and put it on the level. What a great opportunity to put Esperanto into service! In fact, Esperantists have from time to time and place to place put our common lan- guage into service for sister city relations. My ex-home-town, Kameoka, Japan, ar- ranged its first sister city relationship (with Knittlefeld, Austria) entirely through Espe- ranto, and the contract that was signed to make it official is in three languages: Japa- nese and German on the two sides, and in larger print Esperanto in the middle. More recently, a friend in Wakayama, Japan, has used Esperanto to contribute much to the sister city activities of his city. He had the clever idea of proposing to his local newspaper, that they publish a series of features on life in the five sister cities. A great idea, but the newspaper had a prob- lem: how to do it? My friend put out a call to various language study groups in the city for cooperation. A group for English agreed to handle the task for the sister cities in the US and Canada, a Korean group worked for the city in Korea, but the cities in France and China remained for the Esperantists to deal with. The series of articles continued for ten months. The Esperanto group completed its Journalistic task more smoothly and quickly than the other groups, with help from the delegates network, and that fact awakened both surprize and admiration in the other language groups and the newpaper staff. The mention at the end of the article, that it was sent by "Perpinjana Esperanto-Centro" or "ano de Shandong Esperanto-Asocio" im- pressed enough people, that 15 new students came to the next Esperanto course offered in Wakayama. His thought-provoking report about this and other activies of putting Es- peranto to use can be found in Esperanto of UEA, January 2001, p. 10. Does your city or town have any sister cities? Do you know who they are? Have you ever contacted Esperantists in them? This is an excellent way to put Esperanto into practice in a way that can be of service to a larger community, and as such, receive more attention from the media. Get in touch with Esperantists in you sister cities, pro- pose exchanges (there are many possibili- ties), and contact your city officials to coor- dinate your activites as much as practicable with the city government. This is often use- ful for publicity's sake, and sometimes for financial support, but primarily, in order to serve the wider community. If your town doesn't have any sister cit- ies yet, contact the city officials to see if you can drum up some interest in forming such a relationship, and then help to do it. The UEA Commissioner for Action in the Americas is encouraging Esperantists throughout the Americas to make use of their sister city relationships in their Esperanto activities, and is compiling a list of sister city relationships and related Esperanto ac- tivities. An excellent idea! In cooperation, ELNA is collecting such information about cities in the US. Send us information about your city's sister cities and about Esperanto activities related to them. Joel B. THE KLARA ZAMENHOF FUND Do you know a promising new Esperan- tist, who isn't a member of ELNA? Perhaps a young person who has more enthusiasm for the international Language than they have available funds? The Klara Zamenhof Fund exists to help bring such people into our national organization more quickly. The Fund will pay the first year of ELNA membership for a new Esperantist. All it takes is the endorsement of an ELNA member (this could be you!) and completing a simple request form. The Klara Zamenhof Fund was estab- lished by members of the ELNA Estraro, and supported by generous donations from them and many ELNA members. So far, it hasn't been used as much as we hoped. So don't be shy, look around at your next class or club meeting, find a worthy candidate, and nominate them for a Klara Zamenhof ELNA member- ship. For more information, contact Derek Roff or the ELNA Central Office. Derek ROFF 1208 Espanola St NE Albuquerque NM 87110 8 505/255-1083; H derek@unm.edu PECIPCU PE LA ESTRARO Antaii la jara kongreso Propono 2001-2: Sanĝo de peranto The Board of Directors of Esperanto League for North America, Inc., a Corpo- ration of Delaware, on this 7th day of May, AD 2001, do hereby resolve and order that the location of the Registered Office of this Corporation within this State be, and the same hereby is 1106 Janice Drive, in the City of Newark, County of Wilming- ton Zip Code 19713. The name of the Registered Agent therein and in charge thereof upon whom process against this Corporation may be served, is Daniel Chester. Dum la jara kongreso 1. Rekomendis ke la CO. sendu du balotilojn al tiuj kiuj havas familian membrecon. 2. La Estraro akceptu la inviton de la E- grupo en Sakramento por kongresi en 2002 tie, kondiĉe ke ĝi trovos taŭgajn lokon kaj daton kaj preparos budĝeton interkonsente kun la Estraro. 3. Pro manko de la precizaj ciferoj, la Estraro unuanime aprobis la budĝeton kiel prilaborita inklude la aldonon de pli bona sanasekuro kaj 2% altigon de salajro por la dungitoj. esperanto USA 1/2001 lnternacia Man pre mo Supplement to Esperanto USA 5/2001 A Chinese Esperanto speaker once pointed out that Esperanto is like a linguistic handshake. When two people shake hands they both reach out halfway. When two people speak Esperanto they have both made the effort to learn a relatively easy, neutral language instead of just one of them making the effort to learn the other's difficult national language. This is why this supplement is called lnternacia Manpremovjhich means "an international handshake." couldn't master the French words of command. This warms my heart, for I am a hopeless linguist myself. The history of my encounters with other people's languages is a chronicle of failure. I attended a very good secondary school in Eng- land, where everyone had to do four years of Latin and four years of a modern language. I switched modern languages, ending up with a year of French and three of German. I had thus been exposed to three foreign languages by the time I got to college, one dead and two living (if you consider the French to be alive). There I did a year of Russian to fulfill a requirement, and also because I was a bit of a lefty. "Breathes there a man with soul so dead / He was not, in his twenties, Red?" as Sir Walter Scott wondered. After college, and some brief, unsuccessful at- tempts at working for a living (a thing I have never got the hang of) I took off on my travels, washing up first in Hong Kong. There I had to tackle Cantonese, a language with seven tones and minute variations of vowel length that are (a) undetectable if you don't have two Cantonese grandmothers, and (b) absolutely crucial to a word's meaning: gai is "chicken", but gaai, in the same tone, is "street." Oy oy oy! (Which, by the way, means "Love, love, love" in Cantonese — cue the Beatles.) The script was a variant of ideo- The Language Problem (1) Generally speaking the press in the United States ignores the language problem. However, once in a while a piece appears that shows how extraordinarily ckfficult language learning is. Such a piece is "Linguistically Challenged: What's the Point?" by John Derbyshire. This essay which depicts Mr. Derbyshire's struggles with several languages appeared in National Review Online at: http://www.nationalreview.com/derbyshire/der- byshire042401.shtml Mr. Derbyshire has kindly granted us permission to I reprint his article here. Linguistically Challenged What's the Point? by John Derbyshire In last Thursday's column I added a footnote with a link to a German website. In my usual helpful way, I added: "If you can't read German, here is the relevant passage in translation..." A reader e-mailed back with words of scorn. Read German, you say? You forget that I am an American. The Germans will damn well speak English, if they want to be understood. ... We neither have the time, nor see the need, to learn languages that are destined to go the way of Latin and Sanskrit. We have people to do that for us, should the need arise... I. suspect this is a widespread attitude, though perhaps not many people would express it so bluntly. Americans, and I think Anglo-Saxon cultures gener- i ally, are terrible linguists, and refuse to be embarrassed about it. In the old French Foreign Legion it used to be said that the English and American recruits were the last to get promoted to noncorn, because they just Contents The Language Problem 1,3 Linguistically Challenged by John Derbyshire 1 My Experience by Claude Piron 3 An Esperanto Weekend by Aaron Brown 4 Supplement to Esperanto USA 3/2001 graphic Chinese, you had to memorize five or six thousand squiggles if you wanted to read a newspaper. After that came Thailand, whose language has only five tones and — hallelujah! — an alphabetic script ... except that they do not punctuate, nor even leave spaces between words, and the vowel can appear above its consonant, or below it, or to its left, or its right, or on both sides at once. Then to mainland China and Mandarin, phonetically a sort of stripped-down racing version of Cantonese, but freighted with the same vast stock of idioms and allusions accumulated over four thousand years of history and literature. Ask a Chinese manager how many people he needs to do a job and he's likely to reply: "Han Xin commands the troops." That means "the more, the better," the reply given by Han Xin, a general of the 3rd century B.C., when his emperor asked him how many soldiers would be required to accomplish a certain objective. Ask the manager how old he is and he might reply er //, which means "I stood still," a reference to a famous remark of Confucius: "At twenty I was hungry for knowledge, at thirty I stood still..." That's seven foreign languages I've assaulted at various times, with various degrees of vigor. I don't think I left much of a bmise on any of them. My Latin lnternacia Manpremo Supplement to Esperanto USA 3/2001 Editor: Sylvan Zaft 36115 Grand River #104 Fanriington MI 48335 Contributions should be sent to "Sylvan Zaft" at the above address or, if possible, by e-mail to: sylvanz@aol.com. For this supplement we are especially interested in accounts in English of how you have used Esperanto. Have you formed strong international friendships? Have you had interesting experiences travelling abroad using Esperanto? Have you had fascinating correspondences with people in other countries? Please send your accounts of these and other interesting experiences using Esperanto to the editor. If you would like your paper manuscript returned, please enclose a self-addressed envelope. is, well, dead. From time to time, just because I like the sound of the old boy's voice, I take down my Loeb Horace and mutter an Ode to myself... but with one eye on the parallel text to remind me what it means, a thing I can no longer figure out unaided. French is utterly gone, and good riddance. Orwell says some- where, correctly, that every true-born Englishman thinks it effeminate to speak good French. When French TV stations want to raise an easy laugh, they replay British Prime Minister Edward Heath's speech on our 1973 entry into the European Community: "Set oon mow-mont istoreek..." German I still have some shreds of, and can struggle through a written text with a dictionary to hand, but what the eyes can do, the ears cannot: if addressed in German, I run for the Ansgang, Of Russian I remember only the alphabet — the pre-Revolutionary one, for some reason — and some random lines of poetry. (It's true, Russian poetry is very beautiful.) Though I am pleased to recall that just knowing the alphabet got me two thousand dollars' worth of work once. My Cantonese got swamped by Mandarin, and though I can exchange brief pleasantries with visitors from Hong Kong, we drop into English for any mat- ters of substance. The only thing I remember from Thai is my Bangkok address {Thanon Kroongkasem bai tinai krap?) — I was terrified of getting lost, so those were the first words I memorized. With lan- guages, the first thing to come is the last to go. I am still pitch-perfect on the first complete sentence I ever learned to say in Cantonese: Ngo gok-dak hou m-syu- fuk — "I don't feel very well." My Mandarin is kept alive, just barely, by my wife, a Mandarin-speaker. When we first got married we made a rule that on Tuesdays we would speak only Chinese. That lasted about a month. There was always something I wanted to say that I was too impatient to put into Chinese first, or else there was something Rosie wanted to say that she didn't want to have to repeat three times at decreasing velocity till I'd figured it out. We are now an English-speaking household unless there are Chinese visitors, or when we want to browbeat the kids into practicing their Chinese. Like most bookish people, I can read and write better than I speak and comprehend, but not much better. (The great Sinologist Arthur Waley, who made those beau- tiful translations of ancient and medieval Chinese po- In tern acid Man pre mo etry, could not understand the spoken language at all.) I am thus a linguistic failure, and, in true Anglo- Saxon fashion, totally insouciant about it. Like many of the Anglo-Saxon virtues, though, i note that this one seems to have suffered some erosion. I keep meeting people who are proud of their facility with some foreign language. This strikes me as gross bad manners, and in any case I take it with a grain of salt. Linguistic ability is like sexual prowess: Much more boasted of than actually possessed. (Though I suppose it is less troublesome to verify.) A friend recently lowered himself several points in my esteem by ad- dressing his gardener in what sounded like fluent Spanish. Pshaw. Someone told me many years ago that you need memorize only one sentence in Spanish, which I duly memorized: iPlugiera a Dios que fuera asil — "Would to God it were so!" This is an accept- able response to almost anything anyone might say to you, and has the additional advantage of including a subjunctive, so that you sound like an educated per- son. We English-speaking peoples should keep hold of the essential fact about foreign languages: They exist to make us laugh. It is considered exquisitely polite in Thai for a gentleman to end every spoken sentence with the otherwise-meaningless syllable krap. (The equivalent for ladies is ka.) Sawat-di will do for a greeting, but Sawat-di krap is much classier. "Eyebrows on fire" say the Chinese when they're in a tearing hurry, and one common Chinese term for "homosexual" is "chicken-rapist" (derived from the position, not from the object of desire). Latin has been making schoolboys snicker since the Middle Ages: As late as the 1970s, British TV ran a sitcom, Up Pom- peii, about a Roman family whose elderly patriarch bore the name Ludicrus Sextus. German has a word for the hollow space behind your knee: kniebeuge, pronounced "k-nee-boy-geh". German is, in fact, a language rich in hilarity, difficult to speak for long without giggling. The German for "constipated" is verstopft; "rhinitis" is Nasenschleimheit (literally "nose-sliminess"). An excursion is of course an Aus- fahrt, while auto exhaust is Auspuff. I even, for rea- sons I cannot explain, find the German word for "elbow" difficult to utter with a straight face: Ellenbo- gen. (The large bone of the forearm is the Ellenbogen- knochen. See what I mean?) The sound and length of German names is a staple of British comedy: recall Monty Python's interview with that strangely neglected composer Johann Gambolputty de von Ausfem- schplenden-schlitter-crasscrenbon-fried-digger-dingle- dangle-dongle-dungle-burstein-von-knacker-thrasher- apple-banger-horowitz-ticolensic-grander-knotty- spelltinkle-grandlich-grumblemeyer-spelterwasser- kurstlich-himbleeisen-bahnwagen-gutenabend-bitte-ein- nurnburger-bratwustle-gernspurten-mitz-weimache- luber-hundsfut-gumberaber-shonedanker-kalbsfleisch- mittler-aucher von Hautkopft of Ulm. And of course there that weird business of the verb at the end of the sentence putting is. What's that? Oh, yes, this is NRO. I'm supposed to make some kind of political point. Er, I don't think there is one, though I occasionally find myself surprised that the teaching of foreign languages in American schools hasn't been more politicized than it has. (Outside the strange business of "bilingual education", which means, if I have been informed correctly, that immigrant Cambo- dian kids in Los Angeles schools are hustled off to be taught in Spanish.) We all know how morally superior the Third World is to the corrupt, exploiting, polluting, capi- talist West. So why are our schools still teaching French, German, and Spanish? Ice People languages! Why not Guarani, Malayalam, or Twi? There is probably a lobby for this idea out there somewhere, and it probably gets a fat grant from the federal government. Good luck to them. Who cares? Except for those who go to live abroad, every honest American forgets his school languages anyway. Learning a foreign language is not only a grueling chore, it is also, for mot of us, ultimately pointless. Why do we still have to bother? Can't our clever machines do this for The Language Problem (2) The language problem was also discussed in an online forum of theatlantic.com. The Atlantic Monthly had run an article entitled "What Global Language" last Novem- ber. The forum can be found at: http ://forum.theatlantic. com/ WebX?128@87.NCdGaplkdMOA4@.ee6dd5d The article dealt with the limitations of English as a global language today. In the forum Joss Randall laughed at Esperanto and implied that learning languages such as French or German is somethrng that could be accom- plished in two or three years. Claude Piron wrote the following response. Supplement to Esperanto USA 3/2001 My Experience vs. Joss Randall's Ideas by Claude Piron Browsing in this forum, I came across a message by Joss Randall (Oct 29, 2000, "Esperanto? Haha..."). Most of what he says is mistaken. He considers blatantly untrue that "professional translators never translate into a language that is not their own". Well, I am a former professional translator (5 years at the UN, 10 at the World Health Organization), and I can testify that what is blatantly untrue is Joss Randairs statement. Active and passive knowledge of a language are two completely Afferent things. That's the reason why in inter- national organizations you belong to a Unit denned by the language into which you translate and you are not allowed to translate into another one. I was authorized to translate from English, Chinese, Russian and Spanish, but only into French, my mother tongue. I would be incredibly conceited if I pretended to translate into any other language. The only language into which I can and do translate without risking being ridiculous, or weird, is Esperanto. When Joss Randall says that "the Afficulty of learning languages such as French or Chinese is complete nonsense", he is just as blatantly wrong. I've devoted to the study of Chinese many hours for many years, and I know that I will never master it. I have translated thousands of Chinese documents, but even with that much practice I do not feel at home in that language, and I cannot read a Chinese newspa- per and understand everything without a dictionary. Do you really believe, Mr. Randall, that "being able to read a [Chinese] newspaper should take about three years for a learner"? Or do you say this, and many other things, just to make fun of the participants in this discussion, without believing what you assert so categorically? For anybody with experience in the field, your assertion is preposterous. And why would anyone devote three years to be able to read a Chinese paper, when in a thirtieth of the time you can not only read, but speak and understand Esperanto? Three years, working full time (40 hours a week for 52 weeks a year, thus without vacations) would mean 6240 hours. This is not enough. Without at least 10.000 hours of study and practice, you cannot master Chinese (or English, for that matter), if mastering means to be on an equal footing with a native speaker. In Esperanto you can reach that level in 220 hours (average, for Eastern Asians). If you are really interested in that problem, I suggest you have a look at my research report "Linguistic Communication - A Compara- tive Field Study", at: http ://www.geocities .com/cniron/0 .html An Esperanto Weekend in Boston by Aaron Brown I spent a weekend in Boston with ten other Esperantists. A little more than a month ago a young Esperantist named Amanda Higley (who has used the language to spend 16 months in Europe) visited Michigan. While we were hanging out, she told me about a weekend-long meeting for speakers of the language to take place in Boston and said that she hoped I could come. I left on the morning of Friday, the 23rd of March and, after a drive with only brief pauses, arrived at the hostel fourteen hours later. (A few people have told that I would have saved a bit of time had I driven through Canada.) This was a gathering for Esperantist youth, with ages ranging from 18 to 27 (I think I was the oldest). Over the weekend we talked, walked, ate, sang, played guitars, and talked some more. Several of the people there had learned Es- peranto from books and had never conversed in the lan- guage before — and they were able to speak and understand the language! Tomaso (who, before that weekend, had conversed in the language only during several meetings of the Esperanto group in his area, and who speaks the lan- guage very very well) is studying jazz bass at a conserva- tory whose name I forget. He is also a good guitarist, and he and I played quite a bit of music together. I helped Amanda learn the guitar parts for a number of Esperanto tunes that she had recordings of, as well as the Beatles' "Blackbird" which I had started to teach her when she was in Michigan. The get-together ended on Sunday, with various people going their separate ways. Amanda and I went to Jakobo's house to spend the night there. Jakobo has lots of interesting books, but perhaps the most memorable thing was a CD he owns which has a very runny recording of what you could call an Esperanto comedian speaking the language with extreme accents from various countnes. I meant to leave on Monday morning, but Amanda and I were having so much run talking and trading music (she taught me a piece of music/rhythmic game invented by Steve Reich) that it was early evening when I left. I arrived, very tired, Tuesday morning. It's quite easy to sit around for a whole weekend doing nothing — afterwards, one feels as though the weekend was much shorter than its calendar length. The weekend in Boston was pleasantly different from that — I felt as though I had crammed a whole week's worth of living into it. L . ^ >^e»je es-tas p\) bc\c\ 1 o\ es-b j la» a jcaj p< 0»©\» -----fckjvor* se^La/S wm >k»Eckkc Bonega Junulora etoso ĉe TAKE Inter la 15a kaj 21 a de aprilo inter la pli ol cent amerikanoj de sudo kaj nordo, kiuj partoprenis la Tut-Amerikan Kongreson de Esperanto en Meksikurbo, partoprenis dek- kelko da junuloj kiuj preskaŭ tuj amikiĝis. Multaj el ni jam konatiĝis virtuale en la dis- kutlisto Amerikoj tra Ameriko: groups. yaJb.oo.com/group/Amikoj-Ameriko. El Usono Jakobo Schwartz kaj Amanda Higley, estraranoj de USEJ, partoprenis la festum- adon kaj bonegan etoson kreitan inter la jun- ulaj amuzantoj. Kompreneble, pro la latin- amerika etoso estis tre familieca sento inter la diversaj aĝoj kaj kiam ni junuloj dancis, ludis aŭ amuziĝis, la ne-plu junaj ĝue rigar- I dis deflanke. Sed ni ne nur dancis kaj festis, " ni ankaŭ multe laboris kaj kontribuis en la multaj kunsidoj pri amerika agado. Regis sento de entuziasma kunlaboremo kaj ideo- plena idealismo. Pli detalan raporton vidu sur paĝo 3. (Amanda HIGLEY) De duf uta neĝo en Toronto ĝis sunbruligo en Meksikio Finiĝis la trimonata printempa preleg- aro de Amanda, dum kiu ŝi vizitis dudek sep urbojn en Norda Ameriko: Saint Louis, Chi- cago, Detroit, London (ON), Toronto, Buf- falo, Syracuse, Albany (NY), Springfield (MA), Boston, Providence, Hartford, Little- ton (CT), New York, Washington (DC), Ra- leigh, Charlotte, Johnson City, Mexico DF, Oaxaca, Seattle (Federal Way), Corvalis, Goldendale, Pasco, Walla Walla, Boise, Salt Lake City. Pluaj detaloj en venontaj numeroj I, de Esperanto USA. Elĉerpinte sian monon, P si pretas estontece prelegi nur en bone organizita kadro, kiu inkluzivos repagon de elspezoj. (Amanda HIGLEY) USEJ-ĉemizoj Frumatene, car Jakobo Schwartz kaj Elinjo Raible verŝajne neniam donnas kaj pensivas nur post la noktomezo, naskiĝis la ideo krei ĉemizojn por USEJ. Post longa la- boro pri desegno de desegnajo, ili fimafinis ĝin kaj mendis la ĉemizojn. Sur la bmsto estas nova signo por USEJ kaj dorse estas la citajo el la libro Fajron sentas mi interne: "Nenio estas pli bona ol esti juna kaj paroli Esperanton". Tiuj estas videblaj ĉi-supre kaj, kolore, ceweb.mit.edWquaa'k/Publlc/ TJSBJmarkoj/. Ci-somere la manpleno de junuloj kiuj estos ĉe UK kaj UK en Eŭropo portos la ĉemizojn por montri la ekziston kaj aktiviĝon de USEJ. Ni mendis nur kelkajn, sed ankoraŭ restas ĉemizoj aĉeteblaj - nepre kontaktu Jakobon: kuark@mlt.edu por mendi la vian kontraŭ $ 10 (+ sendokos- toj). Haveblas ankaŭ glumarkoj. (Elinjo RAIBLE) Venu esti sklavo en la Centra Oficejo de ELNA dum tri tagoj. Levu pezajn skato- lojn, ordigu polvkovritan arkivon, leku mi- lojn da kovertoj, eĉ uzu antikvajn komput- ilojn el la antaŭa jarmilo! Kaj post tio ĉi, venu naĝi nude (aŭ bruniĝi ĉie) ĉe San-Fran- ciska plaĝo, aŭ danci salse urbocentre. Kaj havu la okazon trafoliumi tiom da Esperantaj libroj kaj gazetoj kiom vi iam ajn povis pri- revi. JES! VENU AL JES! LA JUNULARA ESPERANTA SEMAjNFINO ATENDASVIN. Datoj: aŭgusto 17 ĝis 19 Prezo: dependas de loĝado, kiu depen- das de nombro da partoprenantoj, de kiu de- pendas la gastigado ĉe lokaj esperantistoj. Simple kontaktu Amandan se vi interesiĝas. Amanda kontakteblas per telefono 916/972- 9184 (prefere) aŭ ainandaJilgley@hotmall .com. Progresas la moderna teĥniko La sendrata poŝtelefono amase invadis nian civilizon, kaj troviĝas ĉie. Oni telefon- adas veturante en ĉiaj veturiloj, eĉ bicikloj; oni telefonadas surstrate, en vendejoj, sta- cidomoj, eĉ en necesejoj. En la oficeja ne- cesejo, min foje surprizis la voĉo de iu sid- anta en budeto de la necesejo. Mi bezonis momenton por kompreni, ke li tamen ne al- parolas min (la solan homon videblan en la necesejo), sed parolas telefone. Tiam mi aŭ- dis lin diri: "ne, mi nun estas en mia oficejo." Ho, kian oficejon li havas! Min tentis la ideo premi la anson por tralavi la apudan neces- abon... Tamen, paroli al aliaj malproksimuloj per sendrata aparato ne estas nova afero. Ra- diamatoroj faras tion jam de longe. Japana amiko prezentis la jenan komparon. "Antaŭ dudeko da jaroj, mi multe pa- rolis per amatora radio. Tio similas al la nuna poŝtelefono, sed estas tamen granda diferen- co. Radie, kiam mi parolis Esperante, ofte venis demandoj de aliaj radiamatoroj kiuj aŭdis la parolon: 'Kiun lingvon vi parolas?' Ofte tio kondukis al pli aŭ malpli longa kon- versacio pri la lingvo kaj ĝiaj kialoj. Mi mul- te propagandis Esperanton per la radio. Sed, la nunaj poŝtelefonoj estas tro privataj. Nen- iu demandas pri la lingvo, car nur spionoj aŭ krimuloj kaŝaŭskultas la poŝtelefonajn parolojn."... kaj samnecesejanoj! Jes ja! Progresas la modema teĥniko. JoelB Leteru! Dariusz BLONSKI, ul. Zabkowska 17A, PL-08-300 SokcLow Podlaski, Pollan- do, 40-jara viro, interesiĝas pri kulturo kaj turismo. Fraŭlo en malliberejo serĉas britan fraulinon 30-40-jaran por korespondado. Larry LOWE 83222-079, PO Box 26020, Beaumont TX 77720, Usono. esperanto USA 2/2001 ne referencas la antauajn sekciojn, sed de alia deirpunkto asertas ke UEA "konstruas la bazojn de la paco en la mensoj de la ho- V^P moj". Kredeble. J Ni esperantistoj fieras, supozante ke la uzo de Esperanto multe kontribuas al "pli paca mondo". Efektive, konstateblas nur ke La laboro de Universala Esperanto-Asocio ĝi faciligas komunikadon inter diverslingvaj porplipaca mondo. Esperanto-Dokumento homoj. Plejofte niaj personaj interrilatoj kun 36E. Ulrich LINS. Rotterdam: Universala alilandanoj ne atingas eĉ la nivelon de "in- Esperanto-Asocio, 2000. ISSN 0165-2524. terkompreniĝo" en ties profunda senco. Kaj Ulrich tins La laboro de Universala Esperanto-Asocio por pli paca mondo Kodo: EDE036. Prezo: $2.80 Laŭ la kovrila resu- mo, nia konata histori- isto Ulrich Lins, en tiu ĉi kajero "bildigas la kontribuon de UEA tra jardekoj al la akcelo de la monda paco kaj inter- proksimigo de la popo- loj". En dek du paĝoj, li prezentas sian temon el du perspektivoj. En la unua parto, "La sinteno de la Esper- anto-movado al la pro- blemoj de paco kaj inter- popola kompreniĝo", Lins nekutime lerte kaj klere sekvas la ideon "de interŝtata paco kaj de interhoma solidareco" ekde la naskiĝo de kuraĝigi unualoke pli profundan kaj Esperanto ĝis la nuntempo. aŭtentikan interkompreniĝon inter popoloj La dua parto, "La praktika agado per kaj kulturoj? Esperanto por paco kaj interkompreniĝo: Laŭ Lins, la ĉefa tasko de UEA en la kelkaj ekzemploj", prezentas pli detale pro- estonteco rilatas ĝuste al "interkompreniĝo jektojn (ne ĉiuj vaste konatajn) en kvar agad- sur la nivelo de la ordinaraj homoj" (Lapen- kampoj: "Helpagado dum la militoj", "Ed- na). Ĝi devas "informi la eksteran mondon uka laboro", "Universalaj Kongresoj" kaj pri ĝia postrestado rilate solvon de tiu ĉi as- "Personaj kontaktoj". pekto de internacia kunlaboro kaj persiste La klasika lingvo kaj klara stilo bele flu- daŭrigi siajn proprajn kontribuojn sur tiu igas la legadon. La teksto estas ĉiam mteresa kampo . Persiste? Daŭrigi? Sajne temas pri - plejparte fakta kaj ne opinia - sen tro da alia historio. Cu UEA - kaj ĝiaj membroj - detaloj. Tamen, mi trovis nenion, kio suk- aŭskultas kaj pretas serioze akcepti la de- ĉu per la atento al iu kongresa temo, UEA efektive pripensigas kaj instigas al plua agado eĉ kvaronon de la kongres- anoj mem? La libreto kun siaj historiaj faktoj (sed mi- sa titolo) certe valoras la koston, tamen la leganto devos tiri siajn proprajn konkludojn. Pensemulo ja trovos multon primu- elindan. Interalie, oni povas demandi ĉu la su- pozinde prestiĝaj rilatoj inter UEA kaj UN/ UNESKO, kun ties ob- sedoj pri diversspecaj ...................—.....tut*" -~nmŝ . , . . JP . , J rajtoj, ne let torturnas UEA-on de la unikaj eblecoj inspiri kaj fion? Bill MAXEY (Powhatan VA) Haveblas ankaŭ angla versio de la sama do- kumento: The Work of the Universal Es- peranto Association for a more Peaceful World. Kodo: EDA045; Prezo: $2.80 (red.) cesis konvinki min ke UEA mem - daŭre, fundamente kaj laŭplane - rekte agas por pli paca mondo. La ekzemploj montras sporadajn, izo- litajn, diversspecajn agadojn plejparte ini- ciatitajn kaj efektivigitajn de aliaj grupoj. Lins mem tre singardeme kaj iom pli ĝuste ofte uzas la vortojn "la Esperanto-movado" anstataŭ "UEA." Li foje malkaŝe agnoskas Linguistic Communication: A Comparative ke "la evoluo okazis grandparte ekster Uni- Field Study. Esperanto Document 46A. versala Esperanto-Asocio" kaj ke "la specifa Claude PIRON. Rotterdam: Universala profilo de UEA ĉiam restas gardata en tiuj Esperanto-Asocio, 2000. ISSN 0165-2575. aktivadoj". Iom surprize, la "Konkludo" tute Code: EDA046. Price: $2.50 Claude Piron fervently believes in the eventual success of Esperanto as a univer- sal language. This belief is rooted in many decades of experience with Esperanto and with other systems that aim to bring about communication between people who speak different native languages. In this monograph Piron systematically lays out the advantages and disadvantages of four systems which have been used to this end. 1. The most common system is that which is used in the UN and other international or- ganizations. A few languages are utilized. Simultaneous interpretation and translation of documents is provided in these languages. 2. The next most common system is found in many multinational companies. Only one language is used. Generally that language is English. 3. Third is the system used in the EU where the languages of all participants are em- ployed. Simultaneous interpretation and translation of documents is provided in all the languages. 4. The least common of these systems is the use of one interethnic language that has never been a national language. Such lan- guages are Swahili and Esperanto. In the present study Piron only considers Espe- ranto. He systematically judges each of these systems according to twelve criteria. The cri- teria include considering how much time is needed to study languages, the costs of pro- viding interpreters and translators, the loss and distortion of information, and language handicaps in the written and in the spoken language. Each of these twelve criteria are explained. Then Piron creates tables in which each of the four systems are assigned a number that indicates the disadvantages they have according to each criterion. Piron's conclusion is that in toto Espe- ranto has far fewer disadvantages than any of the other systems. For instance, much less time is needed for language study than for the first two systems. There are no costs for interpreters or translators. There is no lan- guage inequality or discrimination. The sec- ond and third systems do have advantages when it comes to certain of these criteria, but when all of the advantages and disad- vantages are added up Esperanto clearly comes out far ahead. Naturally others could challenge Piron's selection of criteria. They could suggest other criteria. They could come up with other 8 esperanto USA 2/2001 assessments of weighted disadvantages for certain criteria as assigned to one or more of the systems. Scientific investigations kcould be undertaken to more accurately de- termine degrees of disadvantage according to various criteria. Such challenges would be welcomed by Piron. This, after all, is how advances are made in science as well as in other enterprises that are both logical and empirical. The resulting debate and rational-em- pirical investigation would be a huge ad- vance over the present situation where sys- tems have been adopted on other bases. The UN system was originally adopted to favor those great powers that were in ascendance after World War II. The EU system was adopted when there were just a few mem- bers and a limited number of language com- binations needed for translation. No consid- eration was given to a future situation when there might be as many as a score of coun- tries and hundreds of language combinations such as Dutch-Finnish or Greek-Danish for which translators and interpreters scarcely exist. Piron's monograph is an invitation to rational discourse on the language problem. Language, as he himself has repeatedly ' pointed out, is a highly emotional matter, and it is of course difficult for people to think rationally about highly emotional matters. However, as Piron also has pointed out, ter- rible sufferings and enormous costs are in- curred in situations where effective system of interethnic communication is available. He has experienced this firsthand trying to help war refugees. There would be enormous benefits if people who speak different native languages could communicate effectively after only a reasonable investment of time and effort. A necessary step in bringing this about is an intelligent, conscious consideration of pro- posed solutions to the problems of linguis- tic communication according to pertinent criteria. Claude Piron lays out a procedure for such a process. Sylvan ZAFT (Farmington MI) When ordering from ELNA, please remem- ber that all orders have to be prepaid. There is a shipping & handling charge for each or- der of merchandise, and merchandise deliv- ered in California is subject to sales tax, based upon ship-to-address. There is no shipping & handling or sales tax for services. For more information on ordering from ELNA, please consult our current catalog. NEW FROM THE BOOK SERVICE AFERO JESUO KAJ LA JUDOJ, LA, Peter J. TOMSON. Trans. Rob MOORBEEK. A scholarly look at the relations between Jesus and Judaism. Three principal areas are covered: the significance of Jesus, the trial and crucifiction, and the general conflict between Jews and Chris- tians. 2000. 158p. 210x135. Paper. Belgium. ISBN 90 71205 94 0 AFE001 $12.10 AUSTRALIAN & NEW ZEALAND ESPER- ANTO DICTIONARY, Ralph HARRY & Brian FOX. Expanded fourth edition of this es- sential supplement to Benson's Comprehensive English-Esperanto Dictonary. The addition of New Zealand terms and more Australian ones, including 600 names of plants and animals, makes this edition almost twice as big as the third edition, with much nicer printing and binding. 98p. 210x140. Paper. Australia. AUS003 $6.70 CECIL J A (tri poetaj romanetoj), Felix TIM- MERMANS. Trans. Lode DORES, Pierre AN- SELME, Eugeen PAESMANS. Three short sto- ries, "pearls of the Dutch literature" linked to the Flemish people and culture, but radiating/o/e de vivre. Illustrated by the author. 2000. 106p. 200x130. Paper. Belgium. ISBN 90 71205 81 9 CEC001 $12.20 DONACE AL VI, Phil BOSMANS. A collec- tion of short pieces of advice and inspiration: "vitamins for the heart" from the independent philosophical Movement Without a Name. Illus- trated. 2000. 75p. 200x130. Brochure. Belgium. ISBN 9071205 89 4 DON002 $7.70 ESPERANTO THE INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE, W.J. DOWNES. A grammar- based textbook from England. The author com- piled this book from materials developed over decades of experience teaching in classrooms and by correspondence. 1982. 203p. 180x120. Pa- per. Great Britain. ESP034 $6.10 ESPRIMO DE SENTOJ EN ESPERANTO, Edmond PRIVAT. A classic primer on the sub- tleties of word usage, phrase construction, word order etc. to express the feelings and nuance be- hind the facts. Written in 1929-30, but still valid and very fresh. Fifth edition 2000.56p. 200x145. Paper. Netherlands. ISBN 90 805651 1 3 ESP033 $7.00 JOĈJO, la amiketo de Elsa OTTO. Charming story in easy Esperanto about a boy who discov- ers and learns Esperanto, set in Europe (France and the Netherlands). A pearl in the Esperanto literature. Illustrations by Jan. Second edition 1985. 96p. 165x120. Paper. Netherlands. JOC001 $4.20 KOSMO KAJ NI, LA (galaksioj, planedoj kaj vivo en la universo), David GALADI-ENRf- QUEZ & Amri WANDEL. An elementary course in astronomy by two professional astronomists. A handbook on theoretical and practical astronomy written for the layman. Il- lustrated. 2001.199p. 200x130. Paper. Belgium. ISBN 90 71205 92 4 KOS002 $19.80 KVARLINGVA PROVERBARO, Lucien BOURGOIS. A collection of 482 proverbs in alphabetical order in French, with equivalents in English, German, and Esperanto. Some are cross- referenced by subject. 2000.26p. 300x210. Bro- chure. France. ISSN 0398-5822 KVA007 $5.20 MIGRANTA JUDO, LA, August VERMEY- LEN. Trans. Christian DECLERCK. Small but poetic novel built on a philosophical substrate but with autobiographical nuances, and set in Biblical times. 2000. 71 p. 210x130. Brochure. Belgium. ISBN 90 71205 90 8 MIG001 $8.80 MALVIVAJ ANIMOJ, Nikolaj GOGOL. Trans. Vladimir Vycegjanin. Number 32 in the East-West Series. A witty and thought-provok- ing classic of the Russian literature. Why does Ĉiĉikov, newly arrived in the city, want to buy the souls of dead servants? 2001.224p. 195x145. Hardbound. Russia. MAL009 $17.70 MARY KAJ SULO, Kamemoro. A story of budding friendship told in the form of letters bet- ween a young Finnish man who starts a corres- pondence with a young British woman, whose name was given to him by his Esperanto teacher. The letters are dated in 1946. In easy Esperanto. 1985. 15p. 150x100. Brochure. Netherlands. MAR005 $1.40 RUBENAJ REFRENOJ, red. Paul GUBBINS. Six essays based on lectures given at the 40th anniversary celebration of the Esperanto courses at Barlastone, England. Enjoy the tastes of cul- ture and history from authors whose reknown is not limited to Great Britain, such as M. Boulton, T. Carr, R. Corsetti, and the editor. 2001. 53p. 220x140. Brochure. USA. ISBN 1 882251 36 9 RUB001 $7.40 RUSAJ AMNOVELOJ, Anton ĈEĤOV, Ivan BUNIN, Vladimir NABOKOV. Trans. Grigori AROSEV & Aleksander KORĴENKOV. Three love stories written by three very different Rus- sian authors. 2000. 24p. 200x145. Brochure. RUS002 $2.20 TRANSLATION COURSE IN ESPERANTO (for advanced students), F.R. BANHAM. How to translate literary texts from English into Es- peranto. Many texts for translation, notes on po- tentially troublesome words and expressions etc. 1979, reprinted in 1996. 106p. 300x210. Paper. Australia. ISBN 0 9586651 17 TRA009 $10.70 esperanto USA 2/2001 Esperanto in the media "As the global economy increasingly becomes a reality with improved communi- cations throughout the world, individuals in different countries will have less tolerance for the discretionary actions of fallible cen- tral bankers that undermine the value of money. Producers and consumers will want to deal directly with each other. A gold stan- dard provides the common denominator for conducting business across national bound- aries - a sort of monetary Esperanto. Na- tional currencies function as dialects of the same root language, gold-backed money." (Judy Shelton in Money Meltdown, New York: The Free Press, 1999, p. 259) "At 75, Yasargil carries the authority of one who could yodel his musings in Espe- ranto and still have an orchard full of awards, er, apples, fall at his feet". (From an article about Little Rock resident Mahmut Gazi Yasargil by Kyle Brazzell, published in Ar- kansas Democrat Gazette, Sep 24th, 2000) A letter by Maria Murphy (Englewood FL) titled Togo s Open Arms, Servas Is for Esperantists, appeared in US Servas Open Doors, Winter 2000 & Spring 2001 issue. "And that's why people are fabricating their own ethnicities. How else do you ex- plain the fact that Esperanto and, you guessed it, Klingon are growing in popular- ity around the globe? Despite the fact that linguist Mark Okrand created Klingon only about a decade and a half ago, many experts estimate the more people speak Klingon to- day than Esperanto, which was launched over a century ago." (Jonah Goldberg in Klingon Kitsch: National Review, Mar 30th, 2001) In a letter published in the New Scien- tist on Mar 17th, 2001, the author, Simon Scarle, claimed that "there are more fluent Klingon speakers than fluent Esperanto speakers". In its Apr 21st, 2001 issue, the New Scientist published a letter defending Esperanto by Sam Polo (Genolier CH). Holland Herald, the monthly magazine of the Dutch airline KLM, published in its April 2001 issue a piece on language and language death, in which the authors men- tion Esperanto: "Esperanto, devised in 1887 by a Polish oculist L. L. Zamenhof, is per- haps the best known [artificial language - red.], and claims two million speakers, put- ting it on a par with Lithuanian or Hebrew. There's more chance of hearing Esperanto than of hearing Logopandecteision, dreamed up by the 17*-century eccentric Sir Thomas Urquhart." In an article announcing a concert of Lou Harrison's works in Walla Walla (WA), Aydrea Walden of the Walla Walla Union- Bulletin informs the readers that "[fjhe Mastersingers' concert will feature Harrison's La Koro Sutro. The text comes from a first century Buddhist chant and the music was composed specifically for Harrison's homemade orchestra. [...] Not only are the sounds unusual, but the text of La Koro Sutro is in Esperanto, a language invented in the late 1800s. Translated, the title is 'The Heart Sutra' and is taken from the Perfect Wisdom Scriptures belonging to Mahay ana Buddhism." (Walla Walla Union- Bulletin Apr 15,h, 2001) The above article generated a letter from Ellen M. Eddy (Olympia WA), published in the May 8,h, 2001 edition of Walla Walla Union-Bulletin, and titled Esperanto spoken here—and there. A brief letter by Joanna C. Rovelstad (Hayward WI), about Esperanto was pub- lished in The New York Times on Apr 22nd, 2001. "Esperanto to change name...". Not to worry. "Esperanto" Is a European software company that decided to change its name to CoVast. (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution May 16,h, 2001). "State-of-the-art world rhythms reside on this former Grateful Dead drummer's discs. 'Supralingua' is the worldwide intui- tive language of dramming, and Hart has gathered quite a roster of guest artists to explore this musical Esperanto." (From a review of Mickey Hart and Planet Dram's album Supralingua) The recent release of Incubus in DVD format generated an avalanche of reviews in which the E word appears, generally in a positive context. If only the level of the Es- peranto spoken in the movie were as high as the level of the advertising of the movie... Publskradio aerumas Esperanton Perradistaciojdelatudandapublikradia "Kelkaj el la mesaĝoj estis tre ĝentilaj, sed reto oni povis audi tri elsendojn pri Esper- aliaj malpli ĝentilis."Rezulte, marde, la 22an anto ene de kvin tagoj meze de majo, 2001. de majo, en la sama rabriko The World, oni Vendrede la 18an de majo, kadre de regula dissendis triminutan intervjueton kun unu el rabriko de Nacia Publika Radio (NPR) The la reagintoj, Bill Harmon. Tiu elsendo havis World ("La Mondo"), Ryan Kilpatrick el tre pozitivan tonon, kaj eĉ instigis aŭskult- Kentucky raportis pri Esperanto kun iom anton tuj telefoni al la CO por peti pliajn moka tono, kvankam enestis bonaj citajoj infomiojn. La telefonnumeron 11 trovls en de kelkaj intervjuitoj, mkluzive de Joel Bro la telefonlibro de la regiono kie situas la CO. zovsky. Lla raporto fmiĝls per la ridinda su- Inter tiuj du elsendoj, sabate la 19an de gesto ke povas esti pli multaj parolantoj de majo, aŭdiĝis pli longa elsendo de Publika la klingona lingvo (el la fikciajo Star Trek) Radio Internacia (PRI) pri la Esperanto-ag- ol de Esperanto. (Laudire, en reta diskutgra- ado en Bjalistoko. La raportanto montris po iu aktivulo pri la klingona lingvo konfesis malpli usonecan sintenon, intervjuante la tiu- ke verajn parolantojn de tiu lingvo oni povus urban delegiton de UEA Jarek Parzyszek. kalkuli per la propraj fmgroj.) Oni donis la impreson ke Jarek estas sol(ec)a Tiu elsendo evidente instigis multajn persistanto kontraŭ la tajdo, sed ankaii in- Esperantosubtenantojn al reago. Laboranto formis pozitive pri Esperanto kaj la plej fama ĉe NPR esprimis miron pri la granda reago. filo de Bjalistoko. Joel B. (Bonvenon al la jenaj novaj membroj de ELNA (aliĝintaj inter la 1-a de marto kaj 30-a de aprllo 2001): FaiinTio Alper (Palo Alto CA), Eugene Andersen (North Adams MA), Lourdes Arguelles (Idyllwild CA), Roger Blankrnar (San Francisco CA), Stan Buchholz (Balm Coast FL), Dev- lin Driscoll (Crete IL), Guy Holladay (Indianopolis IN), Ah Abd Lima (Amman, Jordanio), Luis Martinez (Houston TX), Lance Miller (San Mateo CA), June Rodriguez (La Feria TX), Scott Warren (Sumter SC), Gregory Weidman (Alexandria jj VA), Ron Wolf (North Richland Hills TX). 10 esperanto USA 2/2001 INSTRUANTOJ BEZONATAJ de Ron GLOSSOP, Prezidanto de AAIE A Cu vi estas lnstruanto/instruisto de Es- peranto? Se ne, kial ne? Ĉiu esperantisto devus instrui almenaŭ unu alian personon pri Esperanto. Post kiam oni ricevis ion bonan de aliulo, oni devus doni ion bonan al alia(j). Ankaŭ tio estas bona maniero antaŭenigi nian movadon. Estas ĝenerala vero, ke tiuj kiuj instruas aliajn pri io, pli bone mem lernas tiun mate- rialon. Tio validas ankaŭ pri Esperanto. Se vi instruus alian personon, vi mem efektive pli bone lernus Esperanton. A Ciuj esperantistoj, sed aparte tiuj kiuj instraas Esperanton al aliaj, rajtas iĝi mem- broj de la Amerika Asocio de Instruistoj de Esperanto (AAIE). Kial fari tion? Car vi ri- cevos kvar fojojn jare la Bultenon deAAIE, redaktitan de Dorothy Holland. Tiu Bulteno estas unu el la plej utilaj gazetoj haveblaj al A usonaj esperantistoj. Gi entenas informonpri la instruado de Esperanto ne nur en Usono sed tra la tuta mondo. Oni povas trovi no- mojn kaj adresojn de lernantoj de Esperanto, kiuj volas korespondi kun vi kaj viaj lern- antoj. Gi enhavas multajn aliajn utilajn nov- ajojn pri Esperanto kaj esperantistoj kaj la instruado de fremdaj lingvoj. Ekzemple, ĉu vi scias, kie okazos la UK en la jaro 2003? Jes, ĉi-jare ĝi okazos en Zagreb, Kroatio, kaj en la jaro 2002 ĝi okazos en Fortaleza, Bra- zilo. Sed kie vi trovos tiun informon pri 2003? La kalendaro en la plej lastatempa Bulteno de AAIE informas la legantojn, ke en la jaro 2003 la Universala Kongreso ok- azos en Goteborg, Svedio. Kaj estas ankoraŭ alia kialo por mem- briĝi en AABE. Vi tiel automate iĝos membro ankaŭ de la Internacia Ligo de Esperantistaj Instruistoj (ILEI) kaj ricevos kvar fojojn jare alian informplenan gazeton la Internacia Pe- dagogia Revuo kun artikoloj pri la instruado de Esperanto ĉie en la mondo. Instruantoj/instruistoj de Esperanto (ĉiuj esperantistoj, ĉu ne?), AAIE bezonas vin kaj vi bezonas nin. (Bedaŭrinde ĉi-jare ni havas nur 40 membrojn!) Helpu nin. Aliĝu nun. Sendu $25 (por unu jaro) al Sally Law- ton, Koresponda Sekretario de AAIE, 12 Stage Rd, Westhampton MA 01027. Vi hel- pos nin kaj ni helpos vin kaj ĉiujn, kiuj ins- truas Esperanton. If you missed the recent Pan-American Esperanto Convention and the ELNA An- nual Convention, and if you can't attend the Universala Kongreso or any of the major Esperanto conventions to occur this summer, consider attending the North American Esperanto Workshop in San San Francisco, July 2-13. For more info, please contact Ellen M Eddy, 11736 Scott Creek Dr SW, Olympia WA 98512; 8 360/754-4567; I 360/786-9175; B eddyellenOaol. com. five most Wanted !>y me ll/speranfo League These volunteer tasks are on the lam. The League Priority: 1. Time: 1-2 hours per week. Permanent needs your help in apprehending them! (English). Task: Corporate style guide. Find or write profes- sional guidelines for a unified appearance for all ELNA publications. Priority: 1. Time: 1-2 hours per week. One-time (English). Task: Resources Committee head. Do fundraising inside and outside of ELNA, find other resources. Priority: 1. Time: 1-2 hours per week. Permanent (English). Task: Commissioner for Complaints. Forward com- plaints from reticent members to the appropriate person. Priority: 2. Time: 1-2 hours per month. Permanent I (bilingual). w Task: Publicity Committee / mass media. Produce and distribute press announcements. Task: E in bookstores. Get Esperanto books into "real" bookstores so the public can see that Espe- ranto really exists. Priority: 2. Time: 1-2 hours per week. Permanent (English). Task: Constant Amusement Committee/Agent (KAKA). Make certain that the Movement is amus- ing and fun. May include running around naked. (This post can be anonymous.) Priority: 2. Time: 1-2 hours per month. Permanent (Bilingual). You do not need to be an expert - but you do need enthusiasm! To help, contact one of our agents: Timo- thy Boronczyk at B orgajTmaji20@hotniail.com, 8 607/753-4249, or 331 Shea Hall, Cortland NY 13405; or David Wolff at B dwolff@world.std.com, 8 978/ 264-0286, or 6 Durkee Rd, Acton MA 01720. esperanto USA 1/2001 11 CA)bAT uoiit- The xjec/o et-NA symbot took tikcp The contest to design a new symbol or "trade mark" for ELNA is still on! We have received sev- eral responses, but we hope for more. This contest is not so much an individual competition, as a cooperative endeavor. Individuals can submit proposals, of course, but so can groups. Take some time in your local group meeting to brainstorm ideas for a catchy symbol, or let several volunteers form a small group to work on it. Ideas often can flow more freely when several people work together on a problem. To give you something to go on, here are a few of the ideas that have been proposed so far. Some use the Esperanto "melon", the Esperanto symbol for the second century, in com- bination with words or letters and/or a map of the United States or North America. Others point out that ELNA's domain name "esperanto- usa. org" does a very good job of showing what ELNA is about (very succinctly), and also shows how to contact us through the Internet. Therefore, it has been suggested to use the domain name in the symbol. blua blanka verda ruga esperanto-usuor These are merely ideas to start with. Surely you can come up with something better! Send your pro-' posals to the Central Office by letter, fax, or e-mail. JoelB Esperanto League for North America PO Box 1129 El Cerrito CA 94530 Non-Profit Org US POSTAGE PAID Leesburg FL Permit #1040