Esperanto League for North America, Inc. • Box 1129, El Cerrito, Wflj|||i|!LANGUAGE & WORLD LAl||pAGE PROBLEMS LANGUAGE STRIKE ON U.S. BASES To protest layoffs, 4000 Italian employees who work on U.S. bases in Italy declared a half-day language strike in May. Although they are bilingual, the workers pretended not to understand or speak English in the American barracks. Two events caused the protest. First, the replace- ment of Italian employees by American ones. Second, the end of additional pay for bilingual employees, pay which was generally applied in the private sector. "Because our employers don't acknowledge our bilingualism, we'll speak only one language," the strikers declared. (Heroldo de Esperanto, 20 June 1991) TRANSLATION COSTS AT THE UN Documents which are written at the UN normally have to be translated into all of its seven working languages. The following example will give some idea of how much time and money are needed to translate documents into just these languages. To translate a 25-page document from the original lan- guage (English in this example) into all the working languages, 63.9 days are needed for translation, 22.9 for revision and 12 days for typing, 98.9 days in all. In 1980 the costs of the translations were: Arabic $3220, Chinese $4480, French $2240, German $5340, Span- ish $2240, Russian $2436. The total: $19,936. Costs are undoubtedly higher in 1991. {LaBritaEsperantisto, #3,1991) LANGUAGE PROPLEMS IN AUSTRIA Because Austria will soon be a member of the European Community, a course for office workers was planned to make them accustomed to the Euro- pean style of adrninistration. Although a nine-month CA 94530 • (415) 653-0998 Issue 3,1991 search for candidates for the course was made, no one was found to participate. One of the chief reasons: not even one candidate had enough knowledge of French, which was demanded (illegally) as a prerequisite. In Austria the first and mandatory foreign language in schools is English, and there generally isn't enough time to learn other languages. Because of this almost no one in Austria speaks Hungarian, Czech or Slovak, or can pronounce names or words from neighboring languages without errors. {Monato, May 1991) IRISH LANGUAGE IN NORTHERN IRELAND Although Gaelic is the first official language of the Irish Republic, all daily Gaelic newspapers are pub- lished in Northern Ireland, where the only officially recognized language is English. Recently a new daily newspaper appeared. La (Day) is now the only daily newspaper written completely in Gaelic. The newspaper is printed in Belfast, Northern Ireland. This is taken as further proof by some observ- ers of growing interest in Gaelic in Northern Ireland. Observers have noted that even Unionists, members of the monarchist Protestant party in Northern Ireland, who during recent years strongly opposed Irish, are now becorning more interested in the language. {Monato, Oct. 1990) FOREIGN LANGUAGES AND ECONOMIC COMPETITION Michael Armacost, U.S. Ambassador to Japan, in a commencement address delivered at The College of Wooster, Ohio, said that the U.S. must produce more students who are skilled in foreign languages if America is to maintain its global leadership and compete eco- nomically with other countries. "In my work in To- kyo," Armacost said, "I observe many trade barriers. But the linguistic barrier, in many respects, is the most formidable obstacle to a smoother relationship." Armacost went on to note that high schools in half the states don't require study of a foreign language, and 20 percent don't teach a foreign language at all. The U.S. is one of the few countries where a student can gradu- ate from a top school without having achieved profi- ciency in a foreign language. (San Francisco Chronicle, May, 1991) TEACHING ENGLISH IN LOS ANGELES More than 30% of the 600,000 students in the Los Angeles area don't speak English. 90% of them speak Spanish instead, while the rest speak one of 85 differ- ent languages, including Korean, Armenian, Chinese, Vietnamese, Tagalog, Serbo-Croatian, Urdu, etc. To teach English to non-English speaking students the grade school of Roscoe adopted the "bilingual transitional education" method. The targeted children (two thirds of whom speak Spanish at home) learn subjects in their native language, get daily English lessons and have daily music lessons in English. The students transfer to classes completely in English only when they reach a satisfactory level in the language. Finding bilingual teachers is the main problem: 2000 more are needed, even though bilingual teachers receive 5000 dollars more per year than other teachers. (Heroldo de Esperanto, 20 June 1991) MAORI AND ENGLISH IN NEW ZEALAND Members of the New Zealand parliament who don't understand Maori protested loudly when a minister responded in that language to a question in Parliament and did not provide a translation in English. The minister, Koro Wetere, apparently answered sponta- neously in Maori, his native language. Ministers demanded an immediate translation, but the minister refused, saying that Maori is an official language in New Zealand and he did not need to provide a translation. (English is not a legally official language in that country.) This is not the first time that use of two languages in the New Zealand legislature has caused problems. Because parliamentrecorders do not understand Maori, they simply don't write down anything when an MP speaks in that language. In New Zealand interest is growing in Maori. A record number of people, mainly children, are now studying the language. One third of Maori children attend so-called "language nests." But many Maori protest that the government does not give enough money to the language nests. Several have already closed. In a related development, this year all government rrunistries adopted Maori equivalents of their names, several geographical names were changed to their original Maori forms, and even interisland ships which were reequipped recently now have Maori names. (Monato, Sept 1990) d|PHKnONAL ESPERANTO NET! ESPERANTO OPENS BARRIERS IN ALBANIA The Albanians, whose struggle to open their country to the outside world has been frontpage news recently, have had another means of international contact since March, 1991. The first national Albanian Esperanto organization was founded on the 9th of March. With this step Albania is following the example of Romania (see article below), where the formerly banned Romanian Esperanto Association was revived one year ago. In fact, great interest about Esperanto has existed for decades in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union. In most countries in the region—Poland, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Yugosla- via and Bulgaria—Esperanto organizations were able to find a place among state stmctures. Only in Roma- nia and Albania did the Esperanto movement remain banned until the recent political and social changes. The new Albanian Esperanto League already has 192 members. That is a remarkable achievement, considering that for decades in Albania it wasn't possible to publicly teach Esperanto, organize meet- ings of Esperanto students or speakers, or maintain contacts with the international Esperanto movement. In Albania, as in Romania, Esperantists acted secretly, copying textbooks and dictionaries by hand, passing on rare copies of books and periodicals, meeting in small groups in their homes. There are documented cases of political persecution, when someone lost privileges, a job or even his freedom because of Esperanto activities. And the situation in both countries is still very difficult. The Albanian Esperanto League writes: "We have many organizational and material problems. The difficulties are growing because of the general eco- nomic and financial crisis which grips our country. We don't even have foreign currency to pay for subscriptions (as you can tell, we don't even have a typewriter). We need Esperanto literature, because, as you probably know, we are an isolated country which can't buy foreign books. "We did preliminary work by translating a few books from Albanian into Esperanto. We have pre- pared an Esperanto textbook and Albanian-Esperanto and Esperanto-Albanian dictionaries, but they're all in manuscript form. We are also planning to publish a review (or bulletin), 'Albanian Esperantist'. But we don't have the financial means now." The World Esperanto Association is now undertak- ing steps for educational and cultural aid to the new association, as it did one year ago for the Romanian association. Initiatives are also corriing from Italian and Yugoslavian Esperantists, among others. The appearance of Albania in the international Esperanto movement is a clear sign of the continuing reintegration of that country into the world community. (Internaciaj Novaĵoj Bulteno 8, Universala Esperanto-Asocio, 12 April 1991) ESPERANTO TAUGHT AGAIN IN ROMANIA After many years of suppression, Romanian teach- ers of Esperanto were able to meet with colleagues from abroad during a week-long seminar on teaching methodology. The delegates were welcomed by the mayor of the Transilvanian town of Odorheiu Secuiesc. Romanian professors told of radio courses and univer- sity programs being reestablished and classes in pri- mary schools. The serninar was held under the auspices of the International League of Esperantist Teachers which hopes to add a new Romanian affiliate to its thirty existing ones. In the serninar much needed teaching equipment and texts were made available. ILEI's international examination was offered for the first time in Romania. (GazetaraKomuniko, Internacia Ligo de Esperantistaj Instruistoj, 17 April, 1991) Support the Esperanto movement in the United States JOiNELNA TODAY!!! NJIIilĴAL ESPERANTO NEWS ESPERANTISTS IN THE NEWS The latest poetry collection by Julius Balbin, a well- known Esperanto poet, was reviewed recently in World Literature Today (Winter, 1991). The book, Imperio de l' Koroj (Empire of Hearts), is divided into two sections. The first deals with Balbin's life in the U.S., the second with his experiences in Nazi concentration camps, where he managed to survive for four years, although the other members of his family died there. Another book by Balbin was published recently. The Bitch ofBuchenwaldis a bilingual collection of poems which also come from Balbin's experiences in Nazi concentration camps. In this book Balbin's Esperanto poems have English-language translations done by Charlz Rizzuto on the facing pages. (WorldLiterature Today, Winter 1991, Esperanto, Jan. 1991). Composer Lou Harrison recently won a lifetime achievement award in the San Francisco Bay Guardian's "Goldie" awards, given for music. Harrison, whose music shows strong Asian influ- ences, was also the New YorkHeraldTribune's music critic for many years. Harrison is best known to Esperantists for La Koro Sutro, a cantata in Esperanto and English which was also the first compact disc to appear in Esperanto. (The San Francisco Bay Guard- ian, June 5, 1991). 1991 ELNA BOOK SERVICE CATALOG This 26-page catalog details nearly every item available from theELNA Book Service. Books and materials are conveniently grouped by category. The Book Service catalog is sent to members and "Friends of Esperanto" at no cost. Non-members should send $2.00 (check or money-order, please) payable to ELNA. Those purchas- ing the catalog will receive a coupon worth $2.00 off their next order. Send payment to: Esperanto League for North America P.O. Box 1129 El Cerrito, CA 94530 Esperanto League for North America P.O. Box 1129 El Cerrito, CA 94530 USA In this issue... 4 Language Strike in Italy * Language Costs in New York 4 Language Problems in Austria ♦ Language Solutions in Albania Nonprofit Organization U.S. POSTAGE PAID Berkeley, CA Permit No. 330 Learn Esperanto in the convenience of your own home through ELNA's self-paced Home Study Program! Each level of the Home Study Program is self-contained so that all you need is a tape recorder and some spare time. In addition, your course will be guided by a qualified instructor of Esperanto who will give you the personal atten- tion you need The just released Levels One and Two of the program are designed to emphasize development of conversational skills with a focus on everyday expressions. Why wait? Start now on the road to genuine person-to-person communication through the International Language Esperanto by enrolling today! LEVEL ONE—Usin the textbook and cassette tape for the popular JenNiaMondo 1 radio course, this twelve-lesson course will quickly guide you to mastery of basic Esperanto. COURSE MATERIALS: Jen Nia Mondo 1 book (66 pages), Jen Nia Mondo 1 audio cassette, and workbook. Course Number 101 $36.00* LEVEL TWO—As a continuation of Level One, this thirteen-lesson course focuses on a more detailed analysis of Esperanto as a language in its own right. This course is recommended for the serious student as a folow-up to Level One above. COURSE MATERIALS: Jen Nia Mondo 2 book (89 pages), Jen Nia Mondo 2 audio cassette, and work- book. Course Number 201 $45.00** Note: Levels Three and Four are scheduled for release later this year. * & **: If you already have the book and tape set for Jen Nia Mondo 1, you may subtract $12.00 from the price of the course: and similarly for Jen Nia Mondo 2, you may subtract $15.50. . ELNA CORRESPONDENCE COURSE REGISTRATION FORM Return this form with check or money order payable to ELNA to: ELNA, P.O. Box 1129, El Cerrito, CA 94530-1129 Name: Date: Address: City/State/Zip Code: - Telephone #:----------- Please enroll me in the correspondence course indicated below. I am enclosing $_ order made payable to ELNA check or money [ 1 101—LEVEL ONE.... $36.00* I ] 201—LEVEL ONE.... $45.00**