🚀 go-pugleaf

>could some one tell me where i could buy a good book to learn
>esperanto. also if anyone has any information about people who speak
>it could you send that too.

Our site is finally getting sci.lang, so I can contribute my $.02.
This is my basic overview for the beginning Esperantist.
Enjoy!
-Neal McBurnett, ihnp4!druny!neal, 303-538-4852

--------------------
	Here is my best advice on good Esperanto sources: how to learn,
what to buy, what to read, what to join, etc.  I'm quite receptive to
the experiences of others, so send me your comments!

Learning Methods:
	Of course, the best way to learn is to find a friend who knows
		it.  Either ELNA (below) or I may be able to point out a
		person or club in your area.
	If you have the time, San Fransico State University offers a
		series of 3 week intensive courses in Esperanto each
		July (this year from the 1st to the 22nd).
		It is a great way to learn, and also a great way to
		get a cheap vacation in the Bay area (in dorm rooms).
		They always have some students from foreign countries and
		some of the best teachers in the world.  You could also
		go to a similar course in other countries: Bulgaria,
		Switzerland, and Hungary, to name a few.  Contact
		Cathy Schulze, 410 Darrell Rd, Hillsboro CA 94010, 415-352-1796
	The next-most-convenient way is the Free Postal Course.  Either ELNA or
		I can send you the first lesson, and as you mail in each lesson,
		your instructor will mail you the next one.  You get a
		certificate at the end (10 lessons). You will probably want to
		buy Well's Dictionary (below) if you take the Postal Course.
		It takes about a week of mail delay per lesson.
	I highly recommend Claude Piron's "Gerda Malaperis".
		If you add a Well's dictionary, I might consider it a
		self-contained course.  It is a mystery story, so there
		is good motivation to continue!  Also, Piron is a
		psychologist, and has studied how to teach languages.
		He picked 750 of the most common word roots (from which
		you can form over 7000 actual words), and introduced
		them slowly, repeating each one several times after the
		first introduction so you can pick them up easily.
	ELNA has several other beginners courses.  I recommend the book
		"Step by Step in Esperanto" and the cassette course
		"Jen Nia Mondo".
	Immediately after you get past the basics, I recommend two things: an
		intermediate text, such as "Pa^soj al Plena Posedo" and
		a translation of a favorite English book of yours into
		Esperanto.  I have "Winnie la Pu", "La Eta Princo"
		(The Little Prince), and "Besto Farmo" (Animal Farm).
		Thus I can practice translating by myself both into and
		out of Esperanto.
	Finally, a lot of beginners get pen-pals in other countries.

Books: (Order from ELNA (Esperanto League of North America, Box 1129
		El Cerrito, CA 94530) or call them with Visa/MC (415 653-0998))
	"Esperanto Dictionary" by Wells ("Teach Yourself" series).  (Sometimes
		available in bookstores.)  All English-speaking Esperantists
		should have one.  It has a grammatical summary, and
		probably has enough information for you to read
		anything....  Both English-Esperanto and Esperanto-English.
	"Plena Vortaro": Esperanto-Esperanto dictionary.  All Esperantists
		should have this because of the innumerable examples
		of word usage.  Don't be scared of an all-Esperanto dictionary:
		you'll quickly get used to it, and it is much better to learn
		to associate new words with their intrinsic meaning rather than
		the English equivalent.  Get out of the habit of translating!
	"English Phrases and Expressions in Esperanto": very useful for learning
		how to express English idioms in Esperanto.
		Good for demonstrating how common and baffling idioms can be!
	"False Friends" is a useful list of words that don't mean what you would
		assume as an English speaker (granda == 'big', not 'grand'
		in all it's meanings, adulta == adulterous, not adult....)
	The serious esperantist will want to get the Plena Ilustrita Vortaro,
		an unabridged Esperanto-Esperanto dictionary with plenty of
		examples.  1303p., $45
	John Wells, a linguist at the University of London, wrote "Lingvistikaj
		Aspektoj de Esperanto" (in Esperanto), which is the closest
		thing I've ever found to a fun, readable book on comparative
		linguistics.  Only $5.50.
	If you're interested in the Dutch company BSO's research
		effort to translate semi-automatically between European
		languages using an Intermediate Language based on Esperanto,
		ELNA has a $20 feasibility study on it.  It is extremely well
		done, with lots of good references.  The work is being
		funded by the European Economic Community.  A. Witkam, 
		"DLT: Distributed Language Translation -- a Multilingual
		facility for videotex information networks."
  Songs: "Kantofesto" is a fun collection of songs, with chords and music.
	For those who still wonder if "literature" can be written in
		Esperanto, you can get Margaret Hagglers PhD thesis on
		the subject from the University of Michigan's microfilm
		service: "Esperanto Language as a Literary Medium", 1971
		It's quite interesting!  The answer is definitely "yes"....
	If you intend to travel, get the "Pasporta Servo": 600 people in
		53 countries who will put you up for free!
Literature:
	I can personally recommend "La Infana Raso" by Auld (a classic
	novel-length poem), "Fianco de l' Sorto" by ??, (young love, war),
	and "Voja^go al Kazohinio" by Szathmari (a revealing philosophical
	novel dealing with the relation between emotion and reason, competition
	and cooperation).
	Friends have recommended Nemere's "La Fermita Urbo" (science fiction)
	and "Kredu Min Sinjorino" by Rossetti.  I welcome
	more input in this category (both positive and negative!)

Tapes: At some point you will surely want to hear some Esperanto.  Many of
	the courses come with taped lessons, but you can get a feeling for
	how beautiful the language can be from some popular music.
	Piron has a wonderful tape out: "Frandu Piron" is a collection of
		original and translated folk songs.
	"Baf!" is another collection of folk songs, with some very powerful
		songs translated from a variety of languages.
	"Per Nia Nura Vol'" is some neat feminist music from Italy, with
		transcriptions.  "Kontakto" brilliantly satirizes the movement.
	There are all kinds of cheap records of speeches at conferences
		(much easier to understand than poetry or music....)
	Finally, ELNA runs a tape lending library with hundreds of tapes.

Magazines:
	El Popola ^Cinio is a neat magazine from China.
	Monato is an international version of "Newsweek" (monthly, $26,
		but well done, with jokes, crossword puzzles, etc.)
		I especially enjoy reading the ongoing debates in the
		letters to the editor.
	Internacia Komputado (computing), published in Hungary every 3 months,
		is something I would recommend either to a computer scientist
		here who wants to learn the Esperanto vocabulary, or to a
		Nigerian who wanted to learn about computers.
	Fonto is a monthly literary magazine from Brazil.
	UEA (below) publishes two magazines:
		"Esperanto" carries official news on the movement.
		"Kontakto" is a good magazine for new Esperantists: lots
			of interesting, easy to read articles (many assume
			only a 500 morpheme vocabulary: try that with English!)

Organizations:
	It's good to join ELNA and the Universala Esperanto-Asocio (UEA)
		ELNA gives you a membership list so you can look people
		up when you travel in the US, and discounts on some
		books.  They also publish an interesting newsletter.
	UEA (Nieuwe Binnenweg 176, 3015 BJ Rotterdam, the Netherlands;
		(010) 36 15 39) gives 3 great things to its members:
		Jarlibro ("yearbook"): 400 pages packed with information
			and 3600 addresses in 70 countries of people who
			will help you when you travel.
			Also information on specialized associations:
			vegetarians, stamp collectors, scientific disciplines,
			ham-radio operators, teachers, environmentalists, etc.
		Esperanto Katalogo: 350 pages densely packed with listings of
			books, tapes, magazines, etc.
		"Esperanto" magazine.

Travel:
	The congresses are a fun way to meet lots of people and get
		active in the movement.
	You can stay year-round at 2 locations: La Chaux-de-Fonds in
		Switzerland and Pisanica in Bulgaria.  Another resort
		is Gresillion in France.  They all teach courses,
		sponsor excursions, etc.
	The "Pasporta Servo" book and other address lists you can acquire
		at congresses enable you to plan a personalized vacation
		with esperantists.  You can also join UEA for the Jarlibro.

Misc:
	Steve Allen and ELNA have recorded a 30 minute public TV documentary
		on Esperanto which your local PBS affiliate can get.
	I have a list of over a dozen daily short-wave radio broadcasts
		worldwide, but I haven't been able to pick any up with my
		cheap equipment.
	The 71st Universal Congress was in Beijing China from July 26th to
		August 2nd, 1986.  The international youth organization,
		TEJO, had its conference ("IJK") in Neurim Israel from the
		14th to the 21st of August, 1986.
	Both congresses will be in Poland in 1987.  That is the 100th
		anniversary of Esperanto, so they will be spectacular.

Computer specific stuff:
	I have the largest on-line dictionary I have yet heard of: 3000 words,
		Esperanto-English, with parts of speech.  Soon I will have
		a list of all 39000 words listed in the Plena Ilustrita Vortaro.
	I have a separate guide to this: there's a lot!

-Neal McBurnett, ihnp4!druny!neal, 303-538-4852, 494-6495 at home
 4825 W. Moorhead Cir, Boulder CO  80303 USA