Mazi en Gondolando

Mi trovis bonegan vidkurson en 'Youtube' - 'Mazi en Gondolando'. Jen la priskribo de Vikipedio -

"Mazi en Gondolando estas Esperanto-lernolibro por komencantaj infanoj, junuloj kaj plenaĝuloj eldonita de IEI (Internacia Esperanto-Instituto)."

Se vi estas komencanto de Esperanto, spektu ĝin.

Ana Pana - Parto 7 (Sep)

Hodiaǔ mi faris parton sep de la kurso nomita 'Ana Pana' en la retpaĝaro de lernu!. Russ, mia bonega instruisto, kontrolis mian laboron kaj almontris miajn erarojn al mi. Ŝajnas mi ne komprenas la akuzativon. Mi devas ekzerciĝi en ĝi.

Vortaro - Tagoj kaj Monatoj (Days and Months)

Esperanto	English
lundo	Monday
mardo	Tuesday
merkredo	Wednesday
ĵaǔdo	Thursday
vendredo	Friday
sabato	Saturday
dimanĉo	Sunday
januaro	January
februaro	February
marto	March
aprilo	April
majo	May
junio	June
julio	July
aǔgusto	August
septembro	September
oktobro	October
novembro	November
decembro	December

Vortaro - Vestaĵoj (Clothes)

Esperanto	English
ĉapelo	hat
surtuto, palto	coat, overcoat
koltuko, kaptuko	scarf
skarpo	(woman's) scarf
gantoj	gloves
jako	jacket
pantalono	trousers
jupo	skirt
robo	dress
ĉemizo	shirt
bluzo	blouse
veŝto	waistcoat
subĉemizo	vest
kalsono	underpants, panties
ŝtrumpoj	stockings
ŝtrumpetoj	socks
ŝuoj	shoes
botoj	boots

Vortaro - Mebloj (Furniture)

Esperanto	English
seĝo	chair
lito	bed
tablo	table
kanapo, sofo	sofa, couch
brakseĝo, fotelo	armchair
radio	radio
televido	television
telefono	telephone
kurtenoj	curtains
fenestrokovriloj	blinds
kameno	fireplace

Time to go native

So far in this blog I've written mostly in English. Today is the day that I try to make the transition to Esperanto. I'm going to make a lot of mistakes and my posts will initially take longer to write, however, I believe that this step will help me to learn faster so here goes. If you are an Esperantist and you spot mistakes in my posts, I would be grateful if you could point them out to me.

Hieraǔ mi vojaĝis trajne al Londono por renkontiĝi du amikoj. Post pluraj bieroj, la temo de lingvo envenis la interparolado. Mi diris al ili pri Esperanto kaj ili signis iom da intereso. Eble ili lernos Esperanton.

Mi esperas ke mia Esperanto ne estis tro malbone. Bonan nokton al ĉiuj.

It's all about the exchange of ideas

I have only been learning Esperanto for a few days, but as I search the Internet for information there seems to be a perpetual debate about the usefulness of artificial/constructed languages as opposed to natural languages. The attitudes of people toward Esperanto range from fanatical devotion to outright antipathy.

There are two main criteria that I think are crucial to any language, natural or otherwise, that is intended to be used for general communication between human beings.

1. Does the language allow a person to freely express their ideas?

2. Is it easy for people to become proficient enough in the language to facilitate the exchange of those ideas?

Being new to Esperanto, I am not qualified to give an answer from personal experience to either of the questions above. However, as a native English speaker, I am finding that the construction of the language is allowing me to learn at a much faster rate than I have experienced with natural languages. Whether I will achieve fluency in speech and writing remains to be seen, but at least the complexity of grammar has not proved to be a barrier to me thus far.

Vocabulary - In the kitchen

Every so often I will publish a list of useful words for a particular subject area. I welcome suggestions for additional items.

In the kitchen (En la kuirejo)
Esperanto	English
forko	fork
tranĉilo	knife
kulero	spoon
spatelo	spatula
telero	plate
glaso	glass
taso	cup
poto	pot
pato	frying pan
kaserolo	casserole, saucepan
bolilo	kettle
panrostilo	toaster
manĝobastonetoj	chopsticks
kribrilo	sieve
lavujo	sink
krano	tap, faucet
fridujo	fridge
vazlavilo	dishwasher
bakujo	oven
miksilo	mixer

Starting to learn Esperanto

I had heard about Esperanto in the past but did not take the time to investigate it. A couple of days ago I stumbled across it again and this time I decided to see what it had to offer. As I have started this blog, you would be right to assume that Esperanto (or Eo for short) has impressed me.

Like a lot of people, I have studied various languages at one time or another, both at school and in my spare time. English is my mother tongue and I have found this to be a handicap when trying to learn other languages. This is because my ability to speak an alternative to English tends to be significantly worse than the ability of others to speak English. I spent several months working in Belgium and despite my initial determination to improve my spoken French and perhaps acquire some Flemish, I ended up speaking English almost all of the time.

There were generally two types of conversational situation that would take place. The first would be when I was trying to speak in French and it became obvious to all parties that my mastery of the spoken word had not reached a functional level. At such times either people decided to speak English or my contribution to the conversation rapidly diminished before disappearing entirely.

The second type of situation was when I spoke to people who were keen to practise their English. As soon as they became aware that I am a native English speaker they would seize upon the opportunity and I really wasn't in a position to insist upon any viable alternative.

I hope that my study of Eo will allow me to communicate with many more people on a more equitable footing and in this blog I hope to document my experiences.

A valuable Eo resource that I am using for learning is lernu! It's a fabulous site, full of invaluable information for the Eo komencanto (beginner). I cannot recommend it highly enough.

Please feel free to share your Eo experiences and thoughts. Write in English or Eo as you wish. You can try to communicate with me in other languages, however, my ability to understand you may be minimal.

Ĝis poste!