Esperanto at Stanford University

Homework

My feeling is that if you don't stimulate the brain cells related to the topic under study, every single day, you will get further and further behind. Studies have shown this to be true for any topic, not just a language. So, to keep up, you must incorporate some Esperanto into your life every day.

1st quarter: study from the textbook by Richardson (lessons 1 through 5 and chapters 1 and 4 to be assigned); read enough Esperanto from whatever source each and every day (that includes weekends and holidays!) so that you are required to use the dictionary at least 5 times; write enough sentences each and every day so that you have to use the dictionary at least 5 times; thereby learning around 50 new roots per week. To enforce the guarantee, please e-mail those words to me daily (yes, you are allowed to have vacations and sick days, etc. ... i'm reasonable. :)
2nd quarter: keep a daily personal journal (enough to trigger the use of the dictionary at least 5 times - so this is the writing part of your homeowrk); read some esperanto (preferably your foreign journal) daily - using the dictionary at least 5 times; lessons 6 through 10 of Richardson.
3rd quarter: continue the personal journal; keep a daily “news of the world” journal (if you have foreign contacts, you can report on what you learn from there, otherwise report on the news from the media (including about the USA for foreigners)); compose and respond to foreign correspondence; chapter 3 of Richardson; and, optionally, prepare for national/international exams.

Being realistic, i don't expect anyone to actually do this each and every day including weekends, holidays and sick days for the entire year. But, essentially, if i start getting 7 days worth of words in an e-mail just before class, then you are not only not doing the letter, but also not the spirit of the assignment.

Some easy ways to incorporate Esperanto into your life every day: count your physical exercises in Esperanto; label things in your house with the Esperanto name; of course, read a journal or the 'net; correspond on the 'net; listen to Esperanto CD's; meet with other Esperantists for lunch or dinner or parties or conventions, etc.; invite foreigners who speak Esperanto to visit your place for 2 days; use Skype to call anywhere in the world via the 'net with an Esperantist correspondent; etc., etc., etc.

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