____________________________________________________________________________ E A B N E T N E W S No 6 (1 Jan 2002) ____________________________________________________________________________ *** Keeping you up-to-date about Esperanto, for people in the UK *** Esperanto Association of Britain (To subscribe/unsubscribe, just email back with your request) ____________________________________________________________________________ 1. WELCOME TO 2002 2. BUILDING BEGINS! 3. PICK OF THE WEEK 4. UEA OPEN DAY 5. NEW STAFF IN ROTTERDAM 6. HELP FOR AFGHAN REFUGEES 7. FLOWER POWER LIVES ON IN ESPERANTO 8. ELVISH TALK 9. FAMILY ESPERANTO 10. CAN YOU TUTE? 11. EAB AGM ____________________________________________________________________________ 1. WELCOME TO 2002 I used to tell my children to avoid palindromes, in case they forgot what direction they were talking in. :-) The community side of Esperanto is going strong. Events are springing up spontaneously, organised by enthusiasts, and not necessarily by the associations, and people are becoming more and more aware of international opportunities. Five hours ago I was celebrating the German New Year in Magdeburg at the Internacia Festivalo. So were my 'gefiloj' (how *do* you say 'children' in English when they are no longer children?) at the Internacia Seminario in Rothenburg. They probably haven't got to bed yet... All this means that the national Esperanto associations are struggling, as people do their own thing on a World scale, never before imagined. No longer are the national associations 'one-stop' shops for Esperanto. The associations need to establish a new role if they are to survive. All the signs are that 2002 is the year in which the fortunes of EAB start to change direction. We have an dynamic Director of Development (David Kelso), a go-ahead congress co-ordinator (Terry Page), a new-style British Esperantist, about to appear inder the editorship of a language lecturer and professional journalist (Paul Gubbins). We have also a new location in Barlaston, working together with the Wedgwood Memorial College, and in May the first of what will hopefully turn out to be our re-instated annual conferences, this one being within easy reach of Barlaston. This should give opportunity for Esperanto speakers and supporters in the UK to discuss current activities and the new role for the association. So ... sukcesan palindroman jaron! ____________________________________________________________________________ 2. BUILDING BEGINS! David Kelso wrote, just before going off for his pre-Christmas break in Italy: "Our contractors have now made a large hole, equivalent to the hoped-for extension; they have also blocked off a fair proportion of the college's parking and created what looks like a building site." Lydia then wrote on Thursday 20th December: "The focus of the building work has been on establishing the new part of the building. Today fifteen cubic meters of concrete was added to the steel reinforced trenches to form the new building's foundations." She also sent some pictures that she'd just taken, and I've put them on display at . ____________________________________________________________________________ 3. PICK OF THE WEEK It's taken about nine months for me to pick it up (!), but the 'This is Wiltshire' website featured the EAB website in its 'Pick of the Week (5-12 April 2001)' at . "For anyone who is at all interested in the best-known international language, the Esperanto Association of Britain says: 'Bonvenon.' (Look it up). There are details of your nearest class and even links to poetry.", it says. ____________________________________________________________________________ 4. UEA OPEN DAY Three day trippers from the south (Beatrice Clarke, Kate Hall and Eric Walker) and two from the north (David Kelso and John Casey) were amongst the visitors at the Open Day of the Universal Esperanto Association in Rotterdam on November 24. There were several lectures during the day from Humphrey Tonkin and Trevor Steele, videos were available throughout the time - and free coffee and biscuits were available non-stop. The bookshop was full of customers taking advantage of the 10% discount. Eric bought a video copy of the first feature film to be made in Esperanto: 'Angoroj'. (It can be hired from him at Ipswich for 6.00 pounds!). "All in all it was a pleasant day", commented Eric, "and gave us a better picture of life at the 'world centre', together with the chance to meet people previously only known to us as names in Esperanto publications". ____________________________________________________________________________ 5. NEW STAFF IN ROTTERDAM Today (1 Jan 2002) the new Acting General Director of the Central Office of the Universal Esperanto Association takes up his post in Rotterdam. He is Trevor Steele, from Australia, well know as an Esperanto teacher and author. The review "Esperanto" has a new editor as from first issue in 2002, too. He is Stano Marchek, from Slovakia, who has previously edited several national and international publications. Both appointments are for one year, when UEA will be looking for long-term contracts for both positions. The Officeja Komisiono [Office Commission] is now turning its attention to reviewing the computer system at the office, and the setting up of a "communications centre" in Brussels. ____________________________________________________________________________ 6. HELP FOR AFGHAN REFUGEES The Universal Esperanto Association has launched an educational project for Afghan refugees in neighbouring countries to Afghanistan. The project Zaban-e-Salam [language of peace] will provide courses for basic literacy in their own language for the less well educated refugees, and courses in Esperanto for the educated elite. They also propose to help with material aid. Courses are currently being organised in Teheran and Mashhado (Iran). [Information from tejo-aktuale 2001-12-17, but it doesn't seem to have reached the UEA website yet, at ). ____________________________________________________________________________ 7. FLOWER POWER LIVES ON IN ESPERANTO The Esperanto Rock Orchestra, which was on the rage in the early 1970's, now seems set for a revival, following the release on CD of two of their vinyl recordings last month (December 9) and one the previous month (October 10). The three releases are: 'Esperanto Rock Orchestra (1973)', 'Danse Macabre (1974)', and 'Last Tango (1975'). The orchestra was multinational (hence the name, I presume), with conventional instruments as well as those associated with rock. Their web site gives details of the releases, together with mp3 samples, contemporary press articles (including concerts at Reading Festival Imperial College and in London), and even a bit about the Esperanto language! See ____________________________________________________________________________ 8. ELVISH TALK An article on Tolkien and Esperanto has appeared in the current issue of 'SEVEN: An Anglo-American Literary Review' (The review covers seven authors, including Tolkien). I haven't seen the article though (do any of our readers take it?), but it may be similar to part of a review on 'OSTADAN'S LORE & LETTERS: Glossopoeia for Fun and Profit' appearing at . "Among the people who eventually learned Esperanto to the point of being able to write in it was a young English Boy Scout named John Ronald Reuel Tolkien", says the reviewer. "In 1909, he wrote a small sixteen-page notebook, the Book of the Foxrook, partly in Esperanto, describing a 'privata kodo' for scouts." However, Tolkien later wrote: "Volapu"k, Esperanto, Ido, Novial, etc are dead, far deader than ancient unused languages, because their authors never invented any Esperanto legends." The reviewer, disagrees, however, and describes some of the the myths in the Esperanto world! In a footnote, he adds one of his own: "If you really like stereotypes", he says, "the Esperantist is a 1940s-style leftist; the Elvish scholar is a 1960s hippie, and the Klingon speaker is a biker in black leather". ____________________________________________________________________________ 9. FAMILY ESPERANTO The latest edition of 'Familia Esperanto' - an informal bulletin for people who use Esperanto in the family - is decidedly starting to look more professional - at least, judging by the cover, with its colorful display of photos from the Summer's International Children's Mini-Congress [Internacia Infana Kongreseto]. Inside, there are a number of interviews with the children, including 14-year-old virtuozo pianist Andrej Korobezhnikov, from Russia, who gave a recital at the Universala Kongreso [World Congress] of Bach-Busoni, Beethoven, Chopin and Liszt. Familia Esperanto is published by Rondo Familia of the Universal Esperanto Association. It's free of charge, though one can make a voluntary donation to the "idoj-p" account at UEA. Their website is at (select 'fakoj', then 'Rondo Familia'). It is estimated that about 1000 people in the world have been brought up with Esperanto in the family, together with their ethnic language, or languages. A number of them are in Britain. There is also an email discussion group (see the website) which can be useful for parents, and can offer advice for parents-to-be. ____________________________________________________________________________ 10. CAN YOU TUTE? A few more tutors for the web course 'Esperanto Viva!' in English and Spanish would be welcome. For details, see and click on the green flag. 'Esperanto Viva!' is really an introduction to Esperanto, both the language and the evolving culture. It concentrates on encouraging communication right from the start. Tutors are therefore encouraged to interact on a personal level, rather than just to correct language mistakes. ____________________________________________________________________________ 11. EAB AGM Just to remind members of the Esperanto Association of Britain that the Annual General Meeting will take place in Stoke-on-Trent at the beginning of May, and that resolutions and proposals for members of the new Management Committee should reach the Barlaston office by the end of January. Details were published in EAB Update. Contact details are on at the EAB website -- ***************************************************************** EAB NETNEWS - a newsletter from Esperanto Association of Britain Editor: Ian Fantom, eabnetnews@esperanto.org, tel: 01635 38592 Office: Esperanto Association of Britain, Wedgwood Memorial College, Barlaston, Stoke-on-Trent, ST12 9DG, Tel: 01782 372 141 Fax: 01782 372 393 Website: ******************************************************************