First class (February 11th)

Summary

We touched briefly on what Esperanto is, why people learn it, and some of the cool things you can do with it. Then we jumped headlong into the alphabet, pronunciation, and a bit of grammar. There were lots of handouts, all of which can be downloaded below …

Homework

  1. Download the “Handouts” and “Books & stuff” (see below) to your favorite electronic device. (For phones, the ePUB files may be more convenient than PDF.)

  2. Read the syllabus, join the mailing list if you haven’t already, and start an “Esperanto journal” documenting new roots, affixes, expressions, and grammar that you encounter.

  3. Have a look at the English-language documents about Esperanto and its history. Read at least A quick introduction or A Language for Idealists. (Incidentally, professor Schor’s book is available in our lending library, if you’d like to borrow it.)

  4. Visit the alphabet page at Lernu!, a free Esperanto learning site. Click on the letters and listen to the sounds they make.

  5. Read the first two chapters in the textbook and try to solve the exercises (Ekzerco 2.1 through Ekzerco 2.4 and the Demandoj). You can send your answers via email esperanto@lodestone.org for quick feedback, or print them and bring them to class, and we’ll correct them together.

  6. (optional) If you’re hungry for more, watch the rest of the first chapter of Mazi. You’ll get a preview of some of the grammar we’ll be talking about next time.

Handouts

About Esperanto

  • A Language for Idealists
    An English-language article from Princeton University featuring professor Esther Schor, who has recently written a book on the history of the language.
  • A quick introduction to Esperanto
    Excerpts from the introduction to Esperanto: Learning and Using the International Language, a popular textbook by David Richardson.
  • Discover Esperanto
    An English-language introduction to Esperanto, its history, culture, and community. Compiled by E@I, an international team of volunteers using Esperanto as their working language.

Books & stuff

Note: Some of the materials we use can’t be freely distributed due to copyright. You should be able to download everything from a UR campus address, but off-campus users will need a username and password. These will be sent out on the class mailing list, or you can request them from esperanto at lodestone dot org.

  • Syllabus
    The course syllabus.

  • Chapter 1 and chapter 2 in the course textbook.

  • Mazi en Gondolando textbook
    The text of the film, along with grammar tips and word lists.
  • Concise English-Esperanto-English Dictionary
    A two-way Esperanto-English dictionary that covers all the words we’ll encounter in the course, and more. Available in PDF format and ePUB.

Video