Friday Linkage is Random and Weird - We Blame Zombies

Re: Zamenhof Day - yes, forgetting it is really quite scandalous! It is also known as the Esperanto Book Day, so if you think you might want to atone for this egregious omission in a fitting way, then this book is easily available on-line in Canada:
Richardson, David: Esperanto - Learning & Using the International Language, 3rd edition (March 2004)
ELNA, ISBN: 0939785064
or, if you just want to read more about Esperanto, this is published in Calgary:
Zaft, Sylvan: Esperanto: A Language for the Global Village, 2002.
Calgary, Esperanto-antauen. ISBN:0-7795-0031-8.

Agrablajn festotagojn deziras el Vankuvero via
mankso
http://esperanto.memlink.ca

“You’ll find in this book everything which makes an Esperanto-speaker a true citizen of Esperanto-Land”

Vojagho en Esperanto-lando. Boris Kolker. Rotterdam: UEA, 2005. 280 p. 240x150. ISBN 929017088-3. $26.70. Available for purchase from the ELNA Book Service (www.esperanto-usa.org).

We Esperantists are proud of our literature – and we do have every reason to be. We have original and translated literature of all genres, all kinds of dictionaries and grammar books, books for beginners... But there used to be a gap in that: we didn’t have books for advanced Esperanto-students. To be more precise, we did have some (like Pashoj al Plena Posedo by William Auld) - but even after reading them, the new Esperantists often got lost in the Esperanto community, full of subtleties, names, facts, hints and the whole bunch of abbreviations, all unknown to beginners... It takes a long time to get (from Esperanto books, magazines, teachers) all the information they need to be well-educated Esperantists, aware of the basic facts and some less known information on Esperanto and its history.
It used to be that way... until the publishing of Vojagho en Esperanto-lando (=Voyage in Esperanto-Land) by Boris Kolker. The book was such a success that it became an Esperanto-bestseller, and in 2005 Universal Esperanto Association (UEA) published the third edition of this unique book (the first edition was published in Moscow in 1992, the second edition was published by UEA in 2002 and was sold out within two years).
The changes between the 2nd and the 3rd editions are not crucial: the whole style, liked by Esperantists so much, is preserved: there is the same colorful cover, the same beautiful illustrations by Francisco Veuthey – even the page number is the same! So, what’s new? First of all, the format: it’s bigger (though, the price is the same as for the second edition), so, the text is better to read. The illustrations and photos look better in the bigger version and have more contrast, some photos and pictures have been updated and there are some new illustrations. Also, the book becomes almost 1/3 times thinner and lighter because of the use of thinner paper – but the quality didn’t suffer from that switch at all.
The Esperanto-world doesn’t stay in one place – new books come out, web-sites change their address, some eminent people pass away... All the changes that occurred in Esperanto-lando from 2002 to 2005 have their place in the book – all the texts and explanations are updated and corrected: there is mention of the newest books (like Sed homoj kun homoj by Z. Sikosek), newest facts, e.g., about the internet and the internet-sites about Esperanto. Also, there are some new texts (like the charming song En nia mondo - Valso por vojaghantoj written especially for the book, excerpt from Neniu ajn papilio by Trevor Steele, information about planned languages, explanations about neologisms and non-official words and affixes in Esperanto). But the most significant change for many Esperantists is the index of names which greatly facilitates the use of the book.
But what made it a bestseller in Esperanto-lando? The answer is, probably, hidden in the name of the book: “Perfektiga kurso de Esperanto kaj Gvidlibro pri la Esperanta kulturo” – “Advanced Course of Esperanto and Guidebook to the Esperanto Culture”. The book is not only a textbook for those who have finished an elementary course and need reading practice and not too difficult texts: it is a small, but very informative, encyclopedia about Esperanto, which is certainly more than just a language. The readers will find answers to many questions about the history and culture of Esperanto, the facts about milestones of Esperanto history – the life and philosophy of Zamenhof, pioneers of the Esperanto-movement, Esperanto organizations and the most important events. They will become familiar with Esperanto museums, radio, magazines and speeches of the most eminent Esperantists. Also, they’ll find “translations” of all the important abbreviations used by Esperantists – in one word, you’ll find in this book everything which makes an Esperanto-speaker a true citizen of Esperanto-Land.
In addition to the texts about Esperanto and Esperantists, you’ll find also the fragments of some famous pieces of Esperanto literature (both prose and poetry, from classics to contemporary) and texts on different interesting topics – e.g., about popular science, stylistic – or even love traps! There are also a lot of texts about different countries, which personally I enjoyed very much. Most of the texts are written originally in Esperanto, some of them - exclusively for the book, others were reprinted from Esperanto magazines, a few texts were translated from non-Esperanto sources. All the texts progress from simple to quite difficult. By the end of each section there are questions for self-examination.
Apart from the direct knowledge, the book helps to develop personal skills: you’ll find there different exercises not only on language usage but also on reasoning and developing of good literature taste (e.g., to write essays on different topics). Some of the exercises are serious (for example, to explain or write sentences with paronyms – words that sound similar but mean different things, or to combine parts of Esperanto proverbs etc.), some – humorous (for example, to create an artificial language and write a love letter in it).
Last – but not least! – is the very distinctive style of the book: it is written in the name of the Esperanto Club leader. Every lesson is a meeting in the virtual club “Esperanto-lando”, with many “guests” and activities, plans for the future, holidays – unlimited inspiration how to organize activities in your local group! Some critics say the picture of Esperanto activities in the book is too “idealistic” – well, maybe, but we all can aspire to an ideal Esperanto club and adopt some of the “activities” of the “Esperanto-lando”!
I recommend the book to everybody who still doesn’t have it: from brand new beginners to the most experienced Esperantists, to use it for their Esperanto lessons and maybe even to learn something they don’t know about Esperanto. The only one thing I would like to see in future editions (and, I’m sure, they’re will be!) is to add also an index of terms and glossary of abbreviations.

Eugenia Amis

EsperantoUSA, 2005, No 5-6

Persone, mi ne bezonas Teach yourself Esperanto :-) Mi jam "tichis" centojn da aliaj...