neal@druny.UUCP (Neal D. McBurnett) (01/14/85)
Here is my rendition of a popular Esperanto lesson pamphlet. I recommend it: it's practical and fun (if a bit old-fashioned....) -Neal McBurnett, ihnp4!druny!neal, 303-494-6495 TEN-LESSON FREE POSTAL COURSE F R E E - TAKE ONE in the International Language E S P E R A N T O Lession one ESPERANTO, the international language, has existed for about one hundred years, and is now spoken by over a million people, in over 80 countries. There are thousands of books and over 100 periodicals published currently. Incorrectly termed 'artificial' (the right word is 'planned'), Esperanto offers a simple, 'no exceptions to the rules' introduction to the study of second languages generally, and makes you think about the exact meanings of words in your own language. 'Grammar-coded' Esperanto can demonstrate the language structure lacking in many English lessons in our schools today. You may want to take the FREE course yourself, or may like to encourage your children, friends, or relatives to do so. It is based on a very popular postal course in use today in England. Read through the lesson and try your hand at the exercises. Then send this whole lesson, along with a SELF-ADDRESSED, STAMPED ENVELOPE (S.A.S.E.) to the address below. We will be more than happy to correct your work, answer any specific questions you may have, and will return it along with lesson two, and so on, to lesson ten. SEND YOUR COMPLETED LESSON, WITH A S.A.S.E. to: Esperanto Information Center 410 Darrell Road Hillsborough, CA 94010 415 342-1796 For full details on your national Esperanto movement, contact: Esperanto League for North America Box 1129, El Cerrito, CA 94530 415 653-0998 Canadian Esperanto Association P.O. Box 2159, Sidney, B.C., V8L 3S3, Canada The World Association is: Universala Esperanto-Asocio, Nieuwe Binnenweg 176, 3015 BJ Rotterdam, Nederlando (010) 36 15 39 ------------------------------------------------------------------ Language is all about things (nouns) and their actions (verbs): ONE THING ACTS ON ANOTHER THING Birdo kaptas insekton. A bird catches an insect. SUBJECT NOUN VERB OBJECT NOUN Esperanto is 'grammar-coded' -- you can tell what part each word plays in a sentence from the word endings: _____o _______on SINGLE SUBJECT NOUN SINGLE OBJECT NOUN _____oj _______ojn PLURAL SUBJECT NOUN PLURAL OBJECT NOUN To show when the action takes place, the verb TENSE (time) is changed by putting these endings on the verb roots: PRESENT TENSE ______as describes it as it happens PAST TENSE ______is shows an action completed FUTURE TENSE ______os action still to begin Birdoj kaptis insektojn. Birds caught insects. Birdoj kaptos insektojn. Birds will catch insects. ** EVERY NOUN AND EVERY VERB FOLLOWS THE ABOVE RULES WITHOUT EXCEPTION ** In Esperanto, things have no gender (they are not male or female, as in many other languages.) There is only one word for 'THE', no matter if the noun is singular or plural, subject or object. Therefore: La birdoj kaptas la insektojn. La birdo kaptis la insekton. In Esperanto the word order matters less than in English. All the following sentences describe the same action (only the emphasis is changed): Viro legas libron. Viro libron legas. Libron legas viro. Libron viro legas. Legas viro libron. Legas libron viro. A man reads a book. Here are some words in Esperanto (the apostrophe indicates an incomplete word, a ROOT): NOUNS VERBS (ROOTS) MORE NOUNS amiko (friend) far' (do, make) kafo (coffee) filo (son) forges' (forget) kuko (cake) frato (brother) hav' (have) lakto (milk) instruisto (teacher) trink' (drink) pano (bread) knabo (boy) vend' (sell) sukero (suger) patro (father) vid' (see) teo (tea) Each Esperanto letter has only one sound, always. Here is a guide to some of the sounds. The stress is always on the next-to-last syllable of a word. A E I O U palm there three glory too C = ts (in lots); OJ = oy (in boy); G = g (in go) KN are always pronounced separately: K-Nabo EXERCISES, LESSON ONE. Take your time and translate the following sentences into Esperanto. Type or print but please write clearly. Example: THE MEN SOLD CAKES. La viroj vendis kukojn. [Note: the word 'a' does not exist in Esperanto; the simple noun is enough. Also, a dash indicates that the two English words are translated by one Esperanto word.] 1. FATHER MAKES A CAKE 2. THE BOY WILL-HAVE THE SUGAR 3. THE SON FORGOT THE MILK. 4. THE BOYS DRINK TEA. 5. THE FRIEND SOLD THE BREAD. 6. THE TEACHER SEES A BOY. 7. THE SON HAS A FRIEND. 8. THE BROTHER MADE BREAD. 9. THE BOYS WILL-HAVE THE CAKE. 10. FATHER FORGOT THE SUGAR. 11. THE BOYS HAD FRIENDS. 12. THE SONS SAW THE BREAD. 13. THE BROTHERS SELL SUGAR. 14. THE TEACHER FORGETS THE BOY. 15. THE FRIEND WILL-DRINK MILK. 16. THE SONS ARE-MAKING CAKES. 17. FATHER WILL-SELL THE CAKE. 18. THE FRIEND HAD BREAD. 19. THE BOYS WILL-SEE THE TEACHERS. 20. THE TEACHERS DRINK COFFEE. Well, we hope we haven't scared you off in this first meeting with Esperanto. Just remember -- the language ability you used in the above exercises might take months to reach in secondary school French or Spanish. Upon satisfactory completion of the series of ten lessons, you will receive a framable 'Certificate of Completion'. Now, clearly print your name, address, and ZIP code: