1. CORSETTI CHALLENGES BLUNKETT:
"SPEAK UP FOR LANGUAGES"
On the occasion of the European Day of Languages, 26
September 2002, Dr Renato Corsetti, President of the World
Esperanto Association, has challenged the UK Home Secretary,
Mr David Blunkett, to spearhead a "linguistic culture change"
in Britain, and to "speak up for languages", following Mr
Blunkett's remarks that immigrants in the UK should speak
English at home.
Mr Blunkett's remarks that not speaking English in the home
caused "schizophrenic rifts" within the family brought
protests from various immigrant organisations, who felt
strongly that they should not be told what language to use in
their own homes. Throughout Europe, the remarks were seen as
further proof of the arrogance of English speakers in a world
where the English language has become dominant.
"My concern is that the UK has a strong reputation for not
making the effort in language learning, and that the UK
government is actually reinforcing this attitude by implying a
low social status to foreign languages", Dr Corsetti told Mr
Blunkett. "It would appear that Asian languages, for instance,
have a lower social status in the UK than those officially
taught in UK schools. This is paradoxical, because it means
that the languages that children are in fact best at are
precisely the low-status ones, which are not taught in your
schools. It's almost as if, if you want to learn a foreign
language in the UK, you do it despite the education system,
rather than because of it", wrote Dr Corsetti.
Bur Dr Corsetti went on to say, "The UK could within a
short time have a large work force of highly skilled linguists
in most major languages of the world. All that is required is
a culture change: instead of seeing immigrant languages just
as a problem, they should be seen as part of the solution.
Britain could be best in Europe at languages". "I therefore
challenge, you, Mr Blunkett, as Home Secretary, to "speak up
for languages", and to spearhead that linguistic culture
change in the UK", wrote Dr Corsetti.
The World Esperanto Association campaigns for language
rights, and promotes Esperanto as a comparatively easily
learned second language, which would enable minority languages
and cultures to survive, rather than being in competition with
the language of the dominant power at any one time.
* The above is the text of a UEA press release of 26
September 2002. The text of Dr Corsetti's letter will be found
on the EAB NetNews website <http://esperanto.org/uk/eabnetnews>.
"Speak up for languages" is the slogan launched by CILT
(Centre for Information on Language Teaching and Research) for
the 'European Day of Languages' campaign. Mr Blunkett's
statement about immigrants speaking English at home was widely
reported in the British press, for instance in the BBC News <http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/world_at_one/2261653.stm>
and political programmes <http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/2263141.stm>.
Background information on attitudes to language learning in
Britain was given in EAB NetNews 10 and 11 <http://www.esperanto.org/uk/eabnetnews>.
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2. WORLD TV DEBUT FOR SHATNER FILM
It's not often that a film is given its TV debut 37 years
after being produced, especially if it's a science fiction
film. It's probably even rarer for a film produced entirely in
Esperanto to reach the TV screens anyway. So the announcement
that Incubus, starring William Shatner - later made famous by
his role as Captain Kirk in Star Trek - is to have its debut
on the 13th of this month is bound to raise more than a few
eyebrows.
Incubus is the only film ever produced for general release
entirely in Esperanto, and was only the second film to be
produced in Esperanto at all. The previous year (1964) saw the
publication of Angoroj, made for and by Esperantists. But
Incubus was an "art house film experiment", set on the
mysterious island of Nomen Tuum. This island is inhabited by
succubi, female demons who lure corrupt men to an untimely
death. So, in contrast to the later Star-Trek, where
practically everything seems to come out in English,
everything in Nomen Tuum came out in Esperanto.
The film was first released in France in 1965, and then ...
they simply lost the the film!
Thirty years later a single copy turned up, with French
subtitles. Somehow, they managed to replace them with English
subtitles before rereleasing the film. Its debut will be on
'Sci-Fi Channel' in California, on October 13 at 1 a.m. ET <http://tv.zap2it.com/news/tvnewsdaily.html?28193>.
I asked the BBC when they were going to broadcast Incubus <http://www.bbc.co.uk/home/feedback/>,
and they phoned me back to say that they don't currently have
any plans, but that will register my interest in the film. An
alternative idea might be to acquire the video, which is now
available in PAL/VHS, from the website <http://incubusthefilm.com/>.
This website also contains an interesting writeup on
Esperanto, and how they came to use it. "... the language is
highly poetic, evocative and serves the actors well in
Incubus", they write, "What began as a theatrical
embellishment turned out to have depth and dramatic impact in
its own right".
However, not everyone appreciates Shatner's Esperanto
pronunciation. William Harmon, in San Francisco, described the
preparation of the Esperanto text in the news group
soc.culture.esperanto <http://groups.google.com/groups?q=shatner+esperanto+pronunciation&hl=eo&lr=&ie=UTF-8&selm=1998032806084801.BAA24136%40ladder01.news.aol.com&rnum=4>.
"Those of us who sat through the preview in San Francisco
howled with laughter", he wrote. In the UK, The Inquirer
reports: "because Shatner made his own pronunciation up, he
believes that he may have influenced the way the language is
now spoken worldwide" <http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=5378>.
A sound clip can be heard via Real Audio at the <http://incubusthefilm.com/>
site by following the "speak it" link in the text.
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3. ESPERANTO COMES HOME!
That's not a headline from the local paper in Polish
Bialistok, where Zamenhof developed his ideas for an
international language, but from The Sentinel, the local paper
of Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire.
Cutting the green ribbon to formally open Esperanto House -
the new headquarters of the Esperanto Association of Britain -
Lord Mayor of Stoke on Trent, Cllr. Ellis Bevan, spoke about
the long relationship between the City and Esperanto. The City
has a street 'Eperanto Way', and a pub called 'La Verda Stelo'
(now, unfortunately, he added, called 'The Green Star'). He
also referred to Horace Barks, his very distinguished
predecessor, commenting on how much Horace had done for the
City and for Esperanto. He hoped that the Esperanto
Association may be setting a trend for other national
organisations to move their HQs to North Staffordshire. Then,
before cutting the ribbon to enter Esperanto House, he said a
few words in Esperanto.
The plaque on Esperanto House was uncovered by Professor
Renato Corsetti, President of the Universal Esperanto
Association. He gave an entertaining speech - in Esperanto, of
course - emphasising the key role for British Esperantists to
play in the world movement.
Polish ambassador Dr Komorowski gave a particularly
stimulating speech about Esperanto. "There must be something
irresistable about it", he said, "We believe that Esperantists
should look to the future, and the language should be allowed
to develop and prosper".
After the formalities, the guests and participants were
invited to look around at various exibitions in the House, as
well as in the College. All the issues of EAB NetNews (from
the relaunch) were on display, to bring attention to what's
actually happing concerning Esperanto in the 'real world'.
The regional TV news programme included a light-hearted
look at Esperanto, including a very short, but effective,
interview with Dr Corsetti. Reports appearing in the Sentinel
and Sunday Sentinel have been put into the esper-brit
discussion group's files area <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/esper-brit/files>
by Michael Seaton (and Renato is trying to persuade more
British Esperantists to join this group), for transferring
later to the NetNews site. An interview with Viv O'Dunne and
Lydia Arnold - the two sisters who look after the office in
Esperanto House - appeared later in the Sentinel.
The surrounding three-day event seemed to meet with a lot
of enthusiasm, too. Dr Corsetti created a lot of interest with
his researches on young children's use of Esperanto, with lots
of amuzing examples. I've put a summary of his speech on the
NetNews website <http://esperanto.org/uk/eabnetnews>.
Dr Corsetti also led a discussion on the activities and
structures of various national Esperanto associations. He said
that the structure in Britain was a bit of a mistery to the
outside world, and it did, indeed, appear that we have a
rather complex network in comparison. Quite a lot of interest
was arroused when Grahame Leon-Smith and I (on behalf of my
wife Helen, who is planning to organise the EAB information
activities, but was unable to attend), outlined possible
practical steps forward in promoting the language in
educational circles, and in bringing the public's attention to
the language.
It seemed very clear that the relationship with the College
was already bringing a new degree of professionalism to the
association. "Voluntary associations play a vital role within
this civic participatory tradition", said Wedgwood Memorial
College's principal, Dr Derek Tatton, "Now, with the WEA and
other voluntary organisations, this College will gain from the
support and experience of the Esperanto Association". The
College, being residential, invites tutors and lecturers from
all over the UK and the globe. "Now, with new technology, this
village will be in touch more than ever - through the
developments in Esperanto House - with the Global Village", he
concluded.
An illustrated report appears on the EAB website at <http://www.esperanto-gb.org/>.
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4. EUROPEAN DAY OF LANGUAGES CREATES
INTEREST
Elizabeth Stanley, who teaches at Sir Thomas Rich's School
in Gloucester <http://www.geocities.com/strs_glos/>,
reports that her Esperanto group took part in the school's
celebrations of the European Day of Languages. She talked
about Esperanto in the school assembly, and the school choir
sang in Esperanto, and two bible readings were performed in
Esperanto.
The school was granted language college status in 2000 <http://www.geocities.com/strs_lang/>,
which means that they receive a government grant not only to
teach languages at the school, but also at local feeder
schools. In the curriculum they teach Spanish, German and
French, but in club activities they teach also Latin, Chinese
and Hindi - and now Esperanto, with seven pupils aged from 13
to 17. They are now looking for other schools to correspond
with in Esperanto, and they are planning to vizit the EU's
Euroscola next year <http://e.euroscola.free.fr/nun.htm>
Bee Wickens in Chesterfield wrote: "I visited the
languageadvantage site [mentioned in the previous issue of
NetNews] and, as usual, was incensed to find us left out, Yet
Again(!), so sent a pretty long E-mail, outlining our virtues,
benefits, value to the world etc ... Well, the upshot you can
see for yourself below."
And below, indeed, was a very encouraging reply from Sarah
Carroll at Language Advantage.
"Bee, Thanks for your email and for visiting <http://www.languageadvantage.com>
I've read your email and was compelled to take a look at your
website ... I'm fascinated by the language - and have, of
course, heard of it, but not ever taken the time to understand
anything about it (at least I admit it, sorry!). We at
www.languageadvantage.com
have focused initially on some of the most widely spoken
languages in the world - Mandarin, English, Hindi and so on -
and those languages most widely used in work situations. ... I
like the idea of everyone switching into Esperanto as a chosen
international language in meetings etc... Do you have any
examples of it being used at work? ... Perhaps you'd like to
write a special feature about Esperanto for us at
www.languageadvantage.com?
... I'd also be quite happy to add resources for learning
Esperanto (good quality and easily available to everyone in
the world!). We could also add your URL to our language
organisations listings ... And, if you'd like to keep
up-to-date with the best and most innovative in the language
world, then why not sign up for our free newsletter at <http://www.languageadvantage.com/newsletter>".
They also sent details of a European Day of Languages party
in London, which John Wells kindly posted on the website of
the London Esperanto Club <http://www.phon.ucl.ac.uk/home/wells/lek.htm>.
Language Advantage are also running a 'Languages at Work 2002'
survey <http://www.languageadvantage.com/surveys/poll.htm>.
"Please get as many of your family, friends and colleagues to
complete this survey as possible!", they say.
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5. MAC-ESPERANTO
A century of controversy on the Esperanto alphabet may now
be drawing to a close, following the inclusion of Esperanto in
the latest operating system of Macintosh computers. Formally
called Apple MacOS X v.10.2 - but announced as 'Jaguar' - this
system will enable users simply to click on a menu and select
Esperanto from the list of languages.
Jaguar uses the internationally accepted Unicode standard,
so that emails sent in Esperanto should be compatible with
other systems, and files should be transferrable from computer
to computer without alphabet problems.
However, so far, the Esperantisation seems to be far from
complete. Janko Luin, in Sweden explains (in Esperanto): "The
news is that in Mac OS X 10.2 one can select one's preferred
language, but not a complete translation into Esperanto".
"Mac OS X is a multilingual system in that it allows the
user to change the language of the programs, and even of the
system itself to the selected language - on condition that the
program supports Esperanto. So the existence of Esperanto as a
language in Mac OS X is not as a translated system, but as a
possibility of using translated programs (and also the system
itself) in Esperanto. For instance, Mozilla [the public domain
version of the Netscape 6 web browser] already exists in
Esperanto translation, and so its interface can be shown in
Esperanto."
Stanley Neil Glass, in the United States, explains that one
can select the keyboard (eg: "U.S. Extended"), and for the
c-circumflex etc, you click on 'option | 6' followed by the
letter, and for u-breve you click on 'option | b' then the
letter. Sounds a bit of a hassle to me, for regular use,
compared with, say, a simple Alt-letter, or an automatic
conversion of, say, "c^" or "cx".
Rather surprisingly, there doesn't seem to be anything on
Apple's own website at <http://www.apple.com>
about the languages selectable. But a picture of the language
menu with Esperanto in it can be seen by clicking on the
attachment link at <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/e-inf/message/47>
(though rather curiously, they've put 'Esperanto' with an 'n'
ending).
So what would have to happen for the operating system to
appear fully in Esperanto? I asked Janko: "Is this in the
hands of Steve Jobs [of Apple], or could anyone contribute to
the translation, as is the case with public domain software?"
"Theoretically it's in the hands of anyone", Janko replied,
"but it's a big job to translate the whole of an operating
system, and it's a job that has to be carried through for each
small update of the system". So, it seems it's in our hands.
There is already an Esperanto spell checker, cocoAspell,
which can be downloaded for the Mac <http://www.applelinks.com/articles/2002/05/20020517120307.shtml>.
And for an extra $20, you can acquire the apple macintosh
education authoring tool and learning program, 'Learning Imp',
said to be "the ideal supplement to a language course", and is
available in Esperanto <http://www.smalltalkfactory.de/learningimp/imp.htm>.
Now that Apple has at least made a start on making
Esperanto available, it is likely that Microsoft will follow
on, since the two often follow each other's leads.
Current problems in using Esperanto with PCs are related to
the lack of Esperanto keyboards - every country has its own -
and the lack of keyboard driver programs that enable input of
Esperanto letters from whatever keyboard the user has
available. Such driver programs for Esperanto can be purchased
commercially (I installed Esperanto characters in an
Archimedes computer (inputting with 'Alt-letter'). But the
problem with Microsoft systems is that only Bill Gates can add
a new language. The only possibility is to overwrite one of
the language options already existing. There is a public
domain program called Ek, which can be installed on a Windows
machine, and can be set to overwrite whatever language you
select. This was written by Jurij Finkel, and can be
downloaded from <http://www.esperanto.mv.ru/Ek/>.
Jurij is also the author of a powerful multilingual Esperanto
text editor called UniRed <http://www.esperanto.mv.ru/UniRed/Help/Esperanto/index.html>.
Microsoft's Word for Windows can display Esperanto letters
on the screen, but provides no way for entering them on the
keyboard. A template was developed by Bill Walker for Word 97
and later, to enable use of Esperanto letters <http://home.btclick.com/ukc802510745/software/abeodoc.htm>.
William Rowe sent NetNews a set of instructions on how to
create a template for Word 2000, which I hope RobERTo will
post on the NetNews website when he sends this issue out <http://esperanto.org/uk/eabnetnews>.
Just a year ago, however, the World's first operating
system which could use Esperanto was announced in Japan. This
was based on TRON, an operating system designed for use with
Japanese, Chinese and Korean. The Esperanto version is known
as EspeTRON, and is available for installing into PCs from
Japanese company Personal Media Corporation. A news report,
with links, is to be found at <http://tronweb.super-nova.co.jp/tronnews01-10.html>.
I'd be interested to hear from anyone who's tried EsperTRON
out, or for that matter, Jaguar, or Ek.
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6. "EQUAL RIGHTS FOR LANGUAGES" CALL
TO EU
The European Esperanto Union has called on the EU to
include the principle of "real, factually equal rights of all
citizens of the Union to languages" in the EU's forthcoming
written constitution.
The call was embodied in a resolution of the Fifth Congress
of the European Esperanto Union, held at the end of August in
Verona, Italy, attended by around 300 people.
They also called for this principle to be put into practice
as soon as possible. The Congress invited the European
Commission, and the national governments in Europe, to "fulfil
as soon as possible, the desire expressed in the Conclusions
of the Council of Ministers in 1995, on "Language Diversity
and Multilingualism", confirmed in February 2002, and
establish a permanent conference of national representatives,
experts and politicians, to explore all options, including
that offered by the international language, Esperanto, as well
as arranging suitable experiments toward that goal."
"We discussed the increasing inequality due to the language
problem, as well as the forthcoming enlargement of the
European Union," said David Ferguson, general secretary of the
European Esperanto Union". The Congress also called upon the
European Commission to study ways of implementing real equal
rights of all citizens of the Union, regardless of the mother
tongues. "There is growing pressure upon Europeans not only to
accept the idea that the common language for Europe is already
English, but also to invest a great deal of time and money in
order to learn English. Despite this great investment, native
born English-speaking citizens are exceptionally favored in,
among other things, obtaining employment in European
organisations and businesses", David explained.
"Many Europeans are very worried about what is happening to
their languages. It is not just a problem of Germans or French
using so many English words in their own languages, but of
concrete economic and social problems", David told the 300 or
so Congress members. Speaking in Esperanto, he said,
"Europeans are worried that major companies, and the European
Commission, prefer native English speakers for an increasing
amount of jobs. Governments are worried that US or UK
companies have an unfair advantage as European industry shifts
to English."
The European Esperanto Union is now working closely with
French, Italian, and other language associations to defend
language diversity. "European Commissioners talk all the time
about language diversity. At the same time, European languages
are being pushed out of ever more domains by English. That's
why we need to work together," David said.
"That's not the language diversity the European Commission
promised us during last year's 'European Year of Languages".
However, the economic gains to English-speaking countries may
one day dry up, David warned, just like North Sea Oil.
David Ferguson is employed at the Union's Brussels Centre
as as general secretary. Sean O'Riain, an Irish diplomat in
Berlin, was elected president of the European Esperanto Union.
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7. NEW UK FILM ENTERPRISE TAKES OFF
A twenty-minute professional quality film with commentary
in Esperanto has just been published by EKo Publishing. It's
called 'Balonfesto' [Balloon Party], and presents ballooning
as a sport or hobby, filmed mostly at the annual 'balonfesto'
in Bristol. The text is provided on a sheet, so that Esperanto
students and teachers can use and enjoy the film together.
Brian Burnett, of EKo Publications, explains:
"My colleague, Kevin, was a film-maker with the Liverpool
University film unit for nearly 20 years until a cost-cutting
exercise closed down the unit in March 2001. About 3 years
ago, we made a promotional film - using some amateur footage
from Paul Gubbins, combined with footage that Kevin shot at
Barlaston during the Summer school.
"So, Kevin had some spare time and several hours of footage
of hot-air ballooning, so we put together 'Balonfesto', with
the help of Malcolm Jones who produced a script, from Kevin's
notes, and did the commentary.
"We would like to produce some more material of this kind.
Kevin has the equipment and expertise; Malcolm has the
linguistic knowledge; and I can deal with the administration,
etc. However, we have now run out of money so must rely on
sales of past productions. Insufficient sales equals no more
Esperanto productions.
"A few years ago, Paul Gubbins wrote a script for me for a
teaching course, but we haven't had the money to develop it,
so various versions sit in my PC waiting for something to
happen. Meanwhile, a couple of people have suggested
developing the ballooning film as teaching material, and I
would like to do that, but it takes time - and I must still
earn a living, apart from dealing with family commitments and
other interests (mainly wildlife and wildlife conservation)".
"There is a lot more that I could do - but finance is the
limiting factor", Brian added.
The film is available for PAL from Brian Burnett (EKo),
Nant Yr Hafod Cottage, Llandegla, WREXHAM LL11 3BG. Rete:
indesigneko@aol.com Tel. 01978 790442, and costs 23 Euros,
including postage and packaging.
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