Archive by Author
Ni Prokrastu! Posted by Transparent Language on May 18, 2009
Who says procrastination is a bad thing? It has the English prefix “pro-,” which usually connotes a good thing. We didn’t call it “concrastination” for a reason! In Esperanto, we have the English cognate verb “prokrasti,” which means “to procrastinate.” (Don’t bother trying to break “prokrasti” into various parts – there is no word “krasti”…
La Printempaj Insektoj Posted by Transparent Language on May 16, 2009
The seasons where I live have been confusing as possible these past two months. My winter was about five months long, and only in mid-April did the last snows go away. In my mind, it’s more spring than summer. And it’s only reinforced by all the springtime insektoj! You can call most any bug on…
Household Chores Gone Overboard Posted by Transparent Language on May 13, 2009
Today my roommate, about to clean the carpet, said to me: “Donu a mi la vakuon.” I think he must have been using an Internet translation, but wasn’t as explicit as he ought to have been. You see, “vakuo” in Esperanto means “vacuum.” In English, sometimes we associate the word “vacuum” with “vacuum cleaner,” the…
When to start teaching? Posted by Transparent Language on May 12, 2009
Most Esperantists will tell you, if they’ve studied other languages, that Esperanto is one of the easiest lingvoj to learn. Its vocabulary isn’t necessarily easier – there are still a whole lot of words out there! – but its logical verb conjugation and complete lack of irregulars makes remembering the grammar rules clean and simple…
Who says it’s forgotten? Posted by Transparent Language on May 12, 2009
I encountered this news story a little while ago during my periodic voyages across the Internet. The piece is a bit outdated (it’s from 2005), but it does raise a valid question: what happened to Esperanto? There are still quite a few speakers worldwide, but I have a feeling that Esperanto does not enter the…
Where to begin…? Posted by Transparent Language on May 7, 2009
Someone recently posted a comment asking about good ways to begin learning Esperanto. It’s a great question – after all, everyone must start at the beginning when learning a new language! I already posted a brief comment specifically for that person’s benefit, but since there might be more of you out there with the same…
Julio Baghy Posted by Transparent Language on Apr 30, 2009
Let’s talk about another famous Esperanto author today. This time, the subject is Julio Baghy, a Hungarian professional actor from the early 20th century. He was one of the first writers in the Esperanto movement, since he came along early into Esperanto’s life. He wrote a great deal of Esperanto literature, but Baghy is more…