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 The piece is a bit outdated (it’s from 2005), but it does raise a valid question: what happened to Esperanto?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…
Antoni Grabowski Posted by Transparent Language on Apr 30, 2009
Antoni Grabowski was not necessarily an Esperanto author, since he did not write any major literaty works of his own. However, as a contemporary of L.L. Zamenhof, Grabowski did more than his part to help spread awareness and interest in Esperanto. As one of the first translators of the language, Grabowski brought forth phenomenal translations…