Learning Esperanto
Wed Jun 01, 2005 18:37 (UTC -5)Note: Since I’m in the process of learning the Esperanto language, I’ll probably be blogging a lot about it for, well, a long time.
On Monday when I got back home from vacation, I was surprised to find that the book I had ordered, Teach Yourself Esperanto, had already arrived. Furthermore, it was not from the bookstore I ordered it from via Amazon, but directly from the Esperanto League for North America. Along with the book, they included some materials about ELNA, UEA, the upcoming Esperanto congress in Lithuania, Esperanto periodicals, and probably other things. I thought that maybe I should join ELNA and/or UEA once I learn Esperanto (probably the beginning of next year; I don’t want to jump the gun and pay a full year’s dues for six months of membership).
After some web searching, it occurred to me that there are no Esperanto clubs or organizations in my area. When the #1 hit at Google for “south florida esperanto” is theworldofstuff.com, that’s pretty darn sad. Maybe starting an Esperanto club around here would be a good idea, if I get really serious about this. There’s gotta be a few Esperantists around here, at least. We could always meet for coffee or something.
Anyway, I picked up the book right away and began my “formal” Esperanto training. The book recommends an hour a day of practice. I’m worried, though, that maybe I’m rushing too far into the book. After all, this is Day 3 and I’m already on Lesson 2 (out of 15). Various reviews indicate that people using the book become fairly fluent in several months. At this rate, I should be done with the book in one month, and where am I to go from there? Maybe I’m just rushing in because it’s pretty easy; I do know the basics of Esperanto grammar and such already. Maybe it’ll get harder and that’ll make up for things. But I’ll just have to see how it goes. Note to self: Study the vocabulary a bit more. Pronunciation wouldn’t hurt either. Maybe once I’m fluent enough I’ll practice listening. (There are recordings of Esperanto radio broadcasts on the web… or, shall we say, la reto.)
Anyway, the last day of school is tomorrow, and final exams began today. I hope beginning my Esperanto studies right before my Spanish exam didn’t hinder my accomplishment on the latter. It probably did a little, but either way, I didn’t know some of those words.
I’m not sure what to think of this: “A birthday that involves copyright infringement is an Unhappy Birthday.” The site explains that the lyrics to “Happy Birthday to You” are copyrighted, and that technically, royalties can (and should) be collected when the song is performed in public. Um, I think it’s satirical. But the facts appear to be true. The lyrics to this little ditty are protected by copyright, but luckily, the melody is not. Says the site: “The melody has since passed into the public domain, and is safe to hum in public without permission.”
It just goes to show that copyright law has gone too far. The song, which was written in 1893 and formally copyrighted in 1935, should have become public domain in 1991, but will continue to be protected (?) till the year 2030… if man is still alive… if woman can survive…
