So, the biggest headache I'm seeing so far is being able to type Esperanto letters. Funny that when Zamenhof published his first book about Esperanto in 1887, he had no trouble typing his characters on his typewriter and couldn't imagine that technology would evolve to the point where it wouldn't be possible to type them easily.
Luckily, the New Zealand Esperanto Association has compiled a handy list of Esperanto keyboards for a wide variety of modern systems. Also note that even though Esperanto isn't available yet for mobile apps, you should still be able to access the course from your mobile browser!
Link: How to type Esperanto characters
Update We now support the x-system in our course! It won't convert as you type, but you can submit a sentence with the x-system and if it will be marked correct, it will not be marked as a typo. YAY!
Esperanto is distinct from most other languages in that its culture does not originate in a particular location. There is even the concept of Esperantio (literally: Esperantoland), which refers to everywhere in the world where Esperanto is currently being used.
There's an Esperanto event happening somewhere in the world every day. The Universala Kongreso is the biggest event where thousands of Esperanto speakers meet each year. However, it is usually better to wait until you've reached an advanced level of Esperanto to attend this event. Such a large event is indeed impressive, but it's also easy to get lost in the crowd as a beginner.
If you are 30 or younger, the Internacia Junulara Kongreso or Junulara E-Semajno are especially welcoming. Both have interesting lectures during the day and lively evening programs with concerts, dancing, beer and tea (in the gufujo, literally: “owl room,” a chill-out room). See this list of Esperanto events
Many Esperanto singers and bands play everything from folk to hip hop to hard core! Popular artists include:
- Dolchamar (rock/hip hop)
- Inicialoj DC (electronic)
- jOmO (folk/rock)
- Jonny M (raggae)
- Ĵomart kaj Nataŝa (folk)
- Kajto (folk)
- Persone (rock)
Muzaiko is a 24-hour online Esperanto radio station. Its music selection is quite diverse, so if you don't like the song currently playing, just wait a few minutes and you'll probably like the next!
Due to Esperanto’s flexible structure, many authors are inspired to write in this language. This flexibility allows poets and novelists a unique medium for sharing their deepest thoughts with an international audience. The avid Esperanto reader has no lack of material given the thousands of books published all over the world.
Along with a rich body of original Esperanto literature, translations have the distinct advantage of typically being translated by a native speaker of the source language. A native language translator has a better chance of capturing all the nuances of the original text in their translations.
There are also three words which are unique to Esperanto:
krokodili to speak one's native language when Esperanto is more appropriate. The idea is that when you're in an international Esperanto environment, it is considered inappropriate to speak your native language, since everyone can understand Esperanto, but not your native language.
aligatori to speak one’s non-native national language when Esperanto is more appropriate. Also be aware of the aligatorejo (literally: alligator place): a language-practicing session where you may speak any language except for your native language or Esperanto.
kabei to leave the Esperanto movement. This was named after Kabe (Kazimierz Bein) who was a prolific Esperanto writer and then suddenly left the Esperanto community in 1911.
The initiator of Esperanto, L. L. Zamenhof, was born in 1859 and grew up in Białystok (then Russia, now Poland). He saw many ethnicities living together: Poles, Belarusians, Russians, Jews, Germans, Tatars, Lithuanians, etc. Many conflicts arose from the lack of a common language, so he decided to take matters in his own hands by creating an easy-to-learn language, so everyone would be able to speak with each other.
After over a decade of work, in 1887, he released his first book, now known as Unua Libro in Russian. He later published this same book in other languages like Polish, French, German and English. Many people started learning and using Esperanto, which caused it to evolve naturally through international correspondence and chance meetings.
This all culminated in the first large Esperanto meeting called the Universala Kongreso (UK) in Boulogne-sur-Mer, France in 1905. Here 688 people came together to discover that Esperanto really works. They were equally surprised to discover that by the end of the week, they were speaking with a neutral Esperanto accent! A few years later in 1908, the Universala Esperanto-Asocio was founded, later becoming responsible for running the Universala Kongreso.
Esperanto is used in over 120 countries around the world. Through Pasporta Servo, Esperanto speakers stay with hosts in over 90 countries. Esperanto also has a very active online presence, which can be seen on various sites around the Internet:
- Wikipedia (200,000 Esperanto articles)
- Google (search and translate work in Esperanto)
- Facebook (groups and official Esperanto translation)
- China Radio International (daily news in Esperanto)
Enjoy being part of this growing and truly international community!
Behind the scenes: This was the Tips & Notes we planned to release for the Esperanto Culture bonus skill. Due to technical issues, we can't currently release our bonus skills, but we hope these will be solved soon.
Thanks to a very helpful member of the Duolingo Esperanto Learners Group on Facebook, we are pleased to present the following useful summary:
When to use -n:
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When the noun is the direct object: “Mi amas vin”, I love you.
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When an adjective is describing the direct object: “Li ŝatas manĝi verdajn pomojn”, He likes to eat green apples.
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When there is motion towards the noun: “La infano saltas sur la liton”, The child jumps onto the bed (compare “La infano saltas sur la lito”, the child was already on the bed and is jumping on it).
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When expressing a duration of time: “La kapo doloris min la tutan tagon”, My head hurt the whole day.
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When expressing length, quantities, price, distance and measures: “La ŝtofo estas 2 metrojn longa”, The fabric is 2 metres long; “La domo kostas multan monon”, The house costs a lot of money; “Ili marŝis dudek kilometrojn”, They walked twenty kilometres.
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For greetings, thanks, wishes, apologies, and other similar expressions: “Saluton”, “bonan tagon”, “pardonon”, “bonan apetiton”, "gratulon", “dankon”, etc. These are shortened forms of a longer phrase: “Mi donas al vi dankon", “Mi deziras al vi bonan tagon”.
When NOT to use -n:
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When the noun is the subject
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Directly after “esti” or “fariĝi”
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On “la”: “Ŝi verŝas teon en la tason” (NOT “Ŝi verŝas teon en lan tason”)
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On numbers that are not nouns: “Ili havas du hundojn” (NOT “Ili havas dun hundojn)
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When saying the name of the person you are talking to: “Mi amas vin, paĉjo” (NOT “Mi amas vin, paĉjon”)
NEVER use -n after: al, ĉe, da, de, dum, el, ĝis, kun, laŭ, per, por, pro, pri.
- Duolingo Esperanto Learners Facebook Group
- Celebrity Esperanto AMAs (Ask Me Anything) (Note: this leads to Duolingo threads so may need preserving separately)
- Telegram Esperanto chat
- Pasporta Servo: Esperanto Hosts
- Introductory Esperanto-USA offer
Congratulations on finishing the Esperanto tree! Now you’re probably wondering what you can do with your new-found knowledge. Here are some ideas!
- Nord-Amerika Somera Kursaro - Esperanto course in Raleigh, NC, USA (July 2019?)
- Somera Esperanto-Semajno - Esperanto course in Slovakia (July 2019?)
- Ekparolu! - Skype course created for Esperanto Duolingo graduates
- Mazi en Gondolando
- Pasporto al la tuta mondo - 16-episode soap opera (progressively increasing in difficulty)
- Lernu! - many courses and materials for intermediate to advanced students
- Complete Esperanto - comprehensive course with dialogs
- Being Colloquial in Esperanto - Esperanto grammar for intermediate students
- Gerda malaperis - novel in easy Esperanto (increases difficulty as you read)
- Vojaĝo en Esperanto-lando - intermediate textbook highlighting Eo culture sample
- So Many Ways to Learn Esperanto - huge list of resources for learning Esperanto
- Konciza klarigo pri landonomoj - fully understand Esperanto country names
- Pasporta Servo - stay with Esperanto speakers in 90+ countries
- Guide to the Main International Esperanto Events
- Calendar of Esperanto Events
- Telegram: Duolingo-lernantoj - chat with other Duolingo Esperanto learners (including Spanish speakers) in Esperanto
- Telegram: Esperantujo - chat with Esperanto speakers all over the world
- Awesome Esperanto music videos - YouTube compilation
- Concert videos - compilation of different bands
- Vinilkosmo MP3 - largest Esperanto music label
- Muzaiko - 24/7 online radio station
- Varsovia Vento - current events in the Esperanto community
- Radio Verda - amazing series for intermediate speakers
- Kern.punkto.net - technology, culture, society
- Pola Retradio - varied program
- Esperanta Retradio - podcast with transcripts
- Easy Esperanto talk videos - Youtube videos spoken slowly and clearly
- Evildea - entertaining YouTube channel in Esperanto/English
- Esperanto Variety Show - Esperanto channel for beginners
- STUDIO - Esperanto video collection
- Fajron sentas mi interne - easy-to-read novel
- UEA-katalogo - buy books from UEA
- Esperanto USA Retbutiko - buy books from Esperanto USA
- Start reading Esperanto literature - guide for beginners
- Reddit Esperanto - about Esperanto
- Reddit Esperante - in Esperanto
- TEJO-Aktuale - TEJO's newsletter
- Chinese International Radio - news from China
- Kontakto - TEJO's cultural magazine
- Stack Exchange - Ask or answer questions about Esperanto
- Agadejo - Find or announce Esperanto projects (Facebook)
- Agadujo - Chat about Esperanto projects (Telegram)
- Vikipedio - Wikipedia in Esperanto
- Cooperate in Muzaiko - send recordings for the station
- City Weekend - organize a small Esperanto event in North America
- Esperanto USA
- Esperanto Association of Britain
- Scottish Esperanto Association (SEA)
- Esperanto Association of Ireland (EAI)
- Australian Esperanto Association
- Canadian Esperanto Association
- New Zealand Esperanto Association
- Esperanto Association of South Africa (EASA)
- Complete list of National Associations - over 175 (!) countries
The Introductory Membership to Esperanto-USA is available to anyone who has completed an Esperanto course, and is not now (and has not been) a member of Esperanto-USA. This membership provides all the rights and privileges as listed in the category '12-Month Memberships'. See details.
