Pictures of the EAB stall
The new CD/CD-ROM which we were giving away
This was the Esperanto Association of Britain's site from 2005 to 2018. You will find its current site at esperanto.org.uk.
As has become tradition over the last few years, EAB had a presence at the annual Language Show between October 30th and November 1st. The venue, London Olimpia, plays host to some of the language-world's big names, as publishers with years of renown and pedigree vie for the public's attention alongside enterprising individuals who are keen to demonstrate (and sell, of course) teaching aids that they've devised. Delegations from entire cities (Salamanca in Spain, for example) rented out big stands at great expense to entice people to take up language courses, whilst employers (the RAF, financial firms) sought linguisticly adept recruits.
Somewhere in the middle of this hubbub was the EAB stand. We were selling not products (though books and posters were available if people took an interest) but awareness of our language. It would seem previous years' work has born some small fruit, in the sense that there were far fewer cases of hearing "Is it still going?" or "What's Esperanza?" than I recall coming across in the past.
Our presence was complemented by the fine array of colourful and amusingly enticing posters from our project Springboard ... to languages and our leaflets and flyers were very professional in the main, causing us to not look so out of place. The wonderful documentary Esperanto Estas was playing in the background, and several hundred of our new, informative CD-ROMs were given away, containing the documentary itself and six music tracks by Esperanto-speaking groups, each in a different style.
Tim Owen
Pictures of the EAB stall
The new CD/CD-ROM which we were giving away