A weekend of immersion and education for Esperanto learners | Cambridge, 16/17 November 2024
The Esperanto Association of Britain is organising its third Studa Semajnfino, and we'll be running it free of charge!
If you've already started learning Esperanto but aren't yet a confident, fluent speaker, then this weekend course will be of benefit to you. Our friendly team of tutors will provide a range of activities tailored to a range of abilities, from those who are relatively new and have been learning by themselves, all the way up to those who can hold conversations and engage in discussion to a reasonably good degree.
Three experienced teachers will be present to ensure excellent quality and variety. You'll be working with: Tim Owen, Tim Morley and Maurizio ‘Rico’ Giacometto. And two newer teachers will be there, too. Say ‘saluton!’ to John Greenwood and Roberto Garcia, both of whom have been tutors for the London Esperanto Club!
We've got three 30-person classrooms located next door to each other, where you'll be participating with people at a similar level, but free to mix among yourselves as you wish.
We'll be at the Lord Ashcroft Building at Anglia Ruskin University, East Road, Cambridge CB1 1PT.
The event will be running from 9.30am on Saturday the 16th and 9am on Sunday the 17th of November. We'll be ending the sessions at about 5pm on both days.
There is a Travelodge and a PremierInn located on Newmarket Street, about a ten-minute walk away.
If the cost of staying in a hotel is prohibitive for you, please do feel free to request some financial support.
Perhaps you've only recently started learning Esperanto, and are working your way through Duolingo or Complete Esperanto. We know that taking those first steps is very daunting, which is why we'll have a classroom set up just for people like you. You'll get the full works: sessions with all six of our tutors, who will make sure that you feel comfortable and supported. We were all new once!
You'll get plenty of opportunities to interact with others via games and discussion groups, and will be free to drop in and out of other groups as you see fit.
You'll be engaging in higher-level discussions, trying your hand at translation, literary analysis, and refining your capabilities ... without speaking a word of English!
The system we use (A2, B1 ...) is based on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. Want to get an idea of what they actually mean? Here's a self-assessment checklist!
The details below are from the session which took place in Edgbaston in April. We've left them here so that you get an idea of what will be in store in the next session in Cambridge. It will start at 9.30am on the Saturday and 9am on the Sunday, ending at around 5pm on both days. We'll publish a programme nearer the time.
Here are some of the sessions you'll be able to participate in over the weekend, with indications of who the target groups are. You'll be free to come and go as you please during the weekend, picking what works best for you, your abilities, and your enjoyment.
A card game for all comers of any age with any level of Esperanto ... including none at all!
Play with Esperanto's affix system, creating new words and even sentences.
We'll use some of EAB's own books to give you a chance to speak Esperanto out loud. Practice your pronunciation alongside your fellow learners, and then help each other to learn those sounds which get your tongue tied up.
You can learn a lot of Esperanto by yourself on Duolingo (or on lernu.net, or with Complete Esperanto) but there are probably aspects of it that aren't immediately clear to you. So come to this session with your list of questions, or just sit at the back working through Duolingo lessons until something comes up, then ask away!
A whistlestop tour, in English, showing what's special about the language.
Come prepared to make a short presentation of your own! An ideal starter for people with little experience of speaking Esperanto because you'll be able to prepare everything in advance on a topic you know well.
Perhaps a bit like Simon says, only with Rico leading! A fun activity which will help you improve your understanding of spoken Esperanto and the nuances that simple words can add, and encourage you to speak out loud, too!
In this interactive session for beginners and intermediate learners, Tim Morley will lead the group through creating a story in Esperanto. You're welcome to contribute in English or Esperanto as you like, and will have the chance to practise Esperanto throughout the session.
A fun way to get you speaking and learning at the same time!
You'll have access to a rare commodity: a person who earns his living through Esperanto, has written the essential textbooks of the modern day, and is a member of the Akademio de Esperanto. Use him to answer your Esperanto-related questions on all things historic and how the language works, general knowledge, and opinions about the past, present and future! English and Esperanto will both be welcome.
We'll discuss translation and then work on translating an English text (distributed beforehand) into Esperanto, analysing your individual responses. Maybe we'll find the next person whose name will be on the title page of a book alongside a famous author's!
Esperanto has a profoundly large amount of original literature. We'll read through and analyse an extract from a book originally written in Esperanto. Perhaps your gateway into discovering our literary pearls!
You'll be issued with a cheatsheet of how to sound natural when speaking Esperanto, which you'll then put into practice when speaking on a surprise topic for 60 seconds without hesitation, repetition or deviation, as in the classic radio show Just a Minute!
Eseo verkita de Jouko Lindstedt nomas tri specojn de esperantismo. En grupo vi diskutos tiun ĉi temon, esplorante la variaĵojn kaj klarigante, en kiu kategorio vi troviĝas.
Further activities to be announced once the programme is confirmed, a chance to pick up some of our books, refreshments during the day, and opportunities to use Esperanto socially outside the classroom!
