Esperanto, Pasporto al la Tuta Mondo

Project Coordinator: Lusi Harmon

Conceived by Edwin Grobe

Author: Dr. Paul Gubbins

ESF Investment: approx. $123,000

This project entailed the production of a comprehensive 15-lesson video course in Esperanto. Entitled Esperanto, Pasporto al la Tuta Mondo, the course involves an international team of actors, an original script, a professional documentary film director, and consultation with several outstanding Esperanto teachers. An ESF educational grant enabled the completion and marketing of the first 12 episodes, together with a comprehensive set of workbooks. ESF Board member Grant Goodall has also developed a workshop for teachers interested in using the series. A description of the program is provided below.

Esperanto, Pasporto al la Tuta Mondo is an Esperanto course, consisting of 15 video lessons (of 30 minutes each), intended for individual or group study, plus a 16th lesson with a summary, history and original music. The pedagogically based entertaining story line makes learning Esperanto easier and more fun. Each lesson is presented entirely in Esperanto and consists of three parts: introduction, drama, recapitulation.

NOTE: This course was originally prepared in VHS format on eight video cassettes, with accompanying printed text and exercises. A DVD version is now available consisting of four DVD disks with four lessons each, plus two CDs; one of the lesson texts in PDF format, and one of the accompanying exercises, also in PDF format. Both versions are available from Esperanto-USA (previously, ELNA) (see below).

In each lesson, an introduction by a teacher offers a brief review of the previous lesson and outlines the main grammatical points to be covered in the current lesson. On the video tapes, this is entirely in Esperanto; but on the DVDs subtitles for the words of the teacher are available in several languages: Esperanto, English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Italian, German, and Japanese. Subtitles in other languages are in process of being added for other regions of the world.

The drama continuously builds interest in the character and intrigue for the many plot twists throughout the 15 lessons. The continuity of situation and character development of a television-style drama make students eager to follow the adventures of the Bonvolo family and their friends and acquaintances.

To reinforce and practice the new material introduced in each lesson, the recapitulation by the "teacher" at the beginning and end of each lesson looks in detail at the principal grammatical points presented in the drama and prepares the learner for the written exercises which accompany the course. The written exercises, created by Stefan MacGill, complement the lessons and provide the reading and writing practice essential to the learning of any language.

Aims

Pasporto is a carefully graded introductory course designed to take a beginning student through the principal stages of Esperanto acquisition. Vocabulary, phrases and grammar are introduced naturally via the dialogue. By the end of the 15 lessons it is anticipated that the learner will be able to:

  • Converse with confidence and accuracy in a range of everyday situations;
  • Understand spoken Esperanto in a variety of contexts and from a variety of speakers with moderate national accents;
  • Recognize the principal features of Esperanto grammar and apply them in spoken and written discourse;
  • Identify and understand aspects of Esperanto culture
  • Flourish in the wider Esperanto world, participating with profit and pleasure in Esperanto courses and events such as local, regional, national and international gatherings and excursions.

See below the first episodes (for more, please go to Youtube)

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