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Esperanto culture

Esperanto culture refers to the shared cultural experience of the Esperantujo, or Esperanto-speaking community. Despite being a constructed language, Esperanto has a history dating back to the late 19th century, and shared socio-cultural norms have developed among its speakers. Some of these can be traced back to the initial ideas of the language's creator, Ludwig Zamenhof, including the theory that a global second language would foster international communication. Others have developed over time, as the language has allowed different national and linguistic cultures to blend together. Some Esperanto speakers have also researched the language's ideologies.

Esperanto culture also includes art, literature, and music, as well as international celebrations and cultural exchanges such as the Pasporta Servo.

Native speakers

Native Esperanto speakers are people who have acquired Esperanto as one of their native languages. As of 1996, there were 350 or so attested cases of families with native Esperanto speakers. Estimates from associations indicate that there are currently around 1,000 Esperanto-speaking families, involving perhaps 2,000 children. In all known cases, speakers are natively multilingual, being raised in both Esperanto and either the local national language or the native language of their parents. In all but a handful of cases, it was the father who used Esperanto with the child. In the majority of such families, the parents had the same native language, though in many the parents had different native languages, and only Esperanto in common.

Zamenhof Day

On December 15 (L. L. Zamenhof's birthday), Esperanto speakers around the world celebrate Zamenhof Day, sometimes called Book Day. It's a common goal to have a book written in Esperanto published on or by that day, as Zamenhof was a strong advocate of the idea that in order to spread Esperanto around the world, its speakers need to create a large body of literature.

The poem La Espero is the Esperanto anthem, and most Esperanto speakers know the lyrics of the anthem by heart. It is often sung at conventions. Whether or not one enjoys the lyrics, the song is something that ties all Esperanto speakers together — as it has been around since Esperanto's early days. The tune of La Espero is known to most Esperanto speakers, and is a general tradition. The very short poem Ho, mia kor' (Zamenhof, 1887) and the longer La vojo (Zamenhof, 1896) are also very famous and often quoted in whole or in part; some distychs of La vojo, in particular, have become proverbial (e.g. Eĉ guto malgranda, konstante frapante, traboros la monton granitan “Even a small drop, by constantly hitting, will pierce the mountain of granite” as a metaphor for unyielding perseverance).

Pasporta Servo

The Pasporta Servo (English: Passport Service) is a hospitality exchange service available both online and in print that lists people in Esperanto culture who are willing to offer free homestays to speakers of Esperanto. It is maintained by the World Esperanto Youth Organization (TEJO). The platform is a gift economy; hosts are not allowed to charge for lodging. Guests using the service are encouraged to speak only Esperanto with their hosts.

History

In 1966, psychologist Rubén Feldman González started the Programo Pasporto, a lodging service for Esperanto speakers, in Argentina.

In 1974, the Pasporta Servo directory was first published.

In August 2008, the directory was first published online.

Website: https://www.pasportaservo.org

Esperanto events

There's an Esperanto event happening somewhere in the world every day. There are congresses, festivals, local groups, online events, Esperanto bike tours and much more.

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).

Eventa Servo

Eventa Servo - find Esperanto Events all around the world https://eventaservo.org/

Esperanto Literature

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.

Literature in the Esperanto language began before the first official publication in Esperanto in 1887: the language's creator, L. L. Zamenhof, translated poetry and prose into the language as he was developing it as a test of its completeness and expressiveness, and published several translations and a short original poem as an appendix to the first book on the language, Unua Libro. Other early speakers wrote poetry, stories, and essays in the language; Henri Vallienne was the first to write novels in Esperanto. The first female Esperanto novelist was Edith Alleyne Sinnotte with her book Lilio published in 1918. Except for a handful of poems, most of the literature from Esperanto's first two decades is now regarded as of historical interest only.

Between the two World Wars, several new poets and novelists published their first works, including several recognized as the first to produce work of outstanding quality in the still-young language: Julio Baghy, Eŭgeno Miĥalski, Kálmán Kalocsay, Heinrich Luyken, and Jean Forge.

Modern authors include Claude Piron and William Auld, who was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature, Sten Johansson, Trevor Steele, Miguel Fernández , Julia Sigmund, Sen Rodin, Eugène de Zilah, Liven Dek , Manuel de Seabra, Baldur Ragnarsson, Jorge Camacho, Victor Sadler, Edwin de Kock , Mao Zifu , Benoît Philippe and others.

Esperanto has seen a solid production of material in braille since the work of the blind Russian Esperantist Vasili Eroshenko, who wrote and taught in Japan and China in the 1910s and 1920s, and Harold Brown wrote several modern plays in Esperanto.

The largest Esperanto book service at the Universal Esperanto Association offers around 4,000 books in its catalog. About 130 novels have been published originally in Esperanto. Two major literary magazines: Literatura Foiro, and Beletra Almanako, are published regularly; some other magazines, such as Monato, also publish fiction.

The most comprehensive guide to the literature of the language is Geoffrey Sutton's Concise Encyclopedia of the Original Literature of Esperanto, published under the auspices of the Esperanto-speaking Writers' Association by Mondial.

Esperanto book stores:

You can also order books directly from the publishers. UEA and FEL are important publishers themselves. Here is a list of other important publishers:

  • Mondial (USA)
  • Sezonoj (Russia)
  • Impeto (Russia)
  • Espero (Slovakia)
  • E@I (Slovakia)
  • KAVA-PECH (Czechia)
  • Edistudio (Italy)

Esperanto music

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!

Esperanto Podcasts

Listo de radioj kaj podkastoj en Esperanto: https://eo.wikipedia.org/wiki/Listo_de_radioj_kaj_podkastoj_en_Esperanto

Here are a few well known Esperanto Podcasts:

  • Varsovia Vento
  • Kern.Punkto
  • Usone Persone
  • Bobelarto
  • Fremdulo
  • Esperanta Retradio

Esperanto YouTube

#01 "American Esperantist" - over 15,300 subscribers This is a pure learning channel. This, unfortunately, inactive channel for five years offers grammar lessons on all aspects of Esperanto and has become the biggest Esperanto channel. https://www.youtube.com/c/AmericanEsperantist

#02 "Evildea" - over 11,200 subscribers Evildea is the largest active Esperanto YouTuber, and certainly the most famous, active, and one of the first. The Australian Esperantist with a unique style consistently works in the classic vlog format and has made Esperanto YouTube a term over the last 12 years. https://www.youtube.com/user/Evildela

#03 "Exploring Esperanto" - over 7,100 subscribers American actor Alex Miller publishes high-quality Esperanto learning videos in English, short films in Esperanto, and much more on this channel. Alex has become a central figure in the American Esperanto movement, and much of it is documented on this channel. https://www.youtube.com/user/HelloAlexMiller

#04 "TEJO Esperanto" - over 5,700 subscribers The channel of TEJO (world esperanto youth organisation) publishes, besides the usual congress videos (including almost three musicals of the last years in good quality), also mini-documentaries and interviews on current topics. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1cW8y4NncmbRr6zD5IO8xw

#05 "Esperanto Variety Show" - over 5,000 subscribers American Esperantist Tomaso publishes music, sketches, teaching materials, and much more here. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXnT_KZNsQw-MX8Q8gJQDgw

#06 "Keep it simple Esperanto" - over 4,000 subscribers Channel of British Esperantist Beki, with videos about learning Esperanto, traveling, and many other related topics. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIZh0d1jO85yVh7R4lcPmFw

#07 "UEAviva" - over 3,300 subscribers The channel of UEA focuses unsurprisingly entirely on Esperanto culture, with recordings of congresses, lectures, and conversations. https://www.youtube.com/user/UEAviva

#08 "Chelsea Rae Moses" - over 2,600 subscribers Chelsea is a young American Esperantist who makes videos about Esperanto, dancing, Spanish and the Yiddish language. https://www.youtube.com/@tinydancestar

#09 "Babelo Filmoj" - over 2,500 subscribers Today, this inactive channel published children's films in Esperanto. Their most famous work by far is the song "Dek Bovinoj," which has achieved cult status in Esperanto internet culture. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxZeYDGx8SGdIu1WfFfIc5Q

#10 "Federación Española de Esperanto" - Over 2,600 subscribers The channel of the Spanish Esperanto Federation mainly publishes recordings of events, music, and conversations. https://www.youtube.com/user/esesperanto

#11 "Learn Esperanto - Direct Method" - over 2,500 subscribers This secondary channel by Evildea teaches Esperanto using the "Direct Method," i.e., entirely monolingual and without translations. It works surprisingly well and is also worth a look for those who already speak Esperanto well. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5p3lVv0FLmLoExL-_iU2DA

#12 "Jomart" - over 2,400 subscribers The channel of the musicians Ĵomart kaj Nataŝa. https://www.youtube.com/user/Jomka

#13 "Jacinto Yogui" - Over 2,100 subscribers A now inactive channel for over five years with a lot of music in Esperanto and recordings about Esperanto events. https://www.youtube.com/user/JacintoYogui

#14 "Jonny M" - Over 2,000 subscribers Music and Let's Plays by the german esperanto reggae musician Jonas Marx. https://www.youtube.com/user/JonnyMmusic

#15 "VINILKOSMO Esperanto-Muzik-Prod" - Over 2,000 subscribers The bigest Esperanto music label regularly publishes music in Esperanto on this channel. https://www.youtube.com/user/vinilkosmo

#16 "EsperantoUSA" - over 2,000 subscribers The channel of American Esperantists has been very active in recent years, and you can find general news about Esperanto in the USA and all the films of the now fifth "Usona Bona Film-Festival." https://www.youtube.com/user/EsperantoUSA

#17 "Scivolemo" - over 1,800 subscribers Scivolemo is a science channel in Esperanto that publishes short mini-documentaries and explanatory videos on various topics. Often, these are re-synchronized existing videos from sources like NASA or the german television ZDF. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJy1LAuTnZjrov6QFWSagug

#18 "CatieKejti" - over 1,800 subscribers Catie is a young American who talks about her life and various topics in Esperanto. She is also a mother and raises her child bilingual in Esperanto. Catie is also an active Esperanto TikToker. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9cD5GI3Jfh92hUuqmt8eIQ https://www.tiktok.com/@catietwice

#19 "Oliver rakontas" - over 1,700 subscribers Oliver is a very active Austrian teacher who publishes videos on many knowledge topics in Esperanto. But other topics like book reviews are also regularly on the program. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLgkMgy1i9QaOzC_PM9AoRg

#20 "Ekstremoj" - over 1,700 subscribers Ekstremoj is an older channel with a classic focus on Esperanto music, culture, and events. https://www.youtube.com/user/Ekstremoj

Other interesting channels:

Esperanto Publications