Free Esperanto Course

• F R E E E S P E R A N T O C O U R S E
  __________________________________________________________________________

  Introduction

  WHAT IS ESPERANTO?

  Esperanto, the international language, is a language developed to make it
  easier for people of different cultures to communicate. Its author, Dr. L.
  L. Zamenhof (1859-1917), published his “Lingvo Internacia” in 1887 under
  the pseudonym “Dr. Esperanto”. It is now spoken by at least two million
  people, in over 100 countries. There are thousands of books and over 100
  periodicals published currently. But what makes it any more international
  than French, English or Russian?

  Incorrectly termed 'artificial' (the right word is 'planned'), Esperanto is
  specifically intended for international/intercultural use, so those who use
  it meet each other on an equal footing, since neither is using his or her
  native language. With national languages, the average person isn't able to
  express himself as well as a native speaker or the gifted linguist. Thanks
  to its simple, logical, regular design, anyone can learn Esperanto fairly
  rapidly.

  A LIVING LANGUAGE

  Esperanto is a living language, used for everything people use any other
  language for. But it's much easier to learn than a national language. Even
  people who can't remember a word of a language they studied for years in
  high school or college need only months of intensive study to become fluent
  in Esperanto. It is also more useful than national languages if your goal
  in learning a language is to get to know people from different places,
  since virtually everyone who speaks Esperanto has learned it for this
  reason.

  ABOUT THIS COURSE

  This course is based on ELNA's Free Postal Course, which is, in turn, based
  on a very popular postal course in use today in England. The course is a
  bit old-fashioned, and we are working on a more appealing version. In the
  meantime, you will have to bear with it. Upon successful completion of the
  ten lessons, you will receive a framable Certificate of Completion.

  A note about the orthography: To facilitate distribution of this course
  over the net, we have chosen to represent the two diacritical marks (the
  circumflex or ^, and the breve, a 'reversed circumflex' unavailable in
  standard character sets) by adding an x immediately following the
  character. Hence the combinations cx, gx, hx, jx, sx, (where x = ^) and ux
  (where x = [breve]) should be thought of as single characters.

  GETTING CONNECTED

  Here are the WWW sites of national Esperanto associations in the major
  English-speaking countries. If your country isn't listed, ask us and we
  can find the address for you.

  Australia:
  Australian Esperanto Association
  http://www.esperanto.org.au/

  Britain:
  British Esperanto Association
  http://www.esperanto.demon.co.uk/

  Canada:
  Canadian Esperanto Association
  http://www.sentex.net/~engcorp/kea/

  India:
  mailto:helpo@giaspn01.vsnl.net.in

  Ireland:
  http://www.selfgrow.com/esperanto/

  New Zealand:
  Esperanto Association of New Zealand
  mailto:neelam@voyager.co.nz

  USA:
  Esperanto League for North America
  http://www.esperanto-usa.org/

  The World Association is:
  Universala Esperanto-Asocio
  http://wwwtios.cs.utwente.nl/esperanto/org/uea/

  __________________________________________________________________________

  Lesson One

  Language is all about things (nouns) and their actions (verbs) of energetic
  things:

  One thing… Acts on… Another thing

  birdo kaptas… insekton.
  a bird catches… an insect.

  subject noun verb object noun

  Esperanto is “grammar-coded” – you can tell what part each word plays
  in a sentence from the word endings:

  -o -on
  single subject noun single object noun

  -oj -ojn
  plural subject noun plural object noun

  To show when the action takes place, the verb tense (time) is changed by
  putting these endings on the verb roots:

  present tense –as describes it as it happens
  past tense –is shows an action completed
  future tense –os action still to begin

  Birdoj kaptis insektojn.
  Birds caught insects.

  Birdoj kaptos insektojn.
  Birds will-catch insects.

  Every noun and every verb follows the above rules without exception.

  In Esperanto, things have no gender (they are not male or female, as in
  many other languages.) There is only one word for 'the', no matter if the
  noun is singular or plural, subject or object. Therefore:

  La birdoj kaptas la insektojn.
  La birdo kaptis la insekton.

  In Esperanto the word order matters less than in English. All the
  following sentences describe the same action (only the emphasis is
  changed):

  Viro legas libron. Viro libron legas.
  Libron legas viro. Libron viro legas.
  Legas viro libron. Legas libron viro.

  A man reads a book.

  Here are some words in Esperanto (the apostrophe indicates an incomplete
  word, a root):

  Nouns Verbs (roots) More nouns
  amiko (friend) far' (do, make) kafo (coffee)
  filo (son) forges' (forget) kuko (cake)
  frato (brother) hav' (have) lakto (milk)
  instruisto (teacher) trink' (drink) pano (bread)
  knabo (boy) vend' (sell) sukero (sugar)
  patro (father) vid' (see) teo (tea)

  Each Esperanto letter has only one sound, always. Here is a guide to some
  of the sounds. The stress is always on the next-to-last syllable of a
  word.

  A E I O U
  palm there three glory too

  c = ts (in lots); oj = oy (in boy); G = g (in go)
  kn are always pronounced separately: k-nabo

  __________________________________________________________________________

  Study Aid for Lesson One

  Read Lesson 1 thoroughly, but before trying the exercises below,
  try these translations and check your answers with ours.

  (We have supplied some words and endings to help you get started).

  1. The friend will-sell milk.

  lakton.

  2. Mother drinks coffee with milk and sugar.

  Patrino -n kun kaj

  3. The teachers forgot the tea.

  -j -n.

  4. The boys will-make the cake.

  -n.

  5. La knabinoj vidos la instruiston. [knabinoj = girls]

  6. La instruisto vidis la knabinojn.

  7. La filoj trinkas teon sen lakto. [sen = without]

  8. La birdoj vidis la insektojn.

  After checking these sentences, do the exercises of Lesson 1.
  If there is anything you do not understand, be sure to ask your tutor.

  We will try to be prompt, but be patient, and most of all:
  Bonvenon al Esperanto (Welcome to Esperanto)!

  A
  nswers to the above exercises

  1. La amiko vendos lakton.
  2. Patrino trinkas kafon kun lakto kaj sukero.
  3. La instruistoj forgesis la teon.
  4. La knaboj faros la kukon.
  5. The girls will see the teacher.
  6. The teacher saw the girls.
  7. The sons drink tea without milk.
  8. The birds saw the insects.

  __________________________ extract from here ____________________________

  Ekzercoj, Leciono Unu (Exercises, Lesson One)

  Take your time and translate the following sentences into Esperanto.
  Type your answers between the questions.

  Examples: The men sold cakes.
  La viroj vendis kukojn.

  The man sold a cake.
  La viro vendis kukon.

  [Note]

  1. Father makes a cake.

  2. The boy will-have the sugar.

  3. The son forgot the milk.

  4. The boys drink tea.

  5. The friend sold the bread.

  6. The teacher sees a boy.

  7. The son has a friend.

  8. The brother made bread.

  9. The boys will-have cake.

  10. Father forgot the sugar.

  11. The boys had friends.

  12. The sons saw the bread.

  13. The brothers sell sugar.

  14. The teacher forgets the boy.

  15. The friend will-drink milk.

  16. The sons are-making cakes.

  17. Father will-sell the cake.

  18. The friend had bread.

  19. The boys will-see the teachers.

  20. The teachers drink coffee.

  __________________________ extract to here ____________________________

  Now, don't forget to add your name and e-mail address, and mail these
  exercises to the address for your tutor in the Welcome Letter, with
  subject: 'FEC ekz 1'.

  Well, we hope we haven't scared you off in this first meeting with
  Esperanto. Just remember – the language ability you used in the above
  exercises might take months to reach in secondary school French or Spanish.

  The Free Esperanto Course begins simply, but by Lesson 10 you will
  understand sophisticated Esperanto with complex syntax.

  Upon satisfactory completion of the series of ten lessons, you will receive
  a framable 'Certificate of Completion'.

  __________________________________________________________________________

  While waiting for a reply from your tutor, you can learn some numbers
  and colors:

  0 nulo (say: noo-lo)
  1 unu (say: oo-noo) flava (FLAH-vah) yellow
  2 du (say: doo) verda (VER-dah) green
  3 tri (say: t-ri) blua (BLOO-ah) blue
  4 kvar blanka (BLAN-ka) white
  5 kvin nigra (NEE-gra) black
  6 ses griza (GREE-zah) grey
  7 sep bruna (BROO-nah) brown
  8 ok rugxa (ROO-djah) red
  9 naux (say: now) (“gx” as in “gem”, “gentle”)
  10 dek
  11 dek unu
  …
  20 dudek
  21 dudek unu
  …
  30 tridek
  31 tridek unu
  …
  100 cent (say: tsent)

  __________________________________________________________________________

  F R E E E S P E R A N T O C O U R S E
  __________________________________________________________________________

  Lesson Two

  Thanks for trying Lesson 1. By now you should have received corrections
  to the exercises of the first lesson. Here is the next lesson. Keep it
  up!

  Let's review the “grammar-coding” for a second:

  subject thing(s) action object thing(s)
  -o -as -on
  -is
  -oj -os -ojn

  Two-thirds of the pattern so far deals with “things” (nouns). Now let's
  take a look at how to describe these things: good coffee, good tea
  (adjectives).

  Something that describes, such as “good,” is called an adjective. In
  Esperanto, adjectives are grammar coded with an “-a” ending.

  As in some other languages (but not in English) the adjective ending (“-a”)
  has to “agree” with the noun it describes. That is, if the noun is plural,
  the adjective must also be plural. If the noun is an object (“-n”), the
  adjective must also be an object.

  subject thing(s) action object thing(s)
  bona patro havos bonan filon
  a good father will have a good son

  bonaj patroj havos bonajn filojn
  good fathers will have good sons

  (Note: “aj” is pronounced like the English word “eye”.)

  Vocabulary: In each lesson we will introduce about twenty new words to
  you; learn these but remember to review the words in the previous lesson.
  Use the words below to practice what you've just learned.
  The exercises in this lesson are split into three parts.

  Vocabulary, lesson two

  Adjectives Nouns Verb Roots
  bela (beautiful) akvo (water) am' (love)
  granda (big) butiko (shop) lav' (wash)
  nova (new) limonado (lemonade) pet' (ask, request)
  sana (healthy) papero (paper) port' (carry, wear)
  seka (dry) plumo (pen) renkont' (meet)
  varma (warm) taso (cup) skrib' (write)

  __________________________ extract from here ____________________________

  Ekzercoj, Leciono Du (parto unu)

  1. A healthy boy drinks warm milk.

  2. The new shop sells dry cakes.

  3. The big teacher met the new friends.

  4. The good friends will-make a beautiful cake.

  __________________________ extract to here ____________________________

  Reminder:
  -a -o -as -an -on
  -aj -oj -is -ajn -ojn
  -os

  We haven't been able to give you enough vocabulary to let us vary these
  exercises very much, but in Esperanto the system of regular word building
  (with prefixes and suffixes) lets us expand our vocabulary with little
  effort. For example, the “mal-” makes words of opposite meaning:

  bona = good malbona = bad
  pura = clean malpura = dirty
  sana = healthy malsana = ill, sick
  am' = love malam' = hate
  amiko = friend (male) malamiko = enemy (male)

  and similarly the “-in-” makes words specifically female.

  patro = father patrino = mother

  and thus for all female living creatures:

  kato = cat katino = female cat

  The 'vir' prefix is the original way to mark something as explicitly male:
  virkato. Most people avoid using the root form as a 'male' form. It is rare
  that you have to mark sex – it is proper to say, for example, Sally estas
  instruisto, instead of saying Sally estas instruistino.

  __________________________ extract from here ____________________________

  Ekzercoj, Leciono Du (parto du)

  5. The small girl met the ugly sisters.

  6. The old cup has new lemonade.

  7. The new cup has old milk.

  8. Mother will-wash the small cups.

  9. The small boy carried the new bread.

  10. Cold water washes a small boy.

  __________________________ extract to here ____________________________

  “Ne” in front of any verb makes it negative, the action that doesn't
  happe
  n, or didn't happen, or won't happen.

  ne havas = doesn't (don't) have; ne faras = doesn't do

  Here is just one verb (“to be”) displayed in the usual way (all Esperanto
  verbs follow the same rule!):

  General form (infinitive) to be esti

  Present tense (-as form) I am mi estas
  you are vi estas
  he is li estas
  she is sxi estas
  it is gxi estas
  we are ni estas
  you are vi estas
  they are ili estas
  one is oni estas

  est' is the verb root and always appears wherever the verb is used. Does
  this verb even have a root in English? (am, is, are)

  In the above verb display, note:

  sxi (she) is pronounced exactly like the English “she”

  gxi (it) is pronounced like the English “gee!”, as in “Jeep”

  vi (you) is both singular and plural, like the English “you.”

  (There is a word “ci”, singular, but it is used much as the English
  singular “thou” – not very often!)

  Note, too, that although pronouns do not end in -o when they are
  “subject things”, they do take the -n when they are “object things”:

  La patrino lavas la knabon. Sxi lavas lin.
  The mother washes the boy. She washes him.

  Now that we have learned the pronouns:

  mi vi li sxi gxi ni vi ili oni
  I you he she it we you they one

  we can form the possessive adjectives:

  mia via lia sxia gxia nia via ilia (pronounced ee-LEE-a) onia
  my your his her its our your their one's

  which are really adjectives because they identify (describe) the nouns they
  are attached to. Mia plumo = my pen. The ending “-a” on possessive
  adjectives follows the same rules about agreement as adjectives:

  Mia amiko amas mian fratinon.

  Miaj amikoj amas miajn fratinojn.

  __________________________ extract from here ____________________________

  Ekzercoj, Leciono Du (parto tri)

  11. I forgot my pen.

  12. We don't have paper.

  13. My daughter requested warm milk.

  14. Her old friend didn't write.

  15. You will meet their old friends.

  16. She will have the warm water.

  17. Your new teacher forgot your sugar.

  18. The boys hate our new teacher.

  19. They sell tea and (kaj) coffee.

  20. We will sell her cake and his pens.

  Note: kaj (and) is pronounced like the ki in kite.

  __________________________________________________________________________

  F R E E E S P E R A N T O C O U R S E
  __________________________________________________________________________

  Lesson Three

  It may seem like we packed a lot into Lesson Two, but here are the main
  things you have learned so far:

  subject thing(s) action object thing(s)
  -o -as -on
  -is
  -oj -os -ojn

  Mia patrino ——— lavas ——— mian fraton.
  Niaj fratinoj ——— vidis ——- viajn instruistinojn.

  You don't have to write sentences in the above word order, but it is the
  most common form, and for English-speakers it's easier to learn just
  this pattern at first.

  Once you realize that “grammar coding” tells you what part each word plays
  in a sentence (its function), you could, for poetry or emphasis, arrange
  the coded words in any other order without changing the original meaning.

  Let's take a look at a couple of examples of different word order and
  answer a couple of questions (remember to pay attention to the endings of
  the words).

  __________________________ extract from here ____________________________

  Ekzercoj, Leciono Tri (parto unu)

  Mian fraton lavis mia patrino.

  1. Who was washed?
  Who did the washing?

  Instruistinojn viajn fratinoj niaj vidis.

  2. Who did the seeing?
  Who was seen?

  __________________________ extract to here ____________________________

  In this 10-lesson course we are going to stick to the subject-verb-object
  word order, but in well-written Esperanto texts other word orders are
  frequently used for reasons of emphasis and text coherence. If you use
  Esperanto you will rapidly acquire a feeling for word order. The best
  word order to use depends mainly on the context, so it is difficult to give
  precise “rules”.

  Let's go on now, right to this lesson's word list below.

  Vocabulary, lesson three

  Nouns Verbs (infinitives) Adjectives
  horo (hour) atendi (to wait for) blanka (white)
  jaro (year) fumi (to smoke) blua (blue)
  mateno (morning) kuri (to run) bruna (brown)
  minuto (minute) sati (to be satisfied) flava (yellow)
  nokto (night) promeni (to stroll) griza (gray)
  semajno (week) respondi (to answer) nigra (black)
  tago (day) soifi (to be thirsty) rugxa (red)
  vespero (evening) vivi (to live) verda (green)
  demandi (to inquire, ask a question)

  Note the difference between demandi (related to questions) and peti
  (related to requests or “petitions”). Both can be translated as
  “ask” in English.

  Remember, j is pronounced like y, so jaro = YAH-row.

  Adverbs: Adverbs are like adjectives, but instead of describing nouns,
  adverbs describe verbs and adjectives, usually telling how, when, or where.
  (Adverbs in English usually end in -ly).

  In Esperanto, adverbs derived from other words always end in -e.

  We can use the basic idea of a word in different ways by simply changing
  the grammar-coded ending:

  sano = health sxi havas bonan sanon
  sana = healthy sxi estas sana
  sani = to be healthy sxi sanas
  sane = healthily sxi sane vivas

  Adverbs usually precede the word they describe.

  Note: The pronunciation of adverbs, ending in “-e”, needs some attention.
  In general, every vowel makes up one syllable (sound unit) of an Esperanto
  word. Therefore, we must read the two-part sound of “sane” as “SAH-neh”
  and not as the one-part sound of the English word “sane”.

  Lesson four will concentrate more on the correct sounds of Esperanto.
  Right now, let's just say that Esperanto “e” should be pronounced as the
  “e” in “met”. Due to different pronunciations throughout the English-
  speaking world, it is impossible to give exact Esperanto pronunciation in
  writing.

  subject thing verb adverb object thing
  -a -o -as -e -an -on
  -aj -oj -is -ajn -ojn
  -os

  __________________________ extract from here ____________________________

  Ekzercoj, Leciono Tri (parto du)

  3. My brother will-stroll in-the-morning (“morningly”).

  4. His friend replied warmly.

  5. The brown pen writes well (“goodly”).

  6. The grey teacher runs badly.

  7. Our father smokes in-the-evening (“eveningly”).

  8. He loves her.

  9. He loves her sister.

  10. She loves him.

  __________________________ extract to here ____________________________

  Numbers (cardinal numb
  ers are not grammar-coded: no endings)

  nulo 0 dek 10 tridek 30
  unu 1 dek unu 11 tridek unu 31
  du 2 dek du 12 tridek du 32
  tri 3 dek tri 13 …
  kvar 4 dek kvar 14 kvardek 40
  kvin 5 … kvindek 50
  ses 6 and so on to sesdek 60
  sep 7 dudek 20 cent 100
  ok 8 dudek unu 21 mil 1 000
  naux 9 … miliono 1 000 000

  Numbers (ordinal numbers have the ending “-a”, like adjectives, and take
  the plural “-j” and object “-n”, like adjectives)

  unua first dudeka twentieth
  dua second sepdek unua seventy-first
  tria third centa hundredth

  unue firstly trie thirdly
  due secondly kvare fourthly

  Note: the “aux” is pronounced as “ow” in cow.

  Note: the adverb form of the numbers is sometimes translated as: unue =
  in the first place; trie = in the third place, etc.

  __________________________ extract from here ____________________________

  Ekzercoj, Leciono Tri (parto tri)

  11. The first man loves the second woman.

  12. The second woman hates the first man.

  13. Two boys firstly asked for three cakes.

  14. In-the-second-place they asked for lemonade.

  15. The shop makes bad brown bread.

  16. The shop makes brown bread badly.

  __________________________ extract to here ____________________________

  Intransitive verbs do not show action from a subject to an object; instead,
  intransitive verbs are used to show the state of the subject. Adjectives
  after intransitive verbs describe the subject.

  Li estas sana. Sxi estas instruisto (or: instruistino).
  He is healthy. She is a teacher.

  The object “-n” is not used after such verbs.

  __________________________ extract from here ____________________________

  Ekzercoj, Leciono Tri (parto kvar)

  17. Sixty minutes are one hour.

  18. Twenty-four hours are one day (and night).

  19. Seven days are one week.

  20. The third boy is my second son.

  If you would like a pronunciation record or other material in Esperanto,
  write to your national Esperanto organization. The address is in the
  Welcome Letter. This is not mandatory for this lesson series, but hearing
  spoken Esperanto is a great help.

  __________________________________________________________________________

  F R E E E S P E R A N T O C O U R S E
  __________________________________________________________________________

  Lesson Four

  Now let's look at statements, questions, and answers:

  A statement: La pano estas bruna.
  The bread is brown.

  A question: Cxu la pano estas bruna?
  Is the bread brown?

  The answer: (a) Jes, la pano estas bruna.
  (b) Ne, la pano ne estas bruna, gxi estas blanka.

  Note: Every question is based on a statement; we identify that statement,
  placing the 'doubting' word cxu (literally, 'whether') in front, and then
  we are asking “Is this true?” Also note that the word order in Esperanto
  is not changed; only the word 'cxu' is placed in front of the statement.

  English question: Will the boys sell the cake?

  Underlying statement: (The boys will sell the cake.)
  (La knaboj vendos la kukon.)

  Esperanto question: Cxu la knaboj vendos la kukon?

  All 'yes-or-no' questions are handled in the same way.

  __________________________ extract from here ____________________________

  Ekzercoj, Leciono Kvar (parto unu)

  Change the following statements into questions:

  Mia filo forgesis la teon. ->

  Lia patro faras panon. ->

  La tago estas griza. ->

  __________________________ extract to here ____________________________

  In the first three lessons, you have learned how to write simple statements
  correctly, and now know how to make questions and give answers. As soon as
  you have learned all the sounds of Esperanto (detailed, as best as possible
  in writing, see below) we can start in on conversations, in Lesson Five.
  (Remember to complete the exercises at the bottom.)

  The Esperanto alphabet:

  a b c cx d e f g gx h hx i j jx k l m n o p r s sx t u ux v z

  Note that the names of the letters (used when spelling aloud, etc.)
  are a, bo, co, cxo, do, e, fo, go, gxo, ho, hxo, i, etc. That is, the
  consonants get an 'o' after them, and the name of each vowel is the
  sound of the vowel itself. Note that “uxo” is pronounced sort of like
  English 'wo'.

  There are 26 letters in the English alphabet; 28 in Esperanto. In
  Esperanto there is no q, w, x, or y. In Esperanto there are 6 letters not
  found in English (all 6 have accent marks): cx, gx, hx, jx, sx [all
  circumflexes], and ux [a u-breve].

  The Esperanto letters 'j' and 'ux' are not vowels and can combine with real
  vowels (a, e, i, o, and u) to make 'vowel glides' which must be learned as
  separate sounds (below).

  Pronunciation Guide

  Remember, in Esperanto: one letter – one sound. No exceptions.

  Vowel Sounds (accented/emphasized vowels are capitalized)

  a as in Ma, father: blANka sAna grAnda vArma
  e as in send, met: bEla plEna vErda pEti
  i as in me, three: vIvi Ami trInki fIlo
  o as in more, or: Ovo dOmo kIo nOva
  u as in two, soon: Unu plUmo sUno butIko

  Consonant Sounds (mainly as in English, except:)

  c pronounced 'ts' in nests: dAnco leciOno bicIklo
  cx pronounced 'ch'in church: cxAmbro sandvIcxo cxokolAdo
  g pronounced 'g' in great: sagEto gustUmi geografIo
  gx pronounced 'g' in George: mAngxi lOgxi sEgxo
  hx pronounced 'ch'in Bach: jAhxto hxOro Ehxo
  j pronounced 'y' in yet: jEs jAro jUna
  jx pronounced 's' in leisure: jxurnAlo teatrAjxo jxalUzo
  sx pronounced 'sh'in shoe: sxAti pOsxo sxUo

  ux is used most often in the combination 'aux' or 'eux' (otherwise it has a
  'w' sound, as in weather).

  Remember: All sounds presented in this Pronunciation Guide are
  approximations. They are the closest approximations for North American
  English-speakers.

  Vowel Glides (diphthongs). The following combinations between a vowel (a,
  e, o, u) and 'j' or 'ux' make one sound:

  aj pronounced as 'eye': mAjo kAj semAjno
  oj pronounced as in 'boy': knAboj vojAgxi gxOjo
  ej pronounced as in 'they': plEj mEjlo lernEjo
  uj pronounced 'oo-ee' (quickly) tUj AnglUjo monUjo
  aux pronounced as in 'cow': nAUX Antaux jxAUXdo
  eux pronounced as in 'wayward': EuxrOpo neuxtrAla EuxklIdo

  In all the examples above, the vowel of the stressed (or accented) syllable
  has been capitalized. This follows the rule without exception that every
  word in Esperanto is stressed on the next-to-last syllable.

  Here is a list of words (and translations) that represent sounds in
  Esperanto [not just those covered above]. Practice them carefully and your
  pronunciation will get better and better.

  Anglujo Engl
  and lernejo school
  antaux before majo May
  acxeti to buy mangxi to eat
  biciklo bicycle mejlo mile
  cxambro room monujo purse
  cxokolado chocolate neuxtrala neutral
  danco dance ovo egg
  domo house plej most…
  ehxo echo plena full
  Euxropo Europe posxo pocket
  Euxklido Euclid sageto dart
  geografio geography sandvicxo sandwich
  gustumi to taste segxo seat, chair
  gxojo joy suno sun
  hxoro choir sxati to like
  jahxto yacht sxuo shoe
  juna young teatrajxo (theatrical) play
  jxaluzo jealousy tuj immediately
  jxauxdo Thursday vojagxi to travel
  jxurnalo newspaper
  kio what (thing)
  leciono lesson best advice: practice! practice!
  libro book practice!
  logxi to reside

  __________________________ extract from here ____________________________

  Ekzercoj, Leciono Kvar (parto du)

  (translate, but don't answer!)

  1. Is father making a cake?

  2. Did the son forget the milk?

  3. Will father sell the cakes?

  4. Does a healthy boy drink warm milk?

  5. Will the daughter eat a sandwich?

  6. Did the new teacher forget your sugar?

  7. Do they sell tea and coffee?

  8. Did the sick girl write badly?

  9. Is he healthy?

  10. Are seven days one week?

  Answer in Esperanto; use complete sentences, not just jes or ne.

  11. Is milk white?

  12. Is water dry?

  13. Is the sun warm?

  14. Is your mother a man?

  15. Are you wearing an empty shoe?

  16. Do two and two make four? [Use estas]

  17. Do you eat water?

  18. Is coffee blue?

  19. Are seven days one week?

  20. Do you drink cakes?

  (Sorry about the silly questions, but the answers are easy.)

  __________________________________________________________________________

  F R E E E S P E R A N T O C O U R S E
  __________________________________________________________________________

  Lesson Five

  Saluton! (Hello! Greetings!)

  Bonan tagon! Good day!
  Bonan matenon! Good morning!
  Bonan vesperon! Good evening!
  Bonan nokton! Good night!

  Kiel vi fartas? How are you? (farti = to fare, be)
  Bone, dankon. Kaj vi? Fine, thanks. And you?
  Suficxe bone. So-so. (literally, sufficiently well)
  Ne tre bone. Not so good.
  Bonan apetiton! Enjoy your food! (Bon appetit!)
  Je via sano! To your health!
  Same al vi, dankon. Same to you, thanks.
  Gxis la revido. See you later. (literally, until the re-seeing)
  Adiaux. Goodbye. (Adieu).

  Conversation: If two people can talk about themselves for 5 minutes each,
  then they can easily have at least a 10 minute conversation.

  By the end of this 10 lesson course, you should have written down all your
  vital statistics and personal details (true or false!) and you should know
  them by heart.

  After that, you should be able to give a brief talk about yourself in
  Esperanto, even if you have to prompt yourself with a 'cheat-sheet' in
  English.

  Let's take a look at an example about John Brown:

  Mia nomo estas Johano Bruno. Mi logxas en Usono. Mi komencis lerni
  Esperanton antaux kvar semajnoj. Gxi estas tre facila lingvo. Mi logxas
  en domo kun mia edzino kaj niaj infanoj. Ni havas unu filinon kaj du
  filojn.
  Mi havas korespondantojn en tri landoj.

  There are 45 very useful words which are a part of a regular system of
  correlated words (known technically, therefore, as “correlatives”). The
  meaning of any correlative is the combined meaning of the root (beginning)
  and the ending: (simple, isn't it?)

  ki- [what] -o thing
  -a kind of, sort of
  ti- [that] -e place
  -u one, or person
  i- [some] -om quantity (amount)
  -am time
  cxi- [every] -al reason, for…reason
  -el manner, in…way
  neni- [no] -es one's; person's

  examples:

  tio = that thing iam = sometime nenie = no where

  Typical correlatives and their equally typical English equivalents:

  English Esperanto

  how? (in) what manner kiel
  when? (at) what time kiam
  where? (at, in) what place kie
  why? (for) what reason kial
  how much? (in) what amount kiom
  always (at) every time cxiam
  thus (in) that way, manner tiel
  nobody no one, no person neniu
  somewhere (at) some place ie

  Pay attention to the accent: ne-NI-e, KI-u, TI-al, etc.

  Note that in English prepositions may be included in the meaning of the
  Esperanto correlative.

  The endings “a” and “u” take the grammar coding “-n” and/or “-j” whe

• F R E E E S P E R A N T O C O U R S E
  __________________________________________________________________________

  Introduction

  WHAT IS ESPERANTO?

  Esperanto, the international language, is a language developed to make it
  easier for people of different cultures to communicate. Its author, Dr. L.
  L. Zamenhof (1859-1917), published his “Lingvo Internacia” in 1887 under
  the pseudonym “Dr. Esperanto”. It is now spoken by at least two million
  people, in over 100 countries. There are thousands of books and over 100
  periodicals published currently. But what makes it any more international
  than French, English or Russian?

  Incorrectly termed 'artificial' (the right word is 'planned'), Esperanto is
  specifically intended for international/intercultural use, so those who use
  it meet each other on an equal footing, since neither is using his or her
  native language. With national languages, the average person isn't able to
  express himself as well as a native speaker or the gifted linguist. Thanks
  to its simple, logical, regular design, anyone can learn Esperanto fairly
  rapidly.

  A LIVING LANGUAGE

  Esperanto is a living language, used for everything people use any other
  language for. But it's much easier to learn than a national language. Even
  people who can't remember a word of a language they studied for years in
  high school or college need only months of intensive study to become fluent
  in Esperanto. It is also more useful than national languages if your goal
  in learning a language is to get to know people from different places,
  since virtually everyone who speaks Esperanto has learned it for this
  reason.

  ABOUT THIS COURSE

  This course is based on ELNA's Free Postal Course, which is, in turn, based
  on a very popular postal course in use today in England. The course is a
  bit old-fashioned, and we are working on a more appealing version. In the
  meantime, you will have to bear with it. Upon successful completion of the
  ten lessons, you will receive a framable Certificate of Completion.

  A note about the orthography: To facilitate distribution of this course
  over the net, we have chosen to represent the two diacritical marks (the
  circumflex or ^, and the breve, a 'reversed circumflex' unavailable in
  standard character sets) by adding an x immediately following the
  character. Hence the combinations cx, gx, hx, jx, sx, (where x = ^) and ux
  (where x = [breve]) should be thought of as single characters.

  GETTING CONNECTED

  Here are the WWW sites of national Esperanto associations in the major
  English-speaking countries. If your country isn't listed, ask us and we
  can find the address for you.

  Australia:
  Australian Esperanto Association
  http://www.esperanto.org.au/

  Britain:
  British Esperanto Association
  http://www.esperanto.demon.co.uk/

  Canada:
  Canadian Esperanto Association
  http://www.sentex.net/~engcorp/kea/

  India:
  mailto:helpo@giaspn01.vsnl.net.in

  Ireland:
  http://www.selfgrow.com/esperanto/

  New Zealand:
  Esperanto Association of New Zealand
  mailto:neelam@voyager.co.nz

  USA:
  Esperanto League for North America
  http://www.esperanto-usa.org/

  The World Association is:
  Universala Esperanto-Asocio
  http://wwwtios.cs.utwente.nl/esperanto/org/uea/

  __________________________________________________________________________

  Lesson One

  Language is all about things (nouns) and their actions (verbs) of energetic
  things:

  One thing… Acts on… Another thing

  birdo kaptas… insekton.
  a bird catches… an insect.

  subject noun verb object noun

  Esperanto is “grammar-coded” – you can tell what part each word plays
  in a sentence from the word endings:

  -o -on
  single subject noun single object noun

  -oj -ojn
  plural subject noun plural object noun

  To show when the action takes place, the verb tense (time) is changed by
  putting these endings on the verb roots:

  present tense –as describes it as it happens
  past tense –is shows an action completed
  future tense –os action still to begin

  Birdoj kaptis insektojn.
  Birds caught insects.

  Birdoj kaptos insektojn.
  Birds will-catch insects.

  Every noun and every verb follows the above rules without exception.

  In Esperanto, things have no gender (they are not male or female, as in
  many other languages.) There is only one word for 'the', no matter if the
  noun is singular or plural, subject or object. Therefore:

  La birdoj kaptas la insektojn.
  La birdo kaptis la insekton.

  In Esperanto the word order matters less than in English. All the
  following sentences describe the same action (only the emphasis is
  changed):

  Viro legas libron. Viro libron legas.
  Libron legas viro. Libron viro legas.
  Legas viro libron. Legas libron viro.

  A man reads a book.

  Here are some words in Esperanto (the apostrophe indicates an incomplete
  word, a root):

  Nouns Verbs (roots) More nouns
  amiko (friend) far' (do, make) kafo (coffee)
  filo (son) forges' (forget) kuko (cake)
  frato (brother) hav' (have) lakto (milk)
  instruisto (teacher) trink' (drink) pano (bread)
  knabo (boy) vend' (sell) sukero (sugar)
  patro (father) vid' (see) teo (tea)

  Each Esperanto letter has only one sound, always. Here is a guide to some
  of the sounds. The stress is always on the next-to-last syllable of a
  word.

  A E I O U
  palm there three glory too

  c = ts (in lots); oj = oy (in boy); G = g (in go)
  kn are always pronounced separately: k-nabo

  __________________________________________________________________________

  Study Aid for Lesson One

  Read Lesson 1 thoroughly, but before trying the exercises below,
  try these translations and check your answers with ours.

  (We have supplied some words and endings to help you get started).

  1. The friend will-sell milk.

  lakton.

  2. Mother drinks coffee with milk and sugar.

  Patrino -n kun kaj

  3. The teachers forgot the tea.

  -j -n.

  4. The boys will-make the cake.

  -n.

  5. La knabinoj vidos la instruiston. [knabinoj = girls]

  6. La instruisto vidis la knabinojn.

  7. La filoj trinkas teon sen lakto. [sen = without]

  8. La birdoj vidis la insektojn.

  After checking these sentences, do the exercises of Lesson 1.
  If there is anything you do not understand, be sure to ask your tutor.

  We will try to be prompt, but be patient, and most of all:
  Bonvenon al Esperanto (Welcome to Esperanto)!

  A
  nswers to the above exercises

  1. La amiko vendos lakton.
  2. Patrino trinkas kafon kun lakto kaj sukero.
  3. La instruistoj forgesis la teon.
  4. La knaboj faros la kukon.
  5. The girls will see the teacher.
  6. The teacher saw the girls.
  7. The sons drink tea without milk.
  8. The birds saw the insects.

  __________________________ extract from here ____________________________

  Ekzercoj, Leciono Unu (Exercises, Lesson One)

  Take your time and translate the following sentences into Esperanto.
  Type your answers between the questions.

  Examples: The men sold cakes.
  La viroj vendis kukojn.

  The man sold a cake.
  La viro vendis kukon.

  [Note]

  1. Father makes a cake.

  2. The boy will-have the sugar.

  3. The son forgot the milk.

  4. The boys drink tea.

  5. The friend sold the bread.

  6. The teacher sees a boy.

  7. The son has a friend.

  8. The brother made bread.

  9. The boys will-have cake.

  10. Father forgot the sugar.

  11. The boys had friends.

  12. The sons saw the bread.

  13. The brothers sell sugar.

  14. The teacher forgets the boy.

  15. The friend will-drink milk.

  16. The sons are-making cakes.

  17. Father will-sell the cake.

  18. The friend had bread.

  19. The boys will-see the teachers.

  20. The teachers drink coffee.

  __________________________ extract to here ____________________________

  Now, don't forget to add your name and e-mail address, and mail these
  exercises to the address for your tutor in the Welcome Letter, with
  subject: 'FEC ekz 1'.

  Well, we hope we haven't scared you off in this first meeting with
  Esperanto. Just remember – the language ability you used in the above
  exercises might take months to reach in secondary school French or Spanish.

  The Free Esperanto Course begins simply, but by Lesson 10 you will
  understand sophisticated Esperanto with complex syntax.

  Upon satisfactory completion of the series of ten lessons, you will receive
  a framable 'Certificate of Completion'.

  __________________________________________________________________________

  While waiting for a reply from your tutor, you can learn some numbers
  and colors:

  0 nulo (say: noo-lo)
  1 unu (say: oo-noo) flava (FLAH-vah) yellow
  2 du (say: doo) verda (VER-dah) green
  3 tri (say: t-ri) blua (BLOO-ah) blue
  4 kvar blanka (BLAN-ka) white
  5 kvin nigra (NEE-gra) black
  6 ses griza (GREE-zah) grey
  7 sep bruna (BROO-nah) brown
  8 ok rugxa (ROO-djah) red
  9 naux (say: now) (“gx” as in “gem”, “gentle”)
  10 dek
  11 dek unu
  …
  20 dudek
  21 dudek unu
  …
  30 tridek
  31 tridek unu
  …
  100 cent (say: tsent)

  __________________________________________________________________________

  F R E E E S P E R A N T O C O U R S E
  __________________________________________________________________________

  Lesson Two

  Thanks for trying Lesson 1. By now you should have received corrections
  to the exercises of the first lesson. Here is the next lesson. Keep it
  up!

  Let's review the “grammar-coding” for a second:

  subject thing(s) action object thing(s)
  -o -as -on
  -is
  -oj -os -ojn

  Two-thirds of the pattern so far deals with “things” (nouns). Now let's
  take a look at how to describe these things: good coffee, good tea
  (adjectives).

  Something that describes, such as “good,” is called an adjective. In
  Esperanto, adjectives are grammar coded with an “-a” ending.

  As in some other languages (but not in English) the adjective ending (“-a”)
  has to “agree” with the noun it describes. That is, if the noun is plural,
  the adjective must also be plural. If the noun is an object (“-n”), the
  adjective must also be an object.

  subject thing(s) action object thing(s)
  bona patro havos bonan filon
  a good father will have a good son

  bonaj patroj havos bonajn filojn
  good fathers will have good sons

  (Note: “aj” is pronounced like the English word “eye”.)

  Vocabulary: In each lesson we will introduce about twenty new words to
  you; learn these but remember to review the words in the previous lesson.
  Use the words below to practice what you've just learned.
  The exercises in this lesson are split into three parts.

  Vocabulary, lesson two

  Adjectives Nouns Verb Roots
  bela (beautiful) akvo (water) am' (love)
  granda (big) butiko (shop) lav' (wash)
  nova (new) limonado (lemonade) pet' (ask, request)
  sana (healthy) papero (paper) port' (carry, wear)
  seka (dry) plumo (pen) renkont' (meet)
  varma (warm) taso (cup) skrib' (write)

  __________________________ extract from here ____________________________

  Ekzercoj, Leciono Du (parto unu)

  1. A healthy boy drinks warm milk.

  2. The new shop sells dry cakes.

  3. The big teacher met the new friends.

  4. The good friends will-make a beautiful cake.

  __________________________ extract to here ____________________________

  Reminder:
  -a -o -as -an -on
  -aj -oj -is -ajn -ojn
  -os

  We haven't been able to give you enough vocabulary to let us vary these
  exercises very much, but in Esperanto the system of regular word building
  (with prefixes and suffixes) lets us expand our vocabulary with little
  effort. For example, the “mal-” makes words of opposite meaning:

  bona = good malbona = bad
  pura = clean malpura = dirty
  sana = healthy malsana = ill, sick
  am' = love malam' = hate
  amiko = friend (male) malamiko = enemy (male)

  and similarly the “-in-” makes words specifically female.

  patro = father patrino = mother

  and thus for all female living creatures:

  kato = cat katino = female cat

  The 'vir' prefix is the original way to mark something as explicitly male:
  virkato. Most people avoid using the root form as a 'male' form. It is rare
  that you have to mark sex – it is proper to say, for example, Sally estas
  instruisto, instead of saying Sally estas instruistino.

  __________________________ extract from here ____________________________

  Ekzercoj, Leciono Du (parto du)

  5. The small girl met the ugly sisters.

  6. The old cup has new lemonade.

  7. The new cup has old milk.

  8. Mother will-wash the small cups.

  9. The small boy carried the new bread.

  10. Cold water washes a small boy.

  __________________________ extract to here ____________________________

  “Ne” in front of any verb makes it negative, the action that doesn't
  happe
  n, or didn't happen, or won't happen.

  ne havas = doesn't (don't) have; ne faras = doesn't do

  Here is just one verb (“to be”) displayed in the usual way (all Esperanto
  verbs follow the same rule!):

  General form (infinitive) to be esti

  Present tense (-as form) I am mi estas
  you are vi estas
  he is li estas
  she is sxi estas
  it is gxi estas
  we are ni estas
  you are vi estas
  they are ili estas
  one is oni estas

  est' is the verb root and always appears wherever the verb is used. Does
  this verb even have a root in English? (am, is, are)

  In the above verb display, note:

  sxi (she) is pronounced exactly like the English “she”

  gxi (it) is pronounced like the English “gee!”, as in “Jeep”

  vi (you) is both singular and plural, like the English “you.”

  (There is a word “ci”, singular, but it is used much as the English
  singular “thou” – not very often!)

  Note, too, that although pronouns do not end in -o when they are
  “subject things”, they do take the -n when they are “object things”:

  La patrino lavas la knabon. Sxi lavas lin.
  The mother washes the boy. She washes him.

  Now that we have learned the pronouns:

  mi vi li sxi gxi ni vi ili oni
  I you he she it we you they one

  we can form the possessive adjectives:

  mia via lia sxia gxia nia via ilia (pronounced ee-LEE-a) onia
  my your his her its our your their one's

  which are really adjectives because they identify (describe) the nouns they
  are attached to. Mia plumo = my pen. The ending “-a” on possessive
  adjectives follows the same rules about agreement as adjectives:

  Mia amiko amas mian fratinon.

  Miaj amikoj amas miajn fratinojn.

  __________________________ extract from here ____________________________

  Ekzercoj, Leciono Du (parto tri)

  11. I forgot my pen.

  12. We don't have paper.

  13. My daughter requested warm milk.

  14. Her old friend didn't write.

  15. You will meet their old friends.

  16. She will have the warm water.

  17. Your new teacher forgot your sugar.

  18. The boys hate our new teacher.

  19. They sell tea and (kaj) coffee.

  20. We will sell her cake and his pens.

  Note: kaj (and) is pronounced like the ki in kite.

  __________________________________________________________________________

  F R E E E S P E R A N T O C O U R S E
  __________________________________________________________________________

  Lesson Three

  It may seem like we packed a lot into Lesson Two, but here are the main
  things you have learned so far:

  subject thing(s) action object thing(s)
  -o -as -on
  -is
  -oj -os -ojn

  Mia patrino ——— lavas ——— mian fraton.
  Niaj fratinoj ——— vidis ——- viajn instruistinojn.

  You don't have to write sentences in the above word order, but it is the
  most common form, and for English-speakers it's easier to learn just
  this pattern at first.

  Once you realize that “grammar coding” tells you what part each word plays
  in a sentence (its function), you could, for poetry or emphasis, arrange
  the coded words in any other order without changing the original meaning.

  Let's take a look at a couple of examples of different word order and
  answer a couple of questions (remember to pay attention to the endings of
  the words).

  __________________________ extract from here ____________________________

  Ekzercoj, Leciono Tri (parto unu)

  Mian fraton lavis mia patrino.

  1. Who was washed?
  Who did the washing?

  Instruistinojn viajn fratinoj niaj vidis.

  2. Who did the seeing?
  Who was seen?

  __________________________ extract to here ____________________________

  In this 10-lesson course we are going to stick to the subject-verb-object
  word order, but in well-written Esperanto texts other word orders are
  frequently used for reasons of emphasis and text coherence. If you use
  Esperanto you will rapidly acquire a feeling for word order. The best
  word order to use depends mainly on the context, so it is difficult to give
  precise “rules”.

  Let's go on now, right to this lesson's word list below.

  Vocabulary, lesson three

  Nouns Verbs (infinitives) Adjectives
  horo (hour) atendi (to wait for) blanka (white)
  jaro (year) fumi (to smoke) blua (blue)
  mateno (morning) kuri (to run) bruna (brown)
  minuto (minute) sati (to be satisfied) flava (yellow)
  nokto (night) promeni (to stroll) griza (gray)
  semajno (week) respondi (to answer) nigra (black)
  tago (day) soifi (to be thirsty) rugxa (red)
  vespero (evening) vivi (to live) verda (green)
  demandi (to inquire, ask a question)

  Note the difference between demandi (related to questions) and peti
  (related to requests or “petitions”). Both can be translated as
  “ask” in English.

  Remember, j is pronounced like y, so jaro = YAH-row.

  Adverbs: Adverbs are like adjectives, but instead of describing nouns,
  adverbs describe verbs and adjectives, usually telling how, when, or where.
  (Adverbs in English usually end in -ly).

  In Esperanto, adverbs derived from other words always end in -e.

  We can use the basic idea of a word in different ways by simply changing
  the grammar-coded ending:

  sano = health sxi havas bonan sanon
  sana = healthy sxi estas sana
  sani = to be healthy sxi sanas
  sane = healthily sxi sane vivas

  Adverbs usually precede the word they describe.

  Note: The pronunciation of adverbs, ending in “-e”, needs some attention.
  In general, every vowel makes up one syllable (sound unit) of an Esperanto
  word. Therefore, we must read the two-part sound of “sane” as “SAH-neh”
  and not as the one-part sound of the English word “sane”.

  Lesson four will concentrate more on the correct sounds of Esperanto.
  Right now, let's just say that Esperanto “e” should be pronounced as the
  “e” in “met”. Due to different pronunciations throughout the English-
  speaking world, it is impossible to give exact Esperanto pronunciation in
  writing.

  subject thing verb adverb object thing
  -a -o -as -e -an -on
  -aj -oj -is -ajn -ojn
  -os

  __________________________ extract from here ____________________________

  Ekzercoj, Leciono Tri (parto du)

  3. My brother will-stroll in-the-morning (“morningly”).

  4. His friend replied warmly.

  5. The brown pen writes well (“goodly”).

  6. The grey teacher runs badly.

  7. Our father smokes in-the-evening (“eveningly”).

  8. He loves her.

  9. He loves her sister.

  10. She loves him.

  __________________________ extract to here ____________________________

  Numbers (cardinal numb
  ers are not grammar-coded: no endings)

  nulo 0 dek 10 tridek 30
  unu 1 dek unu 11 tridek unu 31
  du 2 dek du 12 tridek du 32
  tri 3 dek tri 13 …
  kvar 4 dek kvar 14 kvardek 40
  kvin 5 … kvindek 50
  ses 6 and so on to sesdek 60
  sep 7 dudek 20 cent 100
  ok 8 dudek unu 21 mil 1 000
  naux 9 … miliono 1 000 000

  Numbers (ordinal numbers have the ending “-a”, like adjectives, and take
  the plural “-j” and object “-n”, like adjectives)

  unua first dudeka twentieth
  dua second sepdek unua seventy-first
  tria third centa hundredth

  unue firstly trie thirdly
  due secondly kvare fourthly

  Note: the “aux” is pronounced as “ow” in cow.

  Note: the adverb form of the numbers is sometimes translated as: unue =
  in the first place; trie = in the third place, etc.

  __________________________ extract from here ____________________________

  Ekzercoj, Leciono Tri (parto tri)

  11. The first man loves the second woman.

  12. The second woman hates the first man.

  13. Two boys firstly asked for three cakes.

  14. In-the-second-place they asked for lemonade.

  15. The shop makes bad brown bread.

  16. The shop makes brown bread badly.

  __________________________ extract to here ____________________________

  Intransitive verbs do not show action from a subject to an object; instead,
  intransitive verbs are used to show the state of the subject. Adjectives
  after intransitive verbs describe the subject.

  Li estas sana. Sxi estas instruisto (or: instruistino).
  He is healthy. She is a teacher.

  The object “-n” is not used after such verbs.

  __________________________ extract from here ____________________________

  Ekzercoj, Leciono Tri (parto kvar)

  17. Sixty minutes are one hour.

  18. Twenty-four hours are one day (and night).

  19. Seven days are one week.

  20. The third boy is my second son.

  If you would like a pronunciation record or other material in Esperanto,
  write to your national Esperanto organization. The address is in the
  Welcome Letter. This is not mandatory for this lesson series, but hearing
  spoken Esperanto is a great help.

  __________________________________________________________________________

  F R E E E S P E R A N T O C O U R S E
  __________________________________________________________________________

  Lesson Four

  Now let's look at statements, questions, and answers:

  A statement: La pano estas bruna.
  The bread is brown.

  A question: Cxu la pano estas bruna?
  Is the bread brown?

  The answer: (a) Jes, la pano estas bruna.
  (b) Ne, la pano ne estas bruna, gxi estas blanka.

  Note: Every question is based on a statement; we identify that statement,
  placing the 'doubting' word cxu (literally, 'whether') in front, and then
  we are asking “Is this true?” Also note that the word order in Esperanto
  is not changed; only the word 'cxu' is placed in front of the statement.

  English question: Will the boys sell the cake?

  Underlying statement: (The boys will sell the cake.)
  (La knaboj vendos la kukon.)

  Esperanto question: Cxu la knaboj vendos la kukon?

  All 'yes-or-no' questions are handled in the same way.

  __________________________ extract from here ____________________________

  Ekzercoj, Leciono Kvar (parto unu)

  Change the following statements into questions:

  Mia filo forgesis la teon. ->

  Lia patro faras panon. ->

  La tago estas griza. ->

  __________________________ extract to here ____________________________

  In the first three lessons, you have learned how to write simple statements
  correctly, and now know how to make questions and give answers. As soon as
  you have learned all the sounds of Esperanto (detailed, as best as possible
  in writing, see below) we can start in on conversations, in Lesson Five.
  (Remember to complete the exercises at the bottom.)

  The Esperanto alphabet:

  a b c cx d e f g gx h hx i j jx k l m n o p r s sx t u ux v z

  Note that the names of the letters (used when spelling aloud, etc.)
  are a, bo, co, cxo, do, e, fo, go, gxo, ho, hxo, i, etc. That is, the
  consonants get an 'o' after them, and the name of each vowel is the
  sound of the vowel itself. Note that “uxo” is pronounced sort of like
  English 'wo'.

  There are 26 letters in the English alphabet; 28 in Esperanto. In
  Esperanto there is no q, w, x, or y. In Esperanto there are 6 letters not
  found in English (all 6 have accent marks): cx, gx, hx, jx, sx [all
  circumflexes], and ux [a u-breve].

  The Esperanto letters 'j' and 'ux' are not vowels and can combine with real
  vowels (a, e, i, o, and u) to make 'vowel glides' which must be learned as
  separate sounds (below).

  Pronunciation Guide

  Remember, in Esperanto: one letter – one sound. No exceptions.

  Vowel Sounds (accented/emphasized vowels are capitalized)

  a as in Ma, father: blANka sAna grAnda vArma
  e as in send, met: bEla plEna vErda pEti
  i as in me, three: vIvi Ami trInki fIlo
  o as in more, or: Ovo dOmo kIo nOva
  u as in two, soon: Unu plUmo sUno butIko

  Consonant Sounds (mainly as in English, except:)

  c pronounced 'ts' in nests: dAnco leciOno bicIklo
  cx pronounced 'ch'in church: cxAmbro sandvIcxo cxokolAdo
  g pronounced 'g' in great: sagEto gustUmi geografIo
  gx pronounced 'g' in George: mAngxi lOgxi sEgxo
  hx pronounced 'ch'in Bach: jAhxto hxOro Ehxo
  j pronounced 'y' in yet: jEs jAro jUna
  jx pronounced 's' in leisure: jxurnAlo teatrAjxo jxalUzo
  sx pronounced 'sh'in shoe: sxAti pOsxo sxUo

  ux is used most often in the combination 'aux' or 'eux' (otherwise it has a
  'w' sound, as in weather).

  Remember: All sounds presented in this Pronunciation Guide are
  approximations. They are the closest approximations for North American
  English-speakers.

  Vowel Glides (diphthongs). The following combinations between a vowel (a,
  e, o, u) and 'j' or 'ux' make one sound:

  aj pronounced as 'eye': mAjo kAj semAjno
  oj pronounced as in 'boy': knAboj vojAgxi gxOjo
  ej pronounced as in 'they': plEj mEjlo lernEjo
  uj pronounced 'oo-ee' (quickly) tUj AnglUjo monUjo
  aux pronounced as in 'cow': nAUX Antaux jxAUXdo
  eux pronounced as in 'wayward': EuxrOpo neuxtrAla EuxklIdo

  In all the examples above, the vowel of the stressed (or accented) syllable
  has been capitalized. This follows the rule without exception that every
  word in Esperanto is stressed on the next-to-last syllable.

  Here is a list of words (and translations) that represent sounds in
  Esperanto [not just those covered above]. Practice them carefully and your
  pronunciation will get better and better.

  Anglujo Engl
  and lernejo school
  antaux before majo May
  acxeti to buy mangxi to eat
  biciklo bicycle mejlo mile
  cxambro room monujo purse
  cxokolado chocolate neuxtrala neutral
  danco dance ovo egg
  domo house plej most…
  ehxo echo plena full
  Euxropo Europe posxo pocket
  Euxklido Euclid sageto dart
  geografio geography sandvicxo sandwich
  gustumi to taste segxo seat, chair
  gxojo joy suno sun
  hxoro choir sxati to like
  jahxto yacht sxuo shoe
  juna young teatrajxo (theatrical) play
  jxaluzo jealousy tuj immediately
  jxauxdo Thursday vojagxi to travel
  jxurnalo newspaper
  kio what (thing)
  leciono lesson best advice: practice! practice!
  libro book practice!
  logxi to reside

  __________________________ extract from here ____________________________

  Ekzercoj, Leciono Kvar (parto du)

  (translate, but don't answer!)

  1. Is father making a cake?

  2. Did the son forget the milk?

  3. Will father sell the cakes?

  4. Does a healthy boy drink warm milk?

  5. Will the daughter eat a sandwich?

  6. Did the new teacher forget your sugar?

  7. Do they sell tea and coffee?

  8. Did the sick girl write badly?

  9. Is he healthy?

  10. Are seven days one week?

  Answer in Esperanto; use complete sentences, not just jes or ne.

  11. Is milk white?

  12. Is water dry?

  13. Is the sun warm?

  14. Is your mother a man?

  15. Are you wearing an empty shoe?

  16. Do two and two make four? [Use estas]

  17. Do you eat water?

  18. Is coffee blue?

  19. Are seven days one week?

  20. Do you drink cakes?

  (Sorry about the silly questions, but the answers are easy.)

  __________________________________________________________________________

  F R E E E S P E R A N T O C O U R S E
  __________________________________________________________________________

  Lesson Five

  Saluton! (Hello! Greetings!)

  Bonan tagon! Good day!
  Bonan matenon! Good morning!
  Bonan vesperon! Good evening!
  Bonan nokton! Good night!

  Kiel vi fartas? How are you? (farti = to fare, be)
  Bone, dankon. Kaj vi? Fine, thanks. And you?
  Suficxe bone. So-so. (literally, sufficiently well)
  Ne tre bone. Not so good.
  Bonan apetiton! Enjoy your food! (Bon appetit!)
  Je via sano! To your health!
  Same al vi, dankon. Same to you, thanks.
  Gxis la revido. See you later. (literally, until the re-seeing)
  Adiaux. Goodbye. (Adieu).

  Conversation: If two people can talk about themselves for 5 minutes each,
  then they can easily have at least a 10 minute conversation.

  By the end of this 10 lesson course, you should have written down all your
  vital statistics and personal details (true or false!) and you should know
  them by heart.

  After that, you should be able to give a brief talk about yourself in
  Esperanto, even if you have to prompt yourself with a 'cheat-sheet' in
  English.

  Let's take a look at an example about John Brown:

  Mia nomo estas Johano Bruno. Mi logxas en Usono. Mi komencis lerni
  Esperanton antaux kvar semajnoj. Gxi estas tre facila lingvo. Mi logxas
  en domo kun mia edzino kaj niaj infanoj. Ni havas unu filinon kaj du
  filojn.
  Mi havas korespondantojn en tri landoj.

  There are 45 very useful words which are a part of a regular system of
  correlated words (known technically, therefore, as “correlatives”). The
  meaning of any correlative is the combined meaning of the root (beginning)
  and the ending: (simple, isn't it?)

  ki- [what] -o thing
  -a kind of, sort of
  ti- [that] -e place
  -u one, or person
  i- [some] -om quantity (amount)
  -am time
  cxi- [every] -al reason, for…reason
  -el manner, in…way
  neni- [no] -es one's; person's

  examples:

  tio = that thing iam = sometime nenie = no where

  Typical correlatives and their equally typical English equivalents:

  English Esperanto

  how? (in) what manner kiel
  when? (at) what time kiam
  where? (at, in) what place kie
  why? (for) what reason kial
  how much? (in) what amount kiom
  always (at) every time cxiam
  thus (in) that way, manner tiel
  nobody no one, no person neniu
  somewhere (at) some place ie

  Pay attention to the accent: ne-NI-e, KI-u, TI-al, etc.

  Note that in English prepositions may be included in the meaning of the
  Esperanto correlative.

  The endings “a” and “u” take the grammar coding “-n” and/or “-j” whe

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