The 3rd Sunday of each month
4–6pm Sydney time (UTC+11) – Note, Sydney now follows summertime
Program
(Future sessions to be announced)
(All lectures in Esperanto)
If you would like to attend, or to present something yourself, please write to:
prezidanto@esperanto.org.au
Previous sessions
(All lectures in Esperanto)
19 December
To lecture effectively – Jonathan Cooper (Australia)
When the program PowerPoint was launched in 1989, it gave the world a powerful tool. However, with this power came danger. Soon afterwards, one heard the expression “Death by PowerPoint”. The main factors that contribute to this phenomenon include confusing graphics, slides with too much text, and speakers whose idea of a good presentation is to just read aloud the text on each slide. This short presentation will include: how to plan and structure a talk, how to capture the interest of the audience, and some technical advice.
Afterwards, Jonathan and AEA president Sandor Horvats will talk about the coming Australian and New Zealand congress and summer school and how one could participate.
MONA-12 in Iran – Tatjana LOSKUTOVA (Russia)
Iran is an enigmatic, mysterious and wonderful country, which few tourists visit. Persian culture is without doubt one of the great cultures of the world, but it is very little known outside Iran. The Esperanto movement in Iran began more than a century ago, which shows that Iranians are open to international contact and interchange. The Esperanto event MONA-12 (the 12th Middle Eastern and North African meeting, in the spring of 2019), allowed Iranian Esperantists to present themselves as an active and integral part of the worldwide Esperanto community, and to let others know about the beauty of their country.
(Unfortunately, this lecture was not recorded, at the request of the speaker.)
21 November 2021
The relationship between Indigenous rights and nature conservation in British Columbia in Canada – Mark Fettes (Canada)
Mark Fettes is an assistant professor in the Faculty of Education at Simon Fraser University, and between 2013 and 2019 president of the World Esperanto Association. His fields of work are: strategy, coordination, statutory reform, research and documentation, professional and scientific activity.
Stuttgart 21 – How a railway station project revolutionised the political system in Baden-Württemberg – Rainer Kurz (Germany)
“Stuttgart 21” is the largest construction site in Europe. It sharply divided the people of Stuttgart and Germany. It led to a huge battle between opponents and the police, major political debates, the first plebiscite in the state, and finally a change of the government of Baden-Württemberg, which now has the first German minister-president from the Greens party. Rainer Kurz from Stuttgart photographed the developments onsite.
17 October 2021
Extraordinary places around the world – David Ryan (New Zealand)
David talks about strange/unusual places he has visited on his world voyages.
Our farmstay property “Cherrytop” – John & Lesley Gallagher (Australia)
John and Lesley became Esperantists in 1997 during the 82th World Esperanto Congress in Adelaide. They moved to Tasmania in 2000 and there created a farmstay property.
19 September 2021
Wonderful birds – HONG Sungcho (Korea)
We often meet birds in our daily lives. However, we don’t know much about them, including their names. It is not known that they are also as individual and distinct as human beings. Sungcho talks about things related to sounds, appearances, intelligent activities, migrations and other activities of birds.
(Note: Due to a copyright claim by Seoul Broadcasting System, the video of this lecture is not available.)
Bruno Gröning: The greatest healer of the 20th century? – Trevor Steele (Australia)
Trevor presents the life and work of this controversial healer.
15 August 2021
15 years of Esperanto town Herzberg: ideas realised – Zsófia KÓRÓDY (Germany)
Zsófia takes us on a virtual tour of Herzberg am Harz, Germany, on the occasion of the 15th anniversary of the town with an Esperanto history. She briefly presents how Esperanto town Herzberg came to be, and looks again at important evolutionary steps that contributed to the “greening” of the town, and to the appearance of sustainable, publicly visible results. She reports on the constant stabilising action of the Esperanto Centre Herzberg, speaks about its plans and discusses new, realisable ideas, sponsorship and opportunities for international collaboration.
Esperanto podcasts in Indonesian – Ilia Sumfila DEWI (Indonesia)
Ilia is an active participant in the Esperanto movement, who tries to use various methods to promote Esperanto to Indonesians. Because of the pandemic, she has found that there are many free courses that can be taken virtually. So, she learnt about podcasts and how to create them easily. Because most podcast listeners in Indonesia are young people, she thinks it’s good to use them to promote Esperanto.
(dooniaesperanto: Ilia’s podcast)
18 July 2021
AMO: From 2014 to Oceania – Stefan MacGill (Hungary)
The AMO program of UEA was born in March 2014 with the first seminar in Hungary. By the end of 2014, seminars occurred on four continents – only the fifth continent was missing. Finally, at the beginning of 2020, the program reached Oceania with the 62nd seminar in Auckland, New Zealand.
Magic spectacular – Fukuda TOSHIRO (Japan)
Fukuda is a magician without borders. He has presented his amazing show to children (and adults) around the world. He has visited orphanages, refugee camps and schools in many countries, including Ethiopia, Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq and Tibet. During this presentation, he will also clarify a few ideas about magic.
20 June 2021
Language research in the Old Kingdom of the Congo – Heidi Goes (Belgium)
Heidi Goes has been researching the Kikongo languages cluster since November 2014, as part of her doctoral research, which is now nearing completion. After an introduction to the languages, she talks about the research on the ground in Congo and especially Angola. This is followed by a presentation of some of the research results: on the languages spoken in the province of Cabindo (Angola), on vowel harmony in verbs, and on the various possibilities of forming diminutives used in the language.
The translation of poetry – is it really lost? – Nicolau Dols Salas (Mallorca/Spain)
Nicolau Dols Salas is professor of Catalan philology at the University of the Balearic Islands (Universitat de les Illes Balears). He is also a member of the Philological Section of the Institut d’Estudis Catalans, the official language academy of Catalan. He graduated and earned a doctorate first in phonology, and then earned a master’s degree in East Asian Studies. His research interests are phonology, grammar and sociolinguistics. Since 2014 he has been teaching in the Interlinguistic Studies program at Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, Poland.
16 May 2021
The development of the Esperanto movement in Asia and Oceania after 2000 – So Jinsu (Korea)
So Jinsu presents the third and final part of the history of Esperanto in Asia.
An Esperanto picture of the world – Ilona Koutny (Hungary/Poland)
This lecture raises the question of the relationship between language and thought, how culture is reflected in the language, whether Esperantists have a similar linguistic picture of the world and, based on research, tries to give some interesting answers.
18 April 2021
The strategy of the Esperanto movement in Asia, 1989–1995 – So GILSU (Korea)
Part 2 of the exploration of the history of Esperanto in Asia.
Esperanto teaching: some of my experience in Asian countries – Tatjana LOSKUTOVA (Russia)
“Since my visit to China (the 89th World Congress, in 2004) and my voyage to Japan (the 92nd World Congress, in 2007) I have longed for Asia. However, not only its exoticism attracted me, but also a wish to help local Esperantists integrate and spread the International Language into social and cultural life. As a result: Esperanto teaching in seven Asian countries.”
Note: For unavoidable reasons, the sound quality is not good. We apologise.
21 March 2021
The Asian Esperanto movement in the beginning: 1965–1990 – So GILSU (Korea)
First part of three lectures on the Esperanto movement in Asia/Oceania.
To recreate paradise – Paulo S VIANA (Brazil)
World-renowned Brazilian photographer Sebastião Salgado and his wife Wanick Salgado have been involved in a major project to reforest the Atlantic Forest in Brazil for several years – a major ecological system of which 90 percent has already destroyed by humans. Their activity inspires other people to do the same and is internationally recognised.
21 February 2021
Amnesty International – Trevor Steele (Australia)
Trevor explains the origin, history, aims and principles of this world-famous association, and mentions some of its achievements.
Who am I? DNA for genealogy – Joanne Johns (Australia)
Hear a stranger-than-fiction story of a nine-year search for one amorous crew member. Is it possible to find a family member without even a name?
NOTE: For reasons of privacy, this lecture is not viewable on YouTube.
20 December 2020
ACM: Afrika Centro Mondcivitana (African World-Citizen Centre) – François HOUNSOUNOU (Benin). ACM Benin is a non-government non-profit organisation. It has a double role: education and Esperanto. François clarifies its role. [Note: Unfortunately, the sound quality of the original lecture was too low, due to a bad internet connection, so this is a new recording.]
The Communication Mask Initiative – Rainer Kurz (Germany). Rainer founded the initiative communicationMask.org. The non-profit team is developing see-through masks against COVID-19 so that we can soon start normal life again without endangering others.
15 November 2020
Eldonejo Lorenz: 45 years promoting spiritism and Esperanto – Alvaro Motta (Brazil)
The Filipino language: an identity crisis? A curious product of colonial memory – Albert Stalin Garrido (Philippines)
The Filipino language, officially the national language of the Philippines, has a curious element: it is a confusing mix of several languages, local and foreign. How does that affect its speakers? Can you understand a few sentences? Take a look at the curious language policy in the Philippines, itself a trace of centuries of colonial roots.
18 October 2020
MAS (Monda Asembleo Socia = World Social Assembly) – Through pictures, Eddy Raats (Belgium) explains the constitution of MAS, then talks about MAS publications and showed the covers of some new publications. Finally, he presents some of his works and talks about his current project.
KER exams – Szabolcs SZILVA (Hungary/Poland) explains the meaning of KER exams and leads a number of interactive tasks with the participants. He also presents his new book, Pri Kio Temas. (Note: Szabolcs SZILVA does not officially represent the KER team.)
20 September 2020
My life as an Esperantist – Famous Esperantist Carl Minnaja explores his very diverse life as an Esperantist and also alludes to a few non-Esperantist parts.
Asocio de Verduloj Esperantistaj (AVE) – Manfred Westermayer from Germany presents the history, evolution, aims, achievements and current situation of AVE, the Association of Green Esperantists.
Information about AVE (in Esperanto)
16 August 2020
Historic pandemics and their aftermath – Trevor Steele (Australia)
Kenwood House: an historic mansion in north London – Anna Löwenstein (UK). Anna is a volunteer (in happier times) at Kenwood House in north London. This beautiful mansion is now full of outstanding artwork from the 17th to 19th centuries. Anna shows some of the most important paintings, and tells us some unexpected facts about the people who lived there 250 years ago.
19 July 2020
Monato – 40 years: the history of the world-famous Esperanto magazine – Paŭl Peeraerts (Belgium), chief editor of Monato
The main sociological reasons for and effects of COVID-19, and how Hungary has succeeded in dealing with the epidemic – Dr Márkus Gábor (Hungary), economist and author