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The Esperanto Congress and the Zeitgeist.

de sudanglo, 2013-majo-20

Mesaĝoj: 22

Lingvo: English

sudanglo (Montri la profilon) 2013-majo-20 10:34:09

In the Internet age, is the idea of the Esperanto Congress old-fashioned, past its sell-by-date?

I ask because, not only is there not much sign of growth in the attendance at Esperanto Congresses generally, but because I found it very striking that at the recent Congress in Ramsgate, there was a noticeable absence of new faces.

It seemed to be very much the same old crowd that you might have have seen at any British Congress in the last five years. And even the participation from the Continent seemed to largely belong to an older generation of dyed-in-the-wool Esperantists.

Where were the the Lernu members? With 3500 registrants at Lernu from the UK alone, one might have expected more. Even a 1% participation (ie 35) would have stood out. But I did not see anybody I could have clearly identified as a novbakito.

erinja (Montri la profilon) 2013-majo-20 11:29:20

1% participation from registered lernu users seems like a lot to ask, considering that of the people who create an account, only a small percentage (let's say 30%) will ever spend much time using the site, maybe only 10% will actually speak the language, and then of those people - we're now talking about a hypothetical population of potential interested parties of around 350 people - Esperanto is popular with young people, and it's not clear that these users would have the financial resources and the free time to attend. It's a hard question.

Making the decision to attend your first esperanto event can seem intimidating. You don't know what will happen, you worry you won't understand, and it might seem like a lot of money in a bad economy.

sudanglo (Montri la profilon) 2013-majo-20 15:52:41

I think congress participation varies from year to year, depending on a variety of factors including location, programme and cost
Undoubtedly true, Radio. But none of those factors would seem to explain the massive decline in attendance at British Congresses since I became an Esperantist in the 1960's.

So the question remains. Are congresses out of kilter with the Zeitgeist?

Cost cannot explain a preference for overseas events among young beginner Esperantists. Quite the reverse. If cost were a principal factor then, you would predict higher attendance at inland events since the travel costs would be so much cheaper.

Benjamino (Montri la profilon) 2013-majo-20 16:09:52

i don't think esperanto congresses are any less relevant than they ever have been. the vast majority of Esperantists are not rich enough to travel for a world congress, especially in places like Vietnam and Argentina. this was a problem noted by Zamenhof at the sixth Universal Congress. generally speaking, if we assume Esperanto is a worldwide language, then *anywhere* will be difficult for the majority of Esperantists to travel to. that has always been a problem, and has not changed- except nowadays travel is much easier than it used to be, and people around the world are a little more affluent.

nowadays, people can speak esperanto without ever leaving their house. that probably tips the scale in favor of not going to a congress, at least for some people. me, i'd be happy to go if i had the money. but if i had the money for a world congress, i could probably pay someone to teach me Mandarin, Arabic, Russian, etc...

robbkvasnak (Montri la profilon) 2013-majo-20 16:56:43

I really wanted to go to Iceland this year but I was laid off and even though I may theoretically have the funds, my future is too cloudy so unfortunately I will have to pass. I wanted to take my better half with me since he has never expereinced hundreds and hundreds of people speaking Esperanto.

erinja (Montri la profilon) 2013-majo-21 00:40:31

My first Esperanto event was a small and informal youth weekend held in my city. It was a very non-threatening way to enter the world of Esperanto events - not far from home, inexpensive, and small. And people not too old - I was 16 when I attended my first Esperanto event, and I think I would have felt uncomfortable attending an event full of people not much younger than 40. Having said this, I have met 16 year olds at national Esperanto events, but I personally wouldn't have felt comfortable with that at 16. I remember well how nervous I was going into the event, and I wonder, even if a large national event had been nearby, whether I would have plucked up the courage to go.

Moosader (Montri la profilon) 2013-majo-21 03:15:38

sudanglo:In the Internet age, is the idea of the Esperanto Congress old-fashioned, past its sell-by-date?

I ask because, not only is there not much sign of growth in the attendance at Esperanto Congresses generally, but because I found it very striking that at the recent Congress in Ramsgate, there was a noticeable absence of new faces.

It seemed to be very much the same old crowd that you might have have seen at any British Congress in the last five years. And even the participation from the Continent seemed to largely belong to an older generation of dyed-in-the-wool Esperantists.

Where were the the Lernu members? With 3500 registrants at Lernu from the UK alone, one might have expected more. Even a 1% participation (ie 35) would have stood out. But I did not see anybody I could have clearly identified as a novbakito.
What kind of events are at the Esperanto Congress?
I was looking at the Esperanto-USA thing, but the registration for non-members is $220.
I've never been out of North America, and I'm sure traveling to Europe is super expensive. Maybe once I'm working full-time again I'll save up to go. :S

Vespero_ (Montri la profilon) 2013-majo-21 04:15:39

I'd love to go to one, but I'm poor, in college, can't drive, have never travelled much and am not quite fluent enough yet, I think.

MoutOp (Montri la profilon) 2013-majo-21 05:00:26

As Radio said, the membership of national Esperanto associations has declined, and national congresses seems to be (I never gone, I’m a young esperantist) more association meetings than Esperanto meetings. Why to speak in Esperanto with people who have the same mother tongue than me? If I’ll go in UFE-kongreso, it’ll because the evolution of UFE is interesting, not to speak Esperanto.

For me, UK or congresses of specialised associations are other problems. As I already said, I’m a young esperantist, I don’t had the time to go in big international congress. I just went to specialised non-official small meeting (Bibliaj Tagoj) in my own city, Strasbourg. Even if UK etc. are old-fashioned, I really would like to go: but the problem here is the cost.

J_Marc (Montri la profilon) 2013-majo-21 08:00:28

Vespero_:I'm not quite fluent enough yet, I think.
About the other things you mentioned you're on your own, but about fluency, my advice is 'go to the congress anyway'. There's always a few bonantagonulos at every congress, and unless the congress is in another country or is the Universala Kongreso, one can probably krokodili with them. Anyway, I've read books, translated documents, sung, written stuff, read more books and what not; but in my opinion face-to-face in real time is the best way to use Esperanto, regardless of how big the congress is. (Though, those other things are good too, of course!)

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