erinja:

Please do learn to speak Esperanto reasonably well before doing this. I met up with some people in Bern, Switzerland, and one of them told me that a lot of people coming through speak only minimal Esperanto, which makes it hard on the host.

Would you please define 'reasonably well'?
Thanks

Tim496:Oh that's great, sometimes you just get worried because of your food, as you may know, it is a serius thing which must be taken by a big care.
Thanks

I agree, and it is especially important in certain cultures (as I am sure you well know, I don't mean to insult your intelligence). My suggestion is to always find out the local attitude toward food wherever you go.

Purrfecdizzo:

erinja:

Please do learn to speak Esperanto reasonably well before doing this. I met up with some people in Bern, Switzerland, and one of them told me that a lot of people coming through speak only minimal Esperanto, which makes it hard on the host.

Would you please define 'reasonably well'?
Thanks

You don't have to be fluent by any means. But think of what kind of language level you'd like to see, as a minimum, from a foreign guest, then apply that to yourself. I'd put it as, being able to communicate regarding basic needs (the bathroom is there, this is how you turn on the shower, what do you want to eat for dinner, are you vegetarian?) and have a simple conversation. It doesn't have to be perfectly grammatical or fluent, and there might be a lot of pausing and um and uh and checking in a dictionary. But the point is that you can communicate with your host, at least on a basic level. It makes it stressful for you and for the host, if the host speaks no English and is trying to explain to you important information such as where to find the host at the train station, or how to find their house. And you will get more out of it as a guest if the host shows you around the city and you have a basic understanding (maybe not every word) of what the host is telling you about what you're seeing, though obviously that is less important than the ability to communicate the core needs of food/bathroom/housing/transport.

And yes - some people do try to travel in Esperanto and not even have this basic capability. In Reykjavik, my friends and I were walking from the bus station to our rental apartment when we encountered a person who was also attending the convention, and trying to reach her lodging. She tried English, then we realized she was with the Esperanto group and we tried Esperanto, but actually her Esperanto was not good enough for us to communicate to her (with a map, finger pointing, etc. in addition to words) where to go. We tried to tell her that her lodging was on the other side of a lake but she didn't even know the word "akvo" (water). It turned out that she was Russian and one of us spoke Russian so it was ok, but it struck us that she had travelled a long way to attend an event that she would likely understand very little of.

Purrfecdizzo:

Tim496:Oh that's great, sometimes you just get worried because of your food, as you may know, it is a serius thing which must be taken by a big care.
Thanks

I agree, and it is especially important in certain cultures (as I am sure you well know, I don't mean to insult your intelligence). My suggestion is to always find out the local attitude toward food wherever you go.

Yes, very important, and thanks for participating.
Just imagine if you'd get very sick because of the food, in other country or even continent, it'd turn out to be a bad trip, and there comes the other coment about being in a good level of Esperanto. If that's the only language you'll comunicate with the person who will receive you, you probably want to be sure you can do it. Because of a bad communication your trip can be ruined.

erinja:

Purrfecdizzo:

erinja:

Please do learn to speak Esperanto reasonably well before doing this. I met up with some people in Bern, Switzerland, and one of them told me that a lot of people coming through speak only minimal Esperanto, which makes it hard on the host.

Would you please define 'reasonably well'?
Thanks

You don't have to be fluent by any means. But think of what kind of language level you'd like to see, as a minimum, from a foreign guest, then apply that to yourself. I'd put it as, being able to communicate regarding basic needs (the bathroom is there, this is how you turn on the shower, what do you want to eat for dinner, are you vegetarian?) and have a simple conversation. It doesn't have to be perfectly grammatical or fluent, and there might be a lot of pausing and um and uh and checking in a dictionary. But the point is that you can communicate with your host, at least on a basic level. It makes it stressful for you and for the host, if the host speaks no English and is trying to explain to you important information such as where to find the host at the train station, or how to find their house. And you will get more out of it as a guest if the host shows you around the city and you have a basic understanding (maybe not every word) of what the host is telling you about what you're seeing, though obviously that is less important than the ability to communicate the core needs of food/bathroom/housing/transport.

And yes - some people do try to travel in Esperanto and not even have this basic capability. In Reykjavik, my friends and I were walking from the bus station to our rental apartment when we encountered a person who was also attending the convention, and trying to reach her lodging. She tried English, then we realized she was with the Esperanto group and we tried Esperanto, but actually her Esperanto was not good enough for us to communicate to her (with a map, finger pointing, etc. in addition to words) where to go. We tried to tell her that her lodging was on the other side of a lake but she didn't even know the word "akvo" (water). It turned out that she was Russian and one of us spoke Russian so it was ok, but it struck us that she had travelled a long way to attend an event that she would likely understand very little of.

Got it... Yeah, I can understand this type of thing. I can understand the importance of being able to take care of basic needs.

Tim496:

Purrfecdizzo:

Tim496:Oh that's great, sometimes you just get worried because of your food, as you may know, it is a serius thing which must be taken by a big care.
Thanks

I agree, and it is especially important in certain cultures (as I am sure you well know, I don't mean to insult your intelligence). My suggestion is to always find out the local attitude toward food wherever you go.

Yes, very important, and thanks for participating.
Just imagine if you'd get very sick because of the food, in other country or even continent, it'd turn out to be a bad trip, and there comes the other coment about being in a good level of Esperanto. If that's the only language you'll comunicate with the person who will receive you, you probably want to be sure you can do it. Because of a bad communication your trip can be ruined.

yeah, but also, in some cultures, there is a great degree of focus on food that may not exist in our native environment. I can say, for example, that in China, food is extremely important. Manners are extremely important, and people are very sensitive about things relating to food that I never find back home. I have to be careful in China because a Chinese (no, not all Chinese people are the same. There are exceptions to this) host may focus keenly on what I feel is a slight unintentional criticism about food, situation, or environment. Based on my experience, it is good to find out a little about the destination culture before departing.

erinja:

You don't have to be fluent by any means. But think of what kind of language level you'd like to see, as a minimum, from a foreign guest, then apply that to yourself. I'd put it as, being able to communicate regarding basic needs (the bathroom is there, this is how you turn on the shower, what do you want to eat for dinner, are you vegetarian?) and have a simple conversation. It doesn't have to be perfectly grammatical or fluent, and there might be a lot of pausing and um and uh and checking in a dictionary. But the point is that you can communicate with your host, at least on a basic level. It makes it stressful for you and for the host, if the host speaks no English and is trying to explain to you important information such as where to find the host at the train station, or how to find their house. And you will get more out of it as a guest if the host shows you around the city and you have a basic understanding (maybe not every word) of what the host is telling you about what you're seeing, though obviously that is less important than the ability to communicate the core needs of food/bathroom/housing/transport.

And yes - some people do try to travel in Esperanto and not even have this basic capability. In Reykjavik, my friends and I were walking from the bus station to our rental apartment when we encountered a person who was also attending the convention, and trying to reach her lodging. She tried English, then we realized she was with the Esperanto group and we tried Esperanto, but actually her Esperanto was not good enough for us to communicate to her (with a map, finger pointing, etc. in addition to words) where to go. We tried to tell her that her lodging was on the other side of a lake but she didn't even know the word "akvo" (water). It turned out that she was Russian and one of us spoke Russian so it was ok, but it struck us that she had travelled a long way to attend an event that she would likely understand very little of.

Thank you for giving a carful and detailed answer.

Purrfecdizzo:

Tim496:

Purrfecdizzo:

Tim496:Oh that's great, sometimes you just get worried because of your food, as you may know, it is a serius thing which must be taken by a big care.
Thanks

I agree, and it is especially important in certain cultures (as I am sure you well know, I don't mean to insult your intelligence). My suggestion is to always find out the local attitude toward food wherever you go.

Yes, very important, and thanks for participating.
Just imagine if you'd get very sick because of the food, in other country or even continent, it'd turn out to be a bad trip, and there comes the other coment about being in a good level of Esperanto. If that's the only language you'll comunicate with the person who will receive you, you probably want to be sure you can do it. Because of a bad communication your trip can be ruined.

yeah, but also, in some cultures, there is a great degree of focus on food that may not exist in our native environment. I can say, for example, that in China, food is extremely important. Manners are extremely important, and people are very sensitive about things relating to food that I never find back home. I have to be careful in China because a Chinese (no, not all Chinese people are the same. There are exceptions to this) host may focus keenly on what I feel is a slight unintentional criticism about food, situation, or environment. Based on my experience, it is good to find out a little about the destination culture before departing.

Sure, one rather does before traveling

I have a little question, if one of you guys can help me... I already did Ana Pana and Ana Renkontas, did I already finished the whole course ?
Is "Jen nia IJK" an option to improve your Esperanto ?
Thank you all!

I suggest "Jen nia IJK" and then "Kio okazas?"

"Kio Okazas" gives good practice with written Esperanto. The longer your texts, the more practice you will get, so how much you learn (or don't learn) is really up to you.

But at this point the best thing to do is to use Esperanto a lot. The forums and the instant messenger are really useful for that. Some users exchange Skype names to get practice with speaking as well.