Is anyone headed to NASK 2014 this summer in Victoria, BC, Canada? I am seriously considering it, although I have some reservations about investing that much money and time away from my family.

If anyone could give me a inside look as to what it's like socially, how much one actually learns in the short amount of time, etc. that would be very helpful. I'm also wondering if anyone has studied with any of the three teachers: Jxenja Bondelid, Usui Hiroyuki, István Ertl. While I am definitely, a "komencanto" I am intrigued by the possibility of studying at the intermediate level with someone who teaches/uses Esperanto professionally and who comes from a very different cultural background than me, like Hiroyuki (I'm American). Does anyone know what Bondelid or Hiroyuki are like in the classroom? What would it take to enter into the intermediate course (To date, I have finished Ana Pana, and am working my way through Gerda Malaperis and Pasporta al la tuta mondo. I've never really spoken Esperanto, although there is a local group here (in New England) that I am hoping to connect with soon).

In any case, thanks in advance for your help and hope to see you in Viktorio!

I can't really answer any of your questions, as I've never been to NASK before, but since I live in Victoria, I'm definetely going this year. From what I've heard, it's going to be a lot of fun and there are some cool outings planned. It's a really nice university and the LK will be at a hotel downtown by the ocean, so if you stay for both, you'll get a really great taste of Victoria.
Hope to meet you in the summer!

negillan:Is anyone headed to NASK 2014 this summer in Victoria, BC, Canada? I am seriously considering it, although I have some reservations about investing that much money and time away from my family.

If anyone could give me a inside look as to what it's like socially, how much one actually learns in the short amount of time, etc. that would be very helpful. I'm also wondering if anyone has studied with any of the three teachers: Jxenja Bondelid, Usui Hiroyuki, István Ertl. While I am definitely, a "komencanto" I am intrigued by the possibility of studying at the intermediate level with someone who teaches/uses Esperanto professionally and who comes from a very different cultural background than me, like Hiroyuki (I'm American). Does anyone know what Bondelid or Hiroyuki are like in the classroom? What would it take to enter into the intermediate course (To date, I have finished Ana Pana, and am working my way through Gerda Malaperis and Pasporta al la tuta mondo. I've never really spoken Esperanto, although there is a local group here (in New England) that I am hoping to connect with soon).

In any case, thanks in advance for your help and hope to see you in Viktorio!

I attended NASK 2013 in Raleigh NC and found it very valuable. I also was a relative beginner, having studied Esperanto for only 5 months prior to my arrival there, and had never before had the opportunity to speak Esperanto with anyone. I also hesitated to go because of the time and expense, but it was well worth it!! Without traveling abroad, only at NASK is it possible to interact with a critical mass of Esperanto speakers, and to get an idea of how the language actually functions in day-to-day social communication. My (intermediate-level)teacher was excellent, and I learned a lot in class, but I found that the opportunities outside of class were just as valuable, maybe even more so. Around the tables in the dining room at meals, I had the opportunity to listen to and speak with many fluent speakers, including the instructors of the other levels, and foreigners. During lectures, activities and sightseeing excursions I experienced Esperanto as a living language, and learned how useful it can be in communicating with people from other countries and other cultures. I made new friends, and have been able to stay in touch with them via Facebook, email and Skype. Because of these new friends, my motivation to continue studying has remained strong and I have continued to make steady progress. The teachers last year were a different group, so I can't help you there, but I am sure that they are all very well qualified. It sounds like you will be ready for the intermediate level if you keep studying and progressing over the next few months. You may want to try the wonderful, old-fashioned, snail-mail postal course through E-USA. I would also recommend joining E-USA and ordering books through them. Good luck, and contact me directly if you want more information.

I've never seen Jxenja Bondelid's teaching, but she is super nice as a person, a pleasure to spend time with. Since so much of language teaching at a course like NASK depends on interaction with your teacher, if I were a beginner, I wouldn't hesitate to take a class with her.

You can sign up for whatever level of course you think you might be ready for, but when you arrive at NASK, they will do an assessment of your language level and put you in a class accordingly. It is not uncommon for people who signed up for the beginner level to be reassigned to intermediate. Personally, I think that if you have already done Ana Pana, and if you continue working through courses up to this summer, you will likely be ready for the intermediate level by the time NASK rolls around. If I were you, I'd sign up for the intermediate level, and if by some chance you aren't ready for it, you can always go back to the beginner level on arrival at NASK.

The New England Esperanto group has a lot of super nice people. You should definitely try to hook up with them. Even if you aren't able to attend anything in person, I would try to arrange some skype chats with other students (it's relatively easy to arrange on the lernu forums, and if you do a search, you will definitely find a thread where people exchange skype names) to get a bit of practice with speaking and listening.

erinja:I've never seen Jxenja Bondelid's teaching, but she is super nice as a person, a pleasure to spend time with. Since so much of language teaching at a course like NASK depends on interaction with your teacher, if I were a beginner, I wouldn't hesitate to take a class with her.

You can sign up for whatever level of course you think you might be ready for, but when you arrive at NASK, they will do an assessment of your language level and put you in a class accordingly. It is not uncommon for people who signed up for the beginner level to be reassigned to intermediate. Personally, I think that if you have already done Ana Pana, and if you continue working through courses up to this summer, you will likely be ready for the intermediate level by the time NASK rolls around. If I were you, I'd sign up for the intermediate level, and if by some chance you aren't ready for it, you can always go back to the beginner level on arrival at NASK.

The New England Esperanto group has a lot of super nice people. You should definitely try to hook up with them. Even if you aren't able to attend anything in person, I would try to arrange some skype chats with other students (it's relatively easy to arrange on the lernu forums, and if you do a search, you will definitely find a thread where people exchange skype names) to get a bit of practice with speaking and listening.

I agree! By the way, since you, negillan, are watching the video course "Pasporto al la Tuta Mondo", you may be intrigued to know that Jxenja Bondelid played the character Helena in the series. In addition to being an actress and a fluent Esperanto speaker, she is also a professional educator who holds a university degree in the teaching of Esperanto, so I am sure she will do a great job teaching the post-beginner course at NASK 2014.

Thank you all for your advice and insights! I am very much hoping I will be able to go to NASK and study with Bondelid or Hiroyuki-- they both sound like wonderful teachers and NASK overall sounds like a wonderful opportunity.

And I did notice that Jxenja and Helena are one in the same! It was, in fact, my googling of Jxenja that led me to the video series in the first place. Does anyone what Ruselo Sxafisto (played by Guy Menachem) is up to these days? I met him years ago outside the Esperanto context and think this would be an interesting way to reconnect.

I lived in Canada for several years, so NASK taking place in Victoria (where I've never been, but always wanted to go!) is a big selling point, despite being so far away from where I live now.

In any case, I hope to continue studying in the coming months, take advantage of some of the opportunities locally, and hopefully make it to NASK this summer.