PrimeMinisterK:
...
Are there any writers who are active today and still publishing books in the language? Any contemporary bestsellers (relatively speaking)?

Trevor Steele.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trevor_Steele
Last year, I read "Flugi kun kakatuoj", available as printed book.

Istvan Nemere
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Istv%C3%A1n_Nemere
I never read books from him for the moment, but it's on my list.

For further reading, I also noticed "La Princo ĉe la Hunoj" by Eugène de Zilah (619 pages, around 28 Euros for printed book)

Have a look here !
http://verkoj.com/esperanto/index.html
Kore,

Metsis:First some background info…

During the cold war there was in some eastern European countries official lists of foreign languages, such that if you mastered one of those, you were entitled to a higher salary. For some reason Esperanto had ended up onto those lists. Because Esperanto is easy many took a course, got a certificate and got a higher pay. Any lists ceased to exist after the system change and interest in Esperanto dropped. I think this is one of the main reasons, why there are so few post 80's works – at least when it comes to Europe.

That's a very interesting history lesson. I have seen all kinds of estimates for how many people supposedly know the language, to one extent or another, but I wonder how many people today are actually involved and use it in any way.

Metsis:
1. You're right, there aren't that many new literal works. Old works are available, but they may indeed fall short of "nice printed copies". This lack of new literature concerns both translated and original, fact and fiction.

This is a shame. The Esperanto community is not huge, from what I can tell, but it's not exactly small either. It's not like Interlingua. People actually know the language and use it all around the world.

Considering that, it would seem that there would be at least a handful of people actively writing in the language at a high level, and acting as the contemporary "literary superstars" of the Esperanto world. I would think that, in any given year, there should at least be a small handful of high-profile volumes that readers can count on to be released.

Metsis:There are a few short films, likely demonstrations of skill by theatre students. Practically no long films. You may hear excerpts in Esperanto in the background in some films.

As I hinted at a couple of times earlier in the thread, it seems like the Esperanto community should crowdfund a film that's made by a competent filmmaker. Maybe if it works out, it could be a recurring thing until there's at least a small library of decent films to watch in the language.

Regarding Esperanto in the background, it seems I may have heard something about Esperanto being spoken in Equilibrium.

Metsis:By contrast there are a lot of Youtube videos and podcasts. While most videos concentrate in the language itself, podcasts tend to have other content. Search this Lernu for discussion and tips of these.

Thanks. I listen to a lot of podcasts anyway so if I could find some in Esperanto, that would be great.

It also seems like it would be good to have some radio dramas produced in Esperanto. Maybe this could be a half-way measure if no one is going to make any films. Radio dramas have a lot of film-like elements, but just no visuals.

Metsis:2. The situation varies from country to country. My understanding is, that there are small scattered groups here and there. Some of these are dying out, some are doing well. The overall interest in la movado is in decline: younger generations want to achive something with the language, the language itself isn't a goal but a means. Many of the living groups are more or less virtual.

I think that one thing we, as a world, need to make sure NOT to do is give ourselves over to living all of life virtually. I already spend enough time in front of my computer as it is. The Esperanto community should make every effort to have face-to-face gatherings at regular intervals. Sometimes it's just good to inhabit the same general physical space as the people you're interacting with.

Metsis:3. While the Esperanto Wikipedia is one of the biggest ones, many articles are machine translated, e.g. hundreds of descriptions of asteroids. I remember having seen a list of articles, which are classified as high quality. Ofc there are poor ones as in every language.

Machine-translated? Ugh. That should not be allowed.

I did find a handful of articles that I thought were pretty high-quality (speaking of the depth of content, obviously not the quality of the Esperanto since I can't judge such a thing). One specifically that I ran across was the article for Joan of Arc. I was surprised it was as extensive it was when others, of subjects that are arguably more well-known or more important, are not. I think she's interesting though, so I'm not complaining.

Metsis:4. Learning a language depends on a lot of factors: what's your native language, what other languages have you learnt, how skilled are you to study, how motivated are you to study, how many hours daily/weekly you put into studies etc. If your native language is an Indo-European or you have studied Indo-European languages, you can well learn to read texts of simple to medium level of difficulty within a year or even less given you're motivated. With other background it will take longer or requires more effort.

Remember that repetition in language learning is the key. It's better to spend ,say, fifteen minutes every day than two hours in just one day in a week.

Bonvenon al Esperantujo!

Thanks. I've been going full-speed ahead since I started learning, so hopefully I will be able to keep up that pace, at least for long enough to build a good foundation for future learning. I am pretty enthusiastic about it!

LM59650:

PrimeMinisterK:
...
Are there any writers who are active today and still publishing books in the language? Any contemporary bestsellers (relatively speaking)?

Trevor Steele.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trevor_Steele
Last year, I read "Flugi kun kakatuoj", available as printed book.

Istvan Nemere
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Istv%C3%A1n_Nemere
I never read books from him for the moment, but it's on my list.

For further reading, I also noticed "La Princo ĉe la Hunoj" by Eugène de Zilah (619 pages, around 28 Euros for printed book)

Thanks, I will have to check all that out. Did you enjoy Flugi kun kakatuoj?

Is La Princo ĉe la Hunoj supposed to be a pretty good book? Do you know of anyone (or any website) that regularly does reviews of Esperanto books?

opajpoaj:Have a look here !
http://verkoj.com/esperanto/index.html
Kore,

Cool, this looks like it could be a useful resource. Thanks!

PrimeMinisterK:
...
Thanks, I will have to check all that out. Did you enjoy Flugi kun kakatuoj?
Is La Princo ĉe la Hunoj supposed to be a pretty good book? Do you know of anyone (or any website) that regularly does reviews of Esperanto books?

In "Flugi kun kakatuoj", I discovered a part of the history of Australia and the complexity of relations between european settlers and aborigens.
This novel is a story of friendship and heroism, but also of violence, with characters not idealized.
I enjoyed this novel, but as the level of esperanto is more difficult than in other novels that I read before, I wouln't recommend it as first reading.
"La Alkemiisto", for example, is easier for first reading.

"La Princo ĉe la hunoj" is an historical novel.
Short presentation here :
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22487549-la-pr...
https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/la-princo-ce-la-h...
(available as e-book but there is also a printed version, I prefer printed books)

You can find new publications here :
https://uea.org/aktuale/ls

PrimeMinisterK:
Thanks, is the Lernu forum really active? Is there a lot of conversation going on around here everyday?

Sure.Look,there're already many people talking with you

PrimeMinisterK:
Hopefully I will progress at a good speed. Or how would you say that in Esperanto? Mi esperas ke progresi tre rapide? It's something like that at least.

Ha,you can say "Mi esperas,ke mi progresos tre rapide" or "Mi esperas,ke mi progresos rapidege"! Just learn by lernu!(lernu! is really good,haha)

PrimeMinisterK:
1. What is the situation with Esperanto entertainment? It seems that most of the translations of known works are quite old and not even available in nice printed copies. And as far as I can tell, there are no modern works being officially translated into Esperanto, and there also doesn't seem to be a great deal of new literature either.

Saluton kaj bonvenon!

About books, the readership is relatively small, and so is the number of publishers. Most ot them (Impeto in Russia, FEL in the Netherlands, Mondial in the US, Edistudio in Italy) are Mom-and-Pop shops who heroically contribute to Eo culture, but cannot afford to buy the copyright of recent novels or essays. That's why it's easier to have classics published: their authors are long dead; they won't protest There is a constant arrival of new works, some of them quite good. Nemere, form Hungary and Steele, from Australia, were already mentionned. I would personnally add Montagut, from Catalonia, but he's not for beginners. No Shakespeare, Molière or Cervantes yet, but a lot of good poetry, crime novels and diaries.

Translations are done most often by esperantists who work from their mother tongue; it can give a new perspective about many authors (try reading Dostoievsky in Eo), or will allow you to discover unknown gems from small countries. As soon as you can read fluently -- and it's a matter of months, contrarily to most natural languages -- have a look at UEA's katalogo, as recommended, or try the Gutenberg Project.

Esperanto culture, varied and rich, is very much what you bring to it -- which is exhilarating, when you think about it. There must be a group of samlingvanoj in your neck of the woods. Join up and have fun.

I think that duolingo is a good app to practice Esperanto, although those tips and notes are not very enough to learn more about Esperanto’s grammar.

LM59650:
In "Flugi kun kakatuoj", I discovered a part of the history of Australia and the complexity of relations between european settlers and aborigens.
This novel is a story of friendship and heroism, but also of violence, with characters not idealized.

Thanks, that sounds interesting. At some point I will have to check it out.

LM59650:I enjoyed this novel, but as the level of esperanto is more difficult than in other novels that I read before, I wouln't recommend it as first reading. "La Alkemiisto", for example, is easier for first reading.

Speaking of La Alkemiisto, I tried to find it but it doesn't seem to be available anywhere. For that matter, I also noticed that La Mastro de l' Ringoj doesn't seem to be available anywhere either.

It seems like these books, being such high-profile translations, would always be in print and easily obtained.

LM59650:"La Princo ĉe la hunoj" is an historical novel.
Short presentation here :
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22487549-la-pr...
https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/la-princo-ce-la-h...
(available as e-book but there is also a printed version, I prefer printed books)

That's helpful. And yeah, I prefer printed books as well. It's nice to have books on the shelf, and a physical book feels permanent in a way that an e-book never will.

LM59650:You can find new publications here :
https://uea.org/aktuale/ls

Thanks again.