May 03, 2007
"Successful experiment in a Russian school"
In an earlier blog entry I mentioned that "Again, this [the value of Esperanto as a preliminary topic of study before starting one of the more traditional languages] is one of the great undiscovered stories about language teaching of our time." I also published an entry about the use of Esperanto at a school in Russia. From the same country, here's another piece of testimony about how Esperanto can serve as a propaedeutic language. This article originally appeared in Esperanto in the March, 2007, issue of the magazine Esperanto (p. 68).
In middle school number 100 of the city of Iĵevsk (Russia) Esperanto has been taught since 2001. During the schoolyear 2001-2002 it was taught to pupils of the 3rd grade and older. The next year the idea was born of teaching the international language to pupils of the second grade. And so it was that since last year Esperanto has been taught to 7-year-old children, who immediately showed great interest and capability of learning our language. More than half of those pupils are continuing to learn it this year. In the same year they have begun to learn English as a mandatory object of study, and those pupils who know Esperanto are learning English with greater desire and are progressing better by comparison with those who did not learn Esperanto.
An interesting phenomenon has become obvious. Many children who have entered the first grade did not know how to read or write in their mother tongue (Russian). So they have simultaneously learned to do that in the mother tongue and in Esperanto. In fact it's happened that they learned Esperanto's alphabet earlier than that of Russian.
The children learn Esperanto with great pleasure, because the lessons pass interestingly because the program is learned songs and poems, which later become segments in festival concerts. The pupils very much like to sing and declaim poems known by heart.
Curricula have been compiled for pupils of the first and second grades (three steps — the program lasts for three years), for pupils of the 5th and 6th grades (three steps) and for pupils of the 9th and 10th grades (two steps — the program lasts for two years). All curricula anticipate two hours per week of Esperanto.
In the school it's tradition to arrange English lessons with elements of Esperanto and Esperanto lessons with elements of English. The pupils are informed during those lessons about common characteristics of the two languages and about their differences. This evokes interest in the languages. The pupils who know Esperanto are active with special enthusiasm during the lessons.
In the school concertos with segments in four languages — English, French, German and Esperanto — are arranged during important feast days.
Esperanto speakers in our school regularly meet with members of the International Friendship Club, which functions in the Palace of Youth Creation. The meetings usually occur in December during Esperanto week and in February during the traditional International Friendship Week. Our children tell about Esperanto and the Esperanto movement and present a concert. For these meetings pupils from other shools in the icty are always invited. Esperanto-speaking pupils and their teacher have been interviewed on television and radio several times.
During summer camps held in the school an Esperanto course is held for 7/8-year-old children, who during the camp period (24 days) succeed in learning two songs, three poems and get some exprience in speaking Esperanto. As a result, the participants in the course take to Esperanto in the next school year and diligently learn it. The program of the Esperanto course for the summer camp, titled We Get Acquainted With the World, has been highly apprised by the city department of education.
Many pupils like, and are able, to write fairy tales. Some of them have participated in the International Fairy-Tale Contest, which is organized every year by the Pää Institute in Taivalkoski (Finland). In the years 2003, 2004 and 2005 our pupils won prizes. Jaroslav Vorobjov, who won the grand prize in 2003, has taken part in the national project "Talented Children of Russia".
During the last five years teachers of English, French and German have felt the real utility of the teaching of Esperanto in our school. They have unanimously declared that Esperanto is a necessary object of study, because the pupils who have previously studied Esperanto succeed better in the study of foreign languages. And the entire pedagogical collective of the school has expressed the opinion that Esperanto should go on being taught in the school.
I have two grand-children who attend 4th and 6th grades in a Catholic school in Los Angeles. I do know that several religions use Esperanto (Bahai,etc.).
I was wondering if the Esperanto movement has had any success approaching the U.S. religious school systems (especially international religions)
r at a district level (such as Los Angeles) to promote Esperanto as a useful language learning tool.
Also, in Los Angeles, with many languages in addition to English and Spanish, esperanto could become tha first language which children could learn to read and write, with children of different cultures. Perhaps a serious fluency could be promoted into high school.