Merradean Pettit
|
I first encountered Esperanto as a parent of children attending a school that had adopted it as a school-wide language. In principle, I thought that it had an excellent philosophy of promoting global dialogue via a neutral language that was relatively easy to learn. I watched my kids grasp the language and begin to enjoy using it for simple sentences. I applied for, and was granted, a scholarship to the national annual conference in Adelaide in 2004. In 2005 I accompanied my child to a trip to a Swiss school that also learnt Esperanto. As our only common language it was amazing to watch the kids language skills grow in this immersive environment and great to watch them using it in play together. I was hooked and at the end of my teacher training accepted a position teaching Esperanto. I found that the students retained vocabulary as some of it was familiar to them. This is because it is constructed from a Germanic and Latin base. This quick acquisition of basic words gives children the incentive to keep learning the language.Traveing with 9 students to the National Conference in Hobart provided them with the immersion experience that saw these students skills develop to the point where they all completed the Baza examination. Quite a few past students have reported that learning Esperanto has helped them in further language acquisition as they become familiar with grammar terms such as prepositions. When learning languages such as Spanish, Italian or French, students were already able to read many of the common words as they are familiar to them. To me, it makes sense to teach the world a common second language that is relatively neutral and quite easy to learn. It would enable more people to be able to converse, especially with the technology we have today. It might even encourage more exchange programs around the world,where our children to form bonds across cultures. Under ideal circumstances, I believe that Esperanto could become the language of peace
|
Susan Chahwan is a Pre-primary Director and Director of Teaching and Learning for children from aged 3 to 6 years old at Sutherland Shire Montessori School. She is in the process of integrating Esperanto into her classroom with the aid of Mondeto’s all-in-one program and says it can be a valuable learning tool as well as a conduit to help build relationships with people from different parts of the globe.
“It is a language that our class can learn together that is simple, systematic and logically constructed. Success in learning this language will be transferable when at another time we try and learn another language. “The order of the language makes the concept of grammar easy to understand. Being Latin-based, the roots of words and their meanings are exposed and can be discussed. You don’t have to have a native speaker at hand and Esperanto can be learned anywhere.” “I also think the widespread learning of Esperanto could be seen as a mark of respect to all cultures - to meet a part of the way by learning a language for common use worldwide.” |
Susan Chahwan
|
Saani Bennetts
|
"I taught Esperanto in a Montessori school for several years, and found that it gave the kids a great foundation in the skills of how to learn another language. It was also a great bridging language - in W.A, it's common for primary school children to start learning several different languages due to the shortage of LOTE teachers. A child may start learning French, but when the French teacher leaves and another can't be found, they switch to Japanese for a couple of years, and then maybe Mandarin. After that, they may go to a high school which offers only Indonesian and Italian. With Esperanto, the kids have a great set of skills which they can easily transfer to other languages. I had many children who did Esperanto in primary school tell me that they had a head start when learning a new language in high school.
Studying Esperanto also gave us the opportunity to learn about all kinds of cultures and countries around the world. The kids had pen pals from all over the world, and I took a group of Perth students on an Esperanto exchange to Switzerland." |
Dr Philip Mahnken
|
It seems to me that languages education in Queensland, where so often school principals cannot find teachers for specific languages, might be well served if all primary school teachers' degrees included a unit on Esperanto. Even if optional, it would be valuable. I myself would far prefer the “natural languages” were amply supplied and guaranteed. It won't happen. Esperanto is at least a great introduction to real and transferable language learning that any teacher can have in 100 hours (as opposed to 1400 hours for minimal Chinese, 800 for Indonesian, etc).
Phil Mahnken Indonesian Language Lecturer Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences University of the Sunshine Coast |
Between the early 70’s and the present in Tasmania a few primary schools have introduced the teaching of LOTE, mainly French, Italian, Indonesian or Japanese.
The decision has been that of the principal, not one mandated by central administrative fiat. The origination and continuation of LOTE teaching has usually been dependent on the availability of primary trained teachers with some background in a suitable language. This was usually French because over the period of time in question the majority of these teachers would have done at least four years of high school French. Changes in principal, or the principal’s policy or a hiatus in the availability of a teacher with skills in a LOTE often led to discontinuation of LOTE teaching in a school. My anecdotal knowledge is that LOTE teaching has been haphazard, intermittent and lacking in certain coordinated pathways to the local high school. I believe that the introduction of Esperanto for the reasons well documented by Penny Vos would mitigate the problems of implementation and continuation of other LOTE in evidence over forty years in primary schools. Also, of course, it would be extremely valuable learning experience for primary children and contribute immensely to greater enrolment in secondary grades in other LOTE. Ross Butler BA Dip Ed MEd FAICD MP House of Assembly, Tasmania Former teacher of French and German and High School Principal 1963 - 2000 |
Ross Butler MP
|
Carol Brands
|
Several years ago I was lucky enough to employ a teacher who spoke Esperanto. As Principal of Treetops Montessori I had struggled for years with the requirement to teach a language. A shortage of LOTE teachers meant that consistency was impossible. I had become seriously disenchanted with what we were able to offer our students in this area. I had watched a parade of different languages being “taught” in my school and was tired of hearing my students count to ten in several different languages but have no real understanding of any one language or of how language worked.
We began to teach Esperanto right through the school from the 4 year olds up to the Middle School. The children loved it. They easily got beyond the colours and numbers stage and were quickly able to be conversational in their new language. We soon began to experience all the benefits of Esperanto as a first, second language. The students had pen pals in several overseas countries, a group of older students did an exchange trip to Switzerland but most importantly they began to have a usable second language rather than the “party trick” few words they had developed in our earlier language programs. We also found that some of our students who had difficulties with reading found Esperanto easier than English. Skills learnt in Esperanto classes about how language is structured were transferable to their English studies. The confidence that their command of Esperanto gave the children was a huge benefit and the connection it gave them to the rest of the world was wonderful. |
018