Ch 27 · Lesson 15Esperanto · Chapter 27 · Lesson 15 · Grammar primer
Esperanto music and films
Vinilkosmo and the acts still performing, folk before rock, and three films: one to learn from, one for the history, and William Shatner.
The short version
Folk before rock
.
Why?Hide
Folk arrangements leave space around the words; rock lyrics do not, in any language. Start Esperanto music with acoustic folk such as , move to ĴomArt Nataŝa, and keep the rock of for when your ear is ready. Vinilkosmo, the label since 1990, is where the catalogue lives.
Gerda
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Why?Hide
Of the three Esperanto films worth knowing, only one is listening practice. Gerda ! (2006) follows Claude Piron's teaching novel, so if you have read the book you can follow the film. (1964) is film history, and Incubus (1966), with William Shatner, is a curiosity whose cast read their lines phonetically.
Music is good ear training and film is a treat; neither replaces a spoken source. Start with folk, keep rock for later, and of the three films worth knowing, learn from one.
| What | Start with | Why |
|---|---|---|
| music | acoustic folk: you can follow words | |
| songwriters | ĴomArt Nataŝa | a hundred songs, all in |
| rock | once your ear is ready | |
| film to learn | Gerda | made from a teaching novel |
| film history | | the first feature |
| curiosity | Incubus (1966) | William Shatner, badly pronounced |
Where the music lives
Vinilkosmo was founded in 1990 by Floréal Martorell, near Toulouse, and is still trading, with a shop and a subscription club. If you want Esperanto music as a catalogue rather than whatever an algorithm surfaces, it is the address.
.- I listen to music in Esperanto.
The acts still going
| Act | From | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| ĴomArt Nataŝa | Sweden | songwriting duo, together since 1987 |
| Friesland | folk and sea songs, acoustic | |
| Sweden | the rock end of the shelf | |
| JoMo | Jean- Leclercq, songs in many languages |
ĴomArt Nataŝa, originally from Kazakhstan, have written around a hundred songs in Esperanto, and their melody is the one this site uses for Zamenhof's poem Ho, mia kor'. are the best start for a learner: their arrangements leave room around every word.
The three films
1964Angoroj, the first Esperanto feature film
1966Incubus, horror with William Shatner
2006Gerda malaperis!, from the teaching novel
| Film | Year | Watch it for |
|---|---|---|
Gerda | 2006 | learning: built on a graded novel |
| 1964 | history: the first feature |
| Incubus | 1966 | the story of it, not your ears |
Gerda ! is the one to watch. A Brazilian production by Joe Bazilio Costa, it follows Claude Piron's teaching novel, the reader learners use for its controlled vocabulary, so it is the Esperanto film to hand an intermediate learner as practice. Read the book first, then watch it.
is the first Esperanto feature film. It was made by Jacques-Louis Mahé, who also wrote novels as Lorjak; it failed commercially, Mahé destroyed most of the copies, and a surviving print came out on video in the 1990s.
Incubus was directed by Leslie Stevens and shot entirely in Esperanto, with William Shatner just before Star Trek. The cast were not Esperantists and read their lines phonetically; Esperantists at the premiere reportedly laughed. The print was long thought lost until a copy surfaced at the Cinémathèque Française in the 1990s.
.- I want to watch a film in Esperanto.
Going further: Catalogue, not current and the rest of the guide, when you want them. This lesson does not need them.
Practice
Practise this lesson
10-question session
One question at a time, mixed across the exercises in this lesson. Miss one and it comes back round before the end. There are 14 in all: practise more afterwards if you want them.
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