Kilo Lingo
Esperanto grammar Part of Chapter 27

CEFR A2-B1

3 min read

Test yourself (14 questions)

Esperanto Music and Films: What Is Worth Your Ears

By Michael McGettrickUpdated 12 October 2026

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.

WhatStart withWhy
musicacoustic folk: you can follow words
songwritersĴomArt Nataŝaa hundred songs, all in
rock once your ear is ready
film to learnGerda ! (2006)made from a teaching novel
film history (1964)the first feature
curiosityIncubus (1966)William Shatner, badly pronounced

Quick check

Now use it: three quick questions on the chart above. The full practice is further down.

Pick the right one

0/3

Pick the one that fits the learner described.

  1. A film to learn from, made from a teaching book:

  2. Acoustic folk songs, easy to follow:

  3. The place to buy Esperanto music as a catalogue:

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

ActFromWhat it is
ĴomArt NataŝaSwedensongwriting duo, together since 1987
Frieslandfolk and sea songs, acoustic
Swedenthe rock end of the shelf
JoMoJean- 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.

Catalogue, not current

Some names on every list are a back catalogue now. The records are good; do not wait for new ones.

ActFromStatus
Swedenlast album 2002
DesperadoDenmarksplit in 2005

The three films

Three films worth knowing

  1. 1964Angoroj, the first Esperanto feature film

  2. 1966Incubus, horror with William Shatner

  3. 2006Gerda malaperis!, from the teaching novel

FilmYearWatch it for
Gerda !2006learning: built on a graded novel
1964history: the first feature
Incubus1966the 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.

What to do next

  1. Listen to one twice, the second time with the lyrics.
  2. Read Gerda !, then watch the film.
  3. Read listening to Esperanto for the spoken ladder.

See also

Practise: test yourself

Pick the right one

0/3

Pick the one that fits the learner described.

  1. A film to learn from, made from a teaching book:

  2. Acoustic folk songs, easy to follow:

  3. The place to buy Esperanto music as a catalogue:

Sort into groups

0/5

Is each one music or a film?

Tap a word, then the group it belongs in.

Pick the right one

0/3

Two claims about the same thing. Pick the true one.

  1. (about Incubus)

  2. (about Angoroj)

  3. (about Vinilkosmo)

Translation drill

0/3

Translate into Esperanto.

  1. They sing in Esperanto.

  2. I want to watch a film.

  3. I like this song.

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Frequently asked questions

Is there any Esperanto music worth listening to?
Yes, and it has been organised as a catalogue since 1990, when Floréal Martorell founded the Vinilkosmo label near Toulouse. Start with , a Frisian folk group whose acoustic arrangements let the words through, and ĴomArt Nataŝa, a duo with around a hundred songs written in Esperanto. are the rock end.
Why folk before rock for an Esperanto learner?
Because folk arrangements leave space around the words and rock lyrics do not, in any language. A slow song with clear diction is listening practice; a fast one over loud guitars is mostly a guessing game until your ear is ready.
Are there really films in Esperanto?
Yes, and three are worth knowing. Gerda ! (2006) is a Brazilian feature made from Claude Piron's teaching novel, so it is the one to learn from. (1964) is the first Esperanto feature film. Incubus (1966) is a horror film starring William Shatner, shot entirely in Esperanto by actors who did not speak it.
Can I learn Esperanto from Incubus?
No. The cast read their lines phonetically and it shows, and Esperantists at the premiere reportedly laughed. Watch it as a piece of film history, not as listening practice. Gerda ! is the film to learn from.
Are songs good listening practice?
Good ear training, but a different job from following speech: lyrics bend stress and drop vowels to fit the tune, and Esperanto poetry has its own elisions ( for ). Use songs alongside a spoken source such as Retradio, not instead of it.