ESPERANTO SCHOOL

Press, Volume XCVII, Issue 28679, 1 September 1958, Page 17

ESPERANTO SCHOOL

Classes Held By

W.E.A.

“Esperanto is the open sesame for travellers,” said the president of the New Zealand Esperanto Association (Mr B. Potts, of Wellington) at the esperanto school sponsored by the Workers’ Educational Association held in Christchurch at the week-end. “It is so simple that a housewife who is willing to spend half an hour a day studying the language will, in a matter of months, become quite proficient.” he said. Mr Potts, who has travelled throughout the world studying esperanto, said that he had found that a person who could speak this international language was not treated as a foreigner, and each country was to him like his native country. He was not treated with the suspicion that sometimes greeted the ordinary tourist.

Countries behind the Iron Curtain, where esperanto literature had been banned had recently awakened interest in the language, and Jugoslavia produced a great deal of esperanto literature, Mr Potts said. The chief difficulty found by esperantists the world over was obtaining foreign publications. That was hindered by international currency restrictions. U.N.E.S.C.O. was very interested in esperanto, said Mr L. Efford, secretary of the Christchurch W.E.A. He had recommended that it should be studied in all schools. The week-end school, which was conducted by Mr Potts and Mr W. H. King, of Auckland, included classes in grammar, pronunciation, style, literature, and the organisation of the Esperanto Movement. The New Zealand Esperanto Congress will be held in Timaru from December 26 to 30.

Unwanted Bill The Auckland Metropolitan Fire Board will return to the Mount Eden Borough Council a City Council bill for £285 for water used on a fire in the Mount Eden rubbish tip. It was no concern of the board, and any question of cost was between the two councils, said the chairman (Mr S. A. Gleadow). The use of the water was most wasteful and unnecessary, said the borough council in its letter to the board. It considered the account the responsibility of the board.