Gray's Guide for Local Groups USEJ-estrarano Thomas Gray de Houston, Teksaso, donas kelkajn konsilojn pri liaj spertoj kiam li prizorgis lokan grupon cxe lia gimnazio. Sendu al ni ankaž viajn konsilojn kaj ideojn! After I became interested in Esperanto in the spring of 1989, I decided to share my new discovery with the rest of the student body at my high school, the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts (Houston's locally famous fine arts-oriented high school) and began my own Esperanto group called the Klubo Esperanto HSPVA. My group lasted for two years and during its lifetime the club met with limited success. However, if nothing else, the group's mere existence at least made the students aware of Esperanto. Even if few actually learned the language, people discovered what it was and why it was necessary. The following are some of the tips for getting an Esperanto club started: If your school requires a faculty sponsor, your best choice would be a foreign language teacher. He or she will probably not only show the most interest in your endeavor, but as well may be willing to provide you with the assistance on how to promote or even teach Esperanto. If you attend a college or university, you may have to officially register with your school's student activities program. Groups that wish to put up flyers or posters around campus alerting students about their meetings or other events must also get their flyers and posters approved at this office. Check with your student activities program to see what its requirements are. Put up flyers and posters around your school advertising your group. In addition to announcing the meeting time and place, you should describe what Esperanto is and what its purpose are; graphics and color do help. Think of what purpose you want your group to accomplish: Do you wish to increase student knowledge about Esperanto, teach it to students, form a conversation and discussion groups, or do all three? Be prepared for every meeting, and have an activity or lesson planned in advance. Make it interesting and fun so that people will keep coming back to your meetings. If you plan on teaching Esperanto, make sure you know at least the grammar and crude vocabulary of words and important prefixes and suffixes. It's not as easy as you might think to teach yourself Esperanto at the exact same time you're teaching it to others. Don't expect too many people to show up. This is, after all, a language and not something most students would consider "fun". Hold your meetings in the same place, at the same time, on the same day, every week. Also, it probably isn't a good idea to hold meetings more than once a week. Although you probably won't be criticized outright by your peers, expect your fellow students to use it to poke fun at you. Once I began the Klubo Esperanto, my classmates began calling me "Esperanto Boy" and teasing me about the language. I didn't mind, however, as it was all in good fun. In fact, my popularity at school probably increased as a result of this added attention. If you do have the time to do so, go ahead and start a group! It is somewhat time-consuming, yes, but you have nothing to lose. Besides, even if not very many people to show up, you will at least, through your posters and flyers, make you schoolmates aware that Esperanto exists. And that, at this stage of the game, is most important. Bonan sxancon! Thomas Gray Houston TX Got something to add or ask? Contact USEJ or Thomas Gray 4381 Fiesta Lane Houston TX 77004-6602