Major information service on language issues announced

Announcing a web portal highlighting Esperanto and related language issues - from parliamentary debates to the Shattner film in Esperanto.

(PRWEB) January 17, 2004 --We are pleased to announce our commercial news service 'Esperanto Britain', with news about Esperanto and related language issues, such as language rights of minority ethnic cultures, in the UK and abroad. We have kick-started the portal with an extensive collection of past news items made available by Esperanto Association of Britain. The coverage so far has included such diverse areas as the language issues in the Iraq War, the dire state of language learning in Britain, the new National Strategy for Languages in England, the EU, Parliament, Esperanto music, CDs hitting the high street, the recently discovered Shattner film in Esperanto, and much, much more.

Esperanto Britain is a subportal of the world-wide web portal Ĝangalo (http://www.gxangalo.com), which covers world events inside and outside the Esperanto community. Ĝangalo is run by an international team, whose headquarters is in Sao Paulo, Brazil, headed by entrepreneur and linguist Flavio Rebelo. "Our company, Lingva, has a unique team, not only in dealing with the technical issues, but also, due to our world-wide contacts, as a news agency on Esperanto-related affairs".

"We launched Ĝangalo just a year ago - the 18th of January - and we are very encouraged by the intense interest which it has aroused, with 1200 page views per day from 107 countries. Many of the users are interested not just in Esperanto as a language, but about the wider issues of international understanding and multiculturalism", Flavio Rebelo added.

Other language subportals of Ĝangalo are Esperanto Brasil and Esperanto Araba, and a new Esperanto Espana is being announced with Esperanto Britain today. Ĝangalo also has an Esperanto music subportal Suda Kruco, featuring a wide range of Esperanto music, which includes some artists who are well-known in their own countries. They also have a Komerca Ĉambro [Chamber of Commerce], weblog facillities, forums, chat rooms, and an exciting new area in easy Esperanto for beginners. Future projects for developing the service include ambitious plans for worldwide television in Esperanto.

Esperanto Britain also has facilities for current awareness, with options for instant alerts for news items or Esperanto events, or monthly summary newsletters.

"This is an exciting time for Esperanto", says editor of Esperanto Britain, Ian Fantom, "There is a growing awareness of the language problem, and of the problems arising when you impose one culture on another. Esperanto has really sprung to life in recent years for many people who in the past would normally be just practising the language in local clubs, and who would only occasionally use the language 'for real', when travelling abroad, or accepting foreign guests. The arrival of the Internet, cheap voice communication, and low-cost travel are now encouraging thousands of people to use Esperanto on a daily basis".

"The problem is:", he adds, "hardly anyone outside the Esperanto community in Britain ever gets to hear of it. Esperanto Britain will change all that".

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