User:Sdulkjyvy/Cseh method

Andreo Cseh leads a Cseh-method course at the Esperanto-Domo in Arnhem on the 19th of June, 1933

The Cseh-method is a pedagogical method for teaching the Esperanto language. It was created by the Romanian pastor Andreo Cseh, and made to teach Esperanto to groups of various nationalities, languages, or classes. Per this way of teaching, the instructor doesn't need to know the native language of their students, nor do the students need as high a level of academic skill to learn.

History

A Cseh-course participation certificate, given to Frida Verheye of Ostend, 1936

In Transylvania

The Cseh-method was born in 1920, when Andreo Cseh wanted to lead a course in Sibiu for an organization of workers with members originating from three different countries. Textbooks were unavailable, and since the borders were closed, it was impossible to import them. Cseh therefore settled on a teaching method that was more of a simple conversation, and less of a conventional lesson. The teacher would still rely on a blackboard and chalk, while the students used paper and pen. The experiment was a success. To begin, Cseh would speak about items close to him, using only the most basic grammatical structures. As the lessons progressed, he would talk about items farther away, and used more complex grammar. After 12 lessons of two hours each, participants were apparently able to communicate using Esperanto.

Method

Tiberio Morariu during a course, around 1930

The principles of the Cseh-method are the following:

a) No use of textbooks b) No use of national languages, except for clarifying new words through words learned previously c) Recited, audience-wide student responses d) Conversation applied to present, relevant topics instead of classroom-focused examples e) Liberal use of humor and jokes f) Prompts for learners to discover for themselves the rules of the language, and to construct the grammar on their own.

Ideally, courses are lead by a foreign teacher, which helps facilitate principle b).

While it was initially feared that the success of courses depended mostly on Cseh's personality, other instructors from diverse national backgrounds found similar results. Cseh's goal was not to teach the entire grammar in the beginning course, but to create a cadre of enthusiastic learners who would want to continue their studies and the propagation of the language.

Bibliography

• Andreo Cseh, La kurso de Andreo Ĉe (Stokholm: Sveda Instruista Esperanto-Federacio, 1929) 143 pages.
• Baza Cseh-kurso: kun metodikaj konsiloj, gvidilo kaj modelo por instruantoj (8th edition; Hago: Internacia Esperanto-Instituto 1992) 174 pages.
• Ed Borsboom, Vivo de Andreo Cseh (Hago: Internacia Esperanto-Instituto 2003) 313 pages.
• Andreo Cseh and Ed Borsboom (editor), Konversacia Vortaro (6th edition; Hago: Internacia Esperanto-Instituto 2010) 112 pages.

External links

• La Ĉe-kurso en Arnhem (The Cseh-course in Arnhem), article by Lidia Zamenhof in Pola Esperantisto (in Wikisource)

[[Category:Esperanto]] [[Category:Esperanto education]]