Esperanto

Ben   Thu Mar 02, 2006 5:08 pm GMT
Hey everyone!

I was just browsing the internet, when I came across information about Esperanto. I had never heard of it before, so decided to do a bit of research. It seems interesting. I was just wondering what other people's thoughts are on the language, and whether anybody here speaks Esperanto.

Many thanks,

Ben.
european   Thu Mar 02, 2006 5:19 pm GMT
According to me the idea of Esperanto is a good idea, but at the same time is useless in fact, nobody want to learn a language that it isn't speak!!! is such as learn latin to speak it!

(this is my opinion)
Esperanto is used!   Thu Mar 02, 2006 5:45 pm GMT
Ben   Thu Mar 02, 2006 10:39 pm GMT
european,

I am inclined to agree with you. It appears only about 2 million people speak it. I mean, what's the point? I like the idea of having an international second language, but in practise I don't think I can see it happening.

I'd be interested in hearing anyone else's opinions and/or thoughts about this.

Ben.
JR   Thu Mar 02, 2006 11:59 pm GMT
Yea, this seems to be the main feeling about Esperanto. It is a useless language since it has almost no speakers and it is not the official language of any country. If you've never heard of it, you can guess the importance of such a language. If you live in the U.S., I would concentrate on learning Spanish, its a much more useful and widespread language.
Jojo   Fri Mar 03, 2006 1:52 pm GMT
Esperanto is very easy to learn if you already speak a European language - or more than one. I've read some webpages in Esperanto and I was able to understand 90% of it without ever having any lessons or previous knowledge of the language.

But I have to agree with european, there doesn't seem to be much point in learning it.

Latin on the other hand can be quite useful - for an Archaeologist/Historian/Linguist. As exploration into the past often delves up records or word origins in Latin which wouldn't be understood. Even for a Scientist Latin (and Greek) can be useful as they both are used quite a lot in terms and equations.
Ben   Fri Mar 03, 2006 4:08 pm GMT
JR wrote:

"It is a useless language since it has almost no speakers and it is not the official language of any country."

Urm...........isn't the whole point of the language the fact that it isn't a language of a particular country? It's aim is to be an international language, to neable easier communication between people of all different cultures.

Ben.
Benjamin   Fri Mar 03, 2006 5:30 pm GMT
Jes, mi podas paroleti Esperanton, sed ne tre fluge. Kvankam ne estas multaj personoj kiuj ghin paroli, mi pensas ke ghi estas utila por paroli je personoj kiuj ne parolas via lingvo.

Yes, I can speak some Esperanto. It's one of those things which I'll be very into for a few weeks, but then I lose interest. I don't believe that it's useless, since it enables you to communicate with people with whom you wouldn't otherwise through Esperanto conferences. There's also a large amount of international literature translated into Esperanto.

Probably the best place for Esperanto is www.lernu.net
Ben   Fri Mar 03, 2006 10:17 pm GMT
Saluton Benjamin,

Dankon. Estas agrable renkonti vin. Mi tre dankas pro via respondo. (corrections welcome, it took me ages to figure those sentences out!)

I had found that link (Lernu) and I think I'm going to start learning Esperanto. I don't know how far I'll go with it, but I'd love to be fluent. I love the idea of an international language, and I think it could be useful when travelling. Even if it isn't, it's a good project to have, I reckon. I dream of being a polyglot, but haven't achieved that yet. (I'm 17). Hopefully, because Esperanto is supposedly very easy, it'll be a kick start towards my goal. Then, once I've gained confidence, I can concentrate on national languages.

Regards,
Ben.
Mitch   Wed Mar 15, 2006 5:44 am GMT
Ben

The idea of using Esperanto as a "kick start" towards your goal of being a polyglot is the one reason I still contemplate studying the language.

Like Benjamin, I would get into it for a while, then lose interest. Why try to perfect Esperanto if I can try to perfect my Spanish (or French, Hebrew, etc.)? But, like you, I've yet to achieve that level of fluency.

That is why your idea makes sense, at least for someone who has not yet mastered a second language. There have been many studies that purport to show that mastering Esperanto first actually makes it easier to master the next foreign language, and in less time. (Two languages for less than the price of one.) See:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaedeutic_value_of_Esperanto

I don't want to get into endless arguments about how many speakers you can use with it, or whether it's as logical as advertised, or whether the sound system is ackward, or its lack of culture, etc. If it you can learn it well, and then jump start your other languages, it might be worth a try.

I think the only concern would be finding enough interesting material to keep you going. Any suggestions from Esperantists out there?

One thing seems certain: there is no lack of correspondents/pen pals, and you won't have to worry about someone who justs wants to practice their English with you.
Ben   Wed Mar 15, 2006 10:01 am GMT
Hi Mitch!

I agree. I've been trawling the internet, so here are some of my favourite bookmarks:

www.lernu.net - there's everything there! Online courses, literature (some with audio files)....loads. There's an IM program attatched to the browser window as well. Only thing that could be better, is that the forums aren't very active.

http://www.gxangalo.com/babilejo/ - the most active chat room I've found. There's always someone there, at any time of the day who you can converse with.

http://donh.best.vwh.net/Esperanto/Literaturo/literaturo.html - Loads of literature in Esperanto so you can practise your reading skills

http://radioarkivo.org/ - An Esperanto radio station.


http://eo.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C4%88efpa%C4%9Do - Wikipedia in Esperanto.

Regards,
Ben.
Ben   Sun Mar 26, 2006 2:12 pm GMT
Mi lernas Esperanton, kaj al mi ege plaĉas korespondi kun vi se vi deziras. En retpoŝto, ideale. Mia nomo estas Ben, kaj mi logxas en London, UK. Mi estas juna, do se vi estas juna, speciale.

Mi esperas ke vi akceptos mian proponon korespondi. Respondu tien ĉi kaj ni aranĝos la interŝanĝo de adresojn.

Ĝis!

Ben.
Ben   Sun Mar 26, 2006 7:59 pm GMT
I've just read the forum rules again due to another thread.

Moderators: The post from me above is looking for penpals. Feel free to delete it. I'm sorry, I didn't realise I wasn't allowed to do that.

Ben.
Guest   Wed Apr 05, 2006 10:53 am GMT
Ben, see http://www.xibalba.demon.co.uk/jbr/ranto/ to check out if it is worth to spend much time on learning Esperanto.
Ben   Wed Apr 05, 2006 4:29 pm GMT
Thanks 'Guest', I've seen that site ;)

Ben.