Ĉu vi parolas Esperanton?

La internacia lingvo estas tre facila...right, enough of that. Do we perchance have any fellow Esperantistoj in the Lounge?

For the curious that don't have the damndest idea what I'm on about, Esperanto is a constructed international auxiliary language developed by the good Doctor L.L. Zamenhof in the late 19th century. It had a rather strong following among committed Antifascists between the World Wars, which resulted in many of its adherents acquiring a terrible case of lead poisoning. Its quite easy to learn, and is a fine tool for increasing one's own understanding of how languages work. I find my German studies have improved since taking it up. Besides, its damn fun, and rather amusing for confusing telemarketers and speaking impolite things about the ruder folks one can encounter...

BriarWolf said:

La internacia lingvo estas tre facila...right, enough of that. Do we perchance have any fellow Esperantistoj in the Lounge?

For the curious that don't have the damndest idea what I'm on about, Esperanto is a constructed international auxiliary language developed by the good Doctor L.L. Zamenhof in the late 19th century. It had a rather strong following among committed Antifascists between the World Wars, which resulted in many of its adherents acquiring a terrible case of lead poisoning. Its quite easy to learn, and is a fine tool for increasing one's own understanding of how languages work. I find my German studies have improved since taking it up. Besides, its damn fun, and rather amusing for confusing telemarketers and speaking impolite things about the ruder folks one can encounter...

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There was an item about this on the UK BBC Radio a little while ago. To me it looks and sounds rather like, Spanish/Italian or Latin. (Infact I wondered why, if they were looking for a new language, why Latin was not chosen, as at that time, it was taught in alot of schools and still is in a few in the UK.)

STEVIEBOY1 said:

There was an item about this on the UK BBC Radio a little while ago. To me it looks and sounds rather like, Spanish/Italian or Latin. (Infact I wondered why, if they were looking for a new language, why Latin was not chosen, as at that time, it was taught in alot of schools and still is in a few in the UK.)

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I would think first and foremost, because Esperanto was designed to be a great deal easier to learn than Latin. Its highly regular, with none of the quirks found in natural languages; it has only sixteen grammatical rules.

I study it primarily as a hobby, but also as a learning aid. I find it helps with my understanding of how languages work, and has in turned helped with my studies in German and French.

I've always wanted to learn Esperanto! But I have no knack for languages. Tried many.

Tony

I have a friend in Yorkshire who is an Esperantist and goes to international conferences, etc. It seems to have a large following in Brazil for some reason, and also the Baltic States and Eastern Europe. To me it does look as if it has a strong 'western' bias although I understand that there might be a few influences from Japanese and a few other East Asian languages?

I believe that the League of Notions considered adopting it and so, perhaps did the United Nations when it was founded?

Ticklishchap said:

I have a friend in Yorkshire who is an Esperantist and goes to international conferences, etc. It seems to have a large following in Brazil for some reason, and also the Baltic States and Eastern Europe. To me it does look as if it has a strong 'western' bias although I understand that there might be a few influences from Japanese and a few other East Asian languages?

I believe that the League of Notions considered adopting it and so, perhaps did the United Nations when it was founded?

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I Can understand Esperanto being popular in South America, see my remarks in post two above and also in the Baltic states & parts of Eastern Europe where the local language is quite hard, this may be easier.

How easy is this language to learn? I have asked this question before and received many contradictory replies.

Ĉu vi parolas Esperanton?

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Jes, mi faras!
Mi estas instruisto por Esperanto kaj gvidas rondon da lernantoj dusemajne.

I bumped into Esperanto years ago. Apparently it was a fad to learn it among science-fiction fans at one time, and some authors thought it would be the lingua franca of Man's diaspora to the stars. It appears in David McDaniel's 1967 Man from U.N.C.L.E. novel The Monster Wheel Affair, in which a giant space station suddenly appears above the earth, broadcasting in Esperanto. And Harry Harrison used it as the common tongue of his human planets in the Deathworld stories.

Esperanto was a fine idea; An easy to learn language that anyone could learn and speak, thus making international travel a breeze and enabling people from far flung corners of the earth to communicate with each other. And in 1887, when it was first launched, it was probably needed to one degree or another.

Unfortunately, with the rise of English as the de facto international language, the need for it has largely vanished. If you want to speak with someone in Ulaanbaatar or Erromango, English is your best bet these days. I actually kind of regret this development. I enjoyed the travel of my youth, when it was up to ME to learn a few words and try to communicate in a mish-mash patois of cobbled together vocabulary. These days ---when you can usually find someone who speaks English--- a bit of the allure and adventure of travel has gone away.

Still for language geeks (I include myself in that club) Esperanto is an interesting topic for conversation around the campfire in Botswana.

Tiki Tom said:

Still for language geeks (I include myself in that club) Esperanto is an interesting topic for conversation around the campfire in Botswana.

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My question for you, as a 'language geek' is: which non-European language (apart from the obvious choices of Mandarin and Hindi) is likely to be of greatest use for the English-speaking student in the next ten years or so?

Ticklishchap said:

My question for you, as a 'language geek' is: which non-European language (apart from the obvious choices of Mandarin and China) is likely to be of greatest use for the English-speaking student in the next ten years or so?

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Interesting question. I'm not quite sure where you are going with it. The most useful non-European language in the next 10 years or so? On the one hand, for obvious reasons, I'd say Chinese or Mandarin as you mention. But if you rule them out, perhaps Arabic or Persian or Hindi. I'm also tempted to cheat and claim Spanish as a non-European language, if only because it is so widely spoken outside of Europe and it is certainly useful.

But I guess, all that aside, I suppose I'd advise an English speaking student to study ANY foreign language that interests him or her, be it Hebrew or Swahili or Hawaiian. But be sure to study some Foreign language and stick with it until you have at least a modest ability to communicate in it, even if imperfectly.

Why? Because in studying a language you learn more than just the language. To a degree you also learn how those "foreigners" think (each language is wired differently) and you invariably learn a great deal about their culture and about their home country too. In the process, you might even make a friend or two from some faraway place. I'm in danger of writing a sermon, but I truly believe that, in this ever shrinking world, it is important for the (possibly) sheltered person who lives in the English-speaking heartland to learn as much about the outside world as possible. And learning a foreign language is a great entry that is a bit more hands-on than just reading a book about the place. Although an anglophone should do that too.

Then, almost magically, once you've got one new language under your belt, you suddenly find yourself able to recognize patterns in other languages and to pick up odd bits of vocabulary in this language or that. The useful phrase sticks in your mind, here and there, and you are no longer afraid about using them. Suddenly, you find yourself being assigned as the "language officer" when you go on vacation with friends, you are the one who somehow knows "that's not how it's done over here" etc, etc. Dare I say it? People start thinking you are somehow "Worldly" (although you would, of course, be quick to deny the claim.)

Oh, I should also mention all the recent research that you have no doubt seen that says that learning a language helps in fending off Alzheimer's disease. That alone is a pretty good incentive at my age!

Sorry. I said I was a geek on the subject. But that is my long rambling answer to your short question. I literally would not be where I am today if it weren't for my teenaged curiosity about a language.

P.s. - to another person who sent me a message, regrettably I do not habla Esperanto. (Though I was vainly proud to have figured out the gist of your message!)

@Tiki Tom: thank you for a very full and interesting reply. I actually was careless in failing to correct the autocorrect! I meant to type 'Mandarin or Hindi' but somehow the autocorrect changed Hindi to 'China', which made little sense. Although, of course, there could be a useful debate about whether to learn Mandarin or Cantonese (versions of which are widely spoken by overseas Chinese).
In my south-western suburb of London, there is now more linguistic variety than in the area of central London where I work. There, many Mandarin Chinese speakers are buying up properties and there are a growing number of wealthy Hindi and Urdu speakers. There are Americans and nouveau riche English who speak a kind of 'Cockney Posh' or 'Estuary English'. In my part of south-west London, by contrast, the second language is Tamil, followed by Polish: there are a lot of other East European languages, also Chinese (mainly Cantonese), Spanish and Portuguese (including Brazilian), Turkish, Greek and a rapidly growing number of African languages. This is a very interesting mix. I have never knowingly heard Esperanto, however.
Back to your reply: my reason for my question to you is that I am thinking about a language course at the City Literary Institute (City Lit) in London this autumn to get my mind thinking outside the 'box' of property management (my work). I am mulling over whether to concentrate on a European language or do something entirely different. Interestingly, you mention Swahili, which is on offer and looks interesting and apparently is spoken by around 100 million people. I am considering it as a possible 'language of the future' that might grow in significance outside its region. There are apparently a lot of English and some German loan words, for obvious historical reasons.
Also, as I am sure you know, we are now going to have to think increasingly globally in the UK!!!