Ask a Question

(Create a thread)
Go Back   Spanish language learning forums > Other Languages > Other Languages


Esperanto Encounter

 

Being the language lovers that we are... A place to talk about, or write in languages other than Spanish and English.


Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old April 01, 2009, 12:40 AM
Tomisimo's Avatar
Tomisimo Tomisimo is offline
Davidísimo
 
Join Date: May 2006
Location: North America
Posts: 5,664
Native Language: American English
Tomisimo will become famous soon enoughTomisimo will become famous soon enough
Esperanto Encounter

__________________
If you find something wrong with my Spanish, please correct it!
Reply With Quote
   
Get rid of these ads by registering for a free Tomísimo account.
  #2  
Old August 07, 2011, 10:26 AM
SPX SPX is offline
Pearl
 
Join Date: Jul 2011
Posts: 166
SPX is on a distinguished road
That was interesting.

Has anyone here ever actually tried to learn Esperanto or at least considered it?
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old August 07, 2011, 10:34 AM
wrholt's Avatar
wrholt wrholt is offline
Sapphire
 
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Posts: 1,401
Native Language: US English
wrholt is on a distinguished road
Quote:
Originally Posted by SPX View Post
That was interesting.

Has anyone here ever actually tried to learn Esperanto or at least considered it?
Yes. I subscribed to a few Esperanto-only publications for a few years in the late 1980's and early 1990's. I eventually moved on to other interests.
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old August 07, 2011, 10:47 AM
SPX SPX is offline
Pearl
 
Join Date: Jul 2011
Posts: 166
SPX is on a distinguished road
Oh, wow. So you knew the language well enough to actually read it?

What do you think is going to happen with Esperanto? Will it just die out or do you think there will always be a remnant of people who will preserve it?

I think the concept is interesting, though it seems obvious at this point that English is the true "international language" and that the world will eventually have a single common language.

Regarding the latter, I don't see how it could be any other way. I read earlier today that 11% of the Japanese vocabulary are English loan words. I think that as the world becomes more and more globalized that all languages will intermingle to the point of becoming one super-language. It's not going to happen tomorrow obviously, but within 500 years I think considerable steps in that direction will have been taken.
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old August 07, 2011, 12:13 PM
wrholt's Avatar
wrholt wrholt is offline
Sapphire
 
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Posts: 1,401
Native Language: US English
wrholt is on a distinguished road
As I already knew English and Spanish, and had studied French, German, Japanese and Arabic for a few months each before I started "learning" Esperanto, I found Esperanto very easy to read. However, it does use some roots from languages that I am not already familiar with, so I do have to use a dictionary some of the time when context doesn't give me a clue about the meaning of a particular root.

I'm not certain about the future of Esperanto; there is a dedicated core who enjoy working with it, and the premise that (almost) who knows it has learned it as a second language so that no one has a native-speaker advantage is charming. However, these features are also its major weakness. It has, at the most, perhaps 2 million people who have learned it at some point, compared to Mandarin Chinese, English, Spanish, Russian, French, Hindi/Urdu, Arabic, Portuguese, Bengali, Persian, Japanese, Punjabi, and German having at least 100 million first and second language speakers. I think that it would take a very remarkable change in the world situation for Esperanto to become the worldwide lingua franca for most purposes.
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old August 07, 2011, 12:43 PM
SPX SPX is offline
Pearl
 
Join Date: Jul 2011
Posts: 166
SPX is on a distinguished road
Pretty interesting.

Were you ever able to actually speak it conversationally? I've heard something about how there is a network of people who know the language and that if you're a traveler then you're automatically welcomed into their home if you also speak it. Maybe you can elaborate on that.
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old August 07, 2011, 05:02 PM
Caballero's Avatar
Caballero Caballero is offline
Emerald
 
Join Date: Jan 2011
Posts: 505
Caballero is on a distinguished road
Anyone that knows Spanish and a little bit of English (or vice versa), should be able to understand most things written in Esperanto without too much dificulty. The "Essentialist definition" of Esperanto would be something like: Essentially, Esperanto is primarily a Romance pidgin with some words arbitrarily borrowed from English, and to a lesser extent German and Russian.

And 11% of Japanese vocabulary borrowed from English is a very miniscule amount.
__________________
Corrections are welcome.

Last edited by Rusty; August 07, 2011 at 05:22 PM. Reason: recovered text - removed text
Reply With Quote
  #8  
Old August 07, 2011, 06:36 PM
wrholt's Avatar
wrholt wrholt is offline
Sapphire
 
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Posts: 1,401
Native Language: US English
wrholt is on a distinguished road
I never practiced speaking it enough to converse comfortably.

And yes, there is a network of Esperantists who are happy to at least socialize with foreign Esperantists who are visiting. I know some people who have travelled to Esperantist conventions in other countries, and I think I'd enjoy attending one. However, I have other interests that I am more passionate about that demand the little bit of vacation time that isn't already claimed by family visits and our annual end-of-summer week on Cape Cod.
Reply With Quote
  #9  
Old August 07, 2011, 06:38 PM
SPX SPX is offline
Pearl
 
Join Date: Jul 2011
Posts: 166
SPX is on a distinguished road
Quote:
Originally Posted by Caballero View Post
And 11% of Japanese vocabulary borrowed from English is a very miniscule amount.
I can't say I agree with that.

How much of the Japanese vocabulary 200 years ago was borrowed from English. Probably very close to 0%. And now it's over 10% of the entire language? That actually seems like very rapid growth to me and 10% seems like a huge chunk.

Quote:
Originally Posted by wrholt View Post
I never practiced speaking it enough to converse comfortably.

And yes, there is a network of Esperantists who are happy to at least socialize with foreign Esperantists who are visiting. I know some people who have travelled to Esperantist conventions in other countries, and I think I'd enjoy attending one. However, I have other interests that I am more passionate about that demand the little bit of vacation time that isn't already claimed by family visits and our annual end-of-summer week on Cape Cod.
I hear you.

But I have been researching it quite a bit today and after I get a handle on Spanish I could see myself maybe investing some time on the side as a hobby to try to learn it. I think I like the idea of it being this little niche thing that has it's own small, but vibrant, community.

In case anyone is interested in playing around with Esperanto, I found this downloadable course (and you can even interact with a tutor, it looks like):

http://www.kurso.com.br/index.php?en

I think I'm going to try it out. I'm pretty intrigued.

Last edited by Rusty; August 08, 2011 at 01:44 AM. Reason: merged back-to-back posts
Reply With Quote
  #10  
Old August 26, 2011, 03:56 PM
SPX SPX is offline
Pearl
 
Join Date: Jul 2011
Posts: 166
SPX is on a distinguished road
In case anyone's interested, I just finished the Esperanto course I mentioned above.

It's interesting stuff. I was able to get through it in about 16 days, but I can't say it was easy. There are some concepts which are pretty confusing and foreign, and I will definitely have to go back and study some things more thoroughly to really have it down.

But I do think the idea behind Esperanto is compelling and I'm encouraged by the very active and vibrant community that surrounds the language. I'm going to keep pursuing it and march toward becoming truly conversational, if not fluent.

If anyone else is also interested, let me know. It would be nice to have someone to discuss the subject with.
Reply With Quote
Reply

 

Link to this thread
URL: 
HTML Link: 
BB Code: 
Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts
BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Site Rules


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 01:38 PM.

Forum powered by vBulletin® Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.

X