neal@druny.UUCP (Neal D. McBurnett) (12/12/84)
I have just posted an Esperanto->English "translator" to net.sources. Below I have reproduced the "intro" file from that posting. If anyone is interested in corresponding in Esperanto, send me mail! I already have about 3 USENET names, and I know that there is a group on CompuServe also. ------ First "what is this Esperanto thing, anyway?" That's a hard question. The pat answer is "the international language, used by millions of people in over a hundred countries. It was specifically designed to be easy to use and politically neutral." One recent development which should interest computer scientists is that the European Economic Community has funded a large effort to try to use Esperanto to help them deal with translating official documents among the seven languages they use. This should result in computer programs to translate from Esperanto into each of the seven languages. I think this capability could provide a powerful incentive for people and organizations all over the world to pay more attention to Esperanto. Esperanto is much more popular in Europe than it is in the US, chiefly because people there deal with "the language problem" every time they travel more than a few hundred miles in any direction. It is also gaining popularity in the far east. There are more than a million speakers in the world. This may seem like a small number in relation to the number of English speakers, but I like to think of it this way: a much higher percentage of Esperanto speakers in foreign lands are the sort of people I would like to be able to converse with. I expect Esperanto to do me the most good when I travel, especially to the eastern european countries (where English is less popular....) I would LOVE IT if I could converse via electronic mail with esperantists in other countries (or here in the US). In August of 1985 there will be a meeting of the Universal Esperanto Association in Augsberg where I will be able to meet several thousand esperantists from scores of countries. Where else could you do that? There are hundreds of regular publications in Esperanto, and hundreds of regular radio programs worldwide. How easy is it to learn? Some say between 4 and 10 times easier than other natural languages, with all their exceptions, special cases, and idioms. In a month of studying it during the evening in my spare time (on my own) I have gotten to the point where I can frequently (slowly...) understand the gist of articles from a Chinese magazine without referring to a dictionary. Well, I hope the lisp program can be of use to you! For further information, send mail to me or to one of these groups: Esperanto League of North America, Box 1129 El Cerrito, CA 94530 Free Postal Course, Esperanto Information Center, 410 Darrell Road, Hillsborough, CA 94010 (send a self-addressed, stamped envelope). various local organizations (especially in CA): ask me for one near you. -Neal McBurnett, ihnp4!druny!neal