tmoody@sjuvax.UUCP (T. Moody) (10/13/86)
In article <1076@ucbcad.BERKELEY.EDU> faustus@ucbcad.BERKELEY.EDU (Wayne A. Christopher) writes: >Are people still pushing Esperanto as a universal language? Since >English is becoming more and more widespread, especially in Europe (and >Esperanto seems to be an amalgamation of European languages), is there >any use for it any more? Can anybody tell me what advantages Esperanto >has over other existing languages, from the point of view of the person >learning the language? > > Wayne Whether there is good reason to prefer Esperanto to English as an international auxiliary language is as much a moral and sociopolitical question as a linguistic one. As to the advantages of Esperanto, from the perspective of the learner of a second language, it is easier. Although ease of learning has a significant familiarity component, there are other factors. The fact that Esperanto's vocabulary is most familiar to speakers of Indo-European languages is not the end of the story. I submit that two factors contribute to ease of learning of a second language (these are, of course, in addition to familiarity): (1) regularity and (2) non-arbitrariness. The first factor simply means that a language in which rules are applied regularly will be easier for *anyone* to learn as a second language than one in which they are applied irregularly. The second factor means that there should be a minimum of syntactic rules that do not have semantic content. On factor (1), Esperanto scores quite high; on factor (2), it does reasonably well. It is unquestionably true that a higher-scoring language on both factors could be, and probably has been, devised. Another reason for supporting Esperanto, however, is the fact that it has survived 100 years (almost) and already has an international speech community. Todd Moody * {allegra|astrovax|bpa|burdvax}!sjuvax!tmoody * SJU Phil. Dept.
urban@spp2.UUCP (Mike Urban) (10/14/86)
In article <7861BHG@PSUVMA> BHG@PSUVMA.BITNET writes: >...It is true that english is widespread in >europe, but why should europeans *have* to learnour language to communicate >with us? a common opinion in america is that everyone should learn english >(just as the french think it should be french, and the russsians, russian). >this opinion shows an obviously arrogant attitude towards the europeans (on >the part of the americans who have this opinion). esperanto is for the most >part a neutral language--by learning it in america, we could show that we >are not a pompous, uncaring people (as some europeansbelieve), but the >genuinely friendly people that we are. Curiously, most Americans do not seem to feel ashamed that they are unwilling/unable to learn *any* foreign language, not even taking on the (remarkably easy) meet-half-way task of learning Esperanto. I can't imagine thinking this way. When someone from, say, Finland asks me for directions in English, I'm profoundly ashamed that he speaks even broken English, while all the Finnish I know is "Suomi". Esperanto, for me, relieves some of this embarassment. (Yes, you too can learn a workable foreign language in a matter of weeks...) > when i lived in west germany a few >years ago, no one would believe i was american--they insisted i must be >british, as i spoke fluent german and "americans do not speak any languages >other than english" (or "american" as they called it). this is a notion >that i would like to see wiped out. "If you speak three languages, you're called trilingual. If you speak two languages, you're bilingual. If you speak one language, you're American." Alas, no :-) here. >esperanto is taught in many different countries, but never quite caught on >in the us. it is broadcast by many short-wave radio stations throughout the >world, and there are a number of magazines and books (both translations and >originals) in the language. I will add two more things: as an American who does know Esperanto, I did not truly appreciate the language until I attended my first world Esperanto convention in Beijing last summer. When I first heard a conversation between a Dutch, a Chinese, and a Frenchman (and understood it all), and considered the fact that the conversation was *NOT* in English or ANYONE ELSE'S NATIONAL LANGUAGE, it finally dawned on me that "my gosh, this Esperanto stuff actually works!" Second, *.nlang readers are reminded that mail.esperanto exists (rather inactively most of the time), and I am the maintainer of that list. Send me a message if you want to be added to the list. -- Mike Urban ...!trwrb!trwspp!spp2!urban "You're in a maze of twisty UUCP connections, all alike"
gt7024a@gitpyr.gatech.EDU (BOLICK, THOMAS DEANE) (10/15/86)
I would appreciate any information you could give me on what to do with
Esperanto... I learned a little a few years ago, and even wrote to the
Esperanto League of America (?) and got some literature, but now I am
still lost... Could this be a topic for mail? as I would appreciate any
mail in response...
oh, and if you are wondering how i learned of Esperanto, I read
"The Stainless Steel Rat" by Harry Harrison... he seems to be an
avid fan of it...
Tom...
a.k.a The Stranger...