Esperanto

[cdvantuyl]

Antaux 60 jaroj mi lernis Esperanton. Por mi gxi estis vojo al la mondo. Mi havas kelkajn geamikojn kiuj fakte ne parolas angle. La forto de Esperanto estas ke gxi estas interkultura.

[thejulesblog]

"esperanto, latin, ancient greek, aboriginal languages" Why do you use those examples? esperanto is not a dead language!!

[Kuracisto]

Mi tute ne konsentas kun li. Per Esperanto, mi tuŝas (ekkonas) la kulturon de la tuta mondo, pli profunde ol per la naciaj lingvoj. Mi denaske parolas la portugalan, sed mi lernis la hispanan por studi en Madrido. Kaj mi tre ŝatas la hispanan, sed per ĝi mi ne bone rilatiĝis kun la hispanoj. Per Esperanto, mi profunde kaj detale ekkonis la hispanan kulturon. Kaj tio okazas pri ĉiuj popoloj. Do, ne temas pri la Esperanta kulturo mem, sed pri la ponto, kiun Esperanto kreas.

[leshark]

The good thing about esperanto is that its easy to learn (especially for an english speaker). You can probably pick it up in a month... i've heard its a good way to ease yourself into romance languages, because the grammar is similar. Plus a lot of the vocab is similar too.

[JoseTheGazette]

Mi ankaŭ parolas esperanto. Mi iom komprenas la videon, sed mi ne povas tutkompreni ĝin. :(

[TheEnviroFriend]

and, unlike any other language, esperanto is more than an aspect of a culture, more than a way of communicating, it is a movement! ni estas esperantistoj! esperanto vivas!

[TheEnviroFriend]

fbs idea of esperanto is that it is a language that does not have an origin with one specific ethnicity.

if the whole world spoke english, it would supress other languages, if people all spoke esperanto, we could all communicate, without it supressing other languages, and other cultures.

it is meant to preserve ethnic languages, while unifying the world.

what is my motive for learnig esperanto? to unify the world, without suppressing other languages.

[shaupenschtraich]

hello good man!

you said that esperanto is an artificial language, i eccept it but very large of today languages are artificial ,for example turkish and urdu are new created languages they has been loaned very much verbs and words and grammatical structure from arabic and persian languages .

[shaupenschtraich]

hello good man!

you said that esperanto is an artisicial language, i eccept it but very large of today languages are artisicial ,for example turkish and urdu are new created languages they has been loaned very much verbs and words and grammatical structure from arabic and persian languages .

[powerdriller10]

Any way, Steve has a point, he wants to see a language rooted to a land. Esperantujo exists in the mind of 2 million people, dispersed around the world. but, it does not have a land. In know that in Brazil are entire neighborhoods where Esperanto is spoken almost the same as Portuguese and that even children play soccer on the streets yelling in Esperanto. But, that must be extended ten-fold to become real. Brazil has enough territory to allow a piece of land for Esperantujo.

[lingosteve]

@powerdriller10 Why not vote for Esperanto at LingQ? I will definitely study it if we get it up at LingQ. I am sure others will too. See the recent post at my blog, The Linguist on Language.

[powerdriller10]

@lingosteve

Mi kredas ke vian metodon, LingKuo, por lerni lingvojn estas tre bona; auskulti kaj auskulti kaj samtempe legi la tekston, ankaue formi ligojn de la lernadita aferoj. Antaue mi konis pri vin kaj vian metodon, mi uzis simila metodo por lerni Esperanton. Esperanto estas tiel facila ke oni povis legi esperantan teksto post unu lernanta semajno. Kompreni parolada Esperanto bezonas du monatojn.

Mi kredas ke vi povos kompreni chi tiun tekston sen tradukista helpo.

[mkelvin10]

@powerdriller10 I am brazilian, but I haven't heard about places where Esperanto is spoken here. Actually, I think brazilians are lazy about language learning. If really there is that place here in Brazil, plase tell me where.

[powerdriller10]

There are some Esperantist neighborhoods in the region around Sao Paulo. Watch the youtube video called "Gerda Malaperis" (which is a staged and didactical play of a police novel filmed in Brazil) and see if you can recognize the place. Brazilians are leaders developing Esperanto learning materials. "Gerda Malaperis" is a story more didactic than literary, written by a Swiss guy who as Steve Lingo was poly-linguist, only 400 root-words are used, but they are expanded to 4000 meanings.

[powerdriller10]

Just 3 days for Steve to learn Esperanto, but for a polyglot like him, who can absorb languages like sponge, the goals of Esperanto are absurd. He can have international contact in the native languages. But, for the rest of us, it would be great to have an easy to learn language that everybody in the world speaks, English failing to be it, for being so difficult to learn for most people, and Esperanto not being it, due to English blockading. Steve would find beauties in Espo if he just tries.

[andresrojas22]

i couldnt agree more, the whole point of learning a language is to gain a key to a whole different world you dint know, i think with the exception of linguists who love grammar, structures and the whole formalities of language most people learn them to get access to other cultures, that's big reward. im starting with chinese because i want to get in touch with a milenarian cultur, that is not something that esperanto has

[bluetigerfish90]

I agree Steve We should teach people how to learn. We should also teach them how to think for themselves. I studied philosophy in college, and these are two of the main areas a philosophy degree helps with.

[lingosteve]

@bluetigerfish90 And we will probably offer Esperanto at LingQ in a short while.

[hilbert2547]

Steve you are totally wrong! Languages are in a steady process of evolution I do not understand the german which was spoken 500 years ago, for 120 years only 2 percent of the italians spoke the present day italian. Esperanto is very natural you can express things you cant in other languages

[lingosteve]

@hilbert2547 I am no more wrong for not being interested in Esperanto, than you are wrong for being interested in it. An artificial language like Esperanto will not evolve like natural languages spoken by everyday people in real countries.

[Chali1971]

@lingosteve Esperanto is also a "living thing" whatever you mean by mentioning that expression, otherwise it wouldnt exist anymore and it is wrong to say that esperanto has no living culture. I am not sure if you know that there are allready lots of Esperanto native speakers from parents from different countries who met at an esperanto meeting and worldwide around 2 million speakers !!!. Would you dare to tell a esperanto native speaker child his language is a non living thing ?

[Chali1971]

Esperanto has lots of books, poems, songs. I am sure you havent ever been on a esperanto meeting yet. It is wrong to say that esperanto has no culture because it is based on vocabulary of european languages. There you can see people dancing and singing in esperanto, having joy and laughing, what is also witness for culture. There have been lots of "natural languages" (in your understanding) that have been killed for ever, Esperanto is still spoken. Now tell me what is a "living thing" ?

[Dittofication]

I think also that learning Esperanto, is helping me learn chinese as i am more confident with studying a language

[Dittofication]

You should support Esprenato even if you don't think it offers anything, I'm 20 and i'm sure that my life goals are a lot different to yours, but linqdotcom is successfull and you should support the learning of multilingual studies no matter what language it is. "you want to motivate people" Than get Esprenato on Linqdotcom and maybe someone will than want to share some "culture" with you..

[lingosteve]

@Dittofication I "should" not do anything of the sort. I will continue to express my views without any obligation to support anything. We will soon open up LingQ to more languages, and if people offer content for Esperanto and want to learn it, it will be available at LingQ. Esperanto is a language, and many people are interested in. It is not some kind of moral cause, or at least it is not one that interests me.

[JonVonD]

"Esperanto does offer any of that (eg. a living culture),"

It's like misinformation, after misinformation with these videos.

[lingosteve]

@JonVonD I am in St. Petersburg enjoying the living culture of Russia, interacting with people in Russian, going to theatre and museums. Where is Esperanto land?

[JonVonD]

@lingosteve Go to one of the many, many conferences for Esperantists across the globe, an Esperanto book store, an Esperanto club meeting, an Esperanto rock concert, take in Esperanto philosophy readings, poetry, music written in Esperanto or translated for Esperanto speakers, do a homestay with an Esperanto speaking family through the Esperanto speaker's network, note the evolution of Esperanto from an entirely artificial to now living language. "In the Land of Invented Langauges," Akria Okrent

[lingosteve]

@JonVonD I am not against Esperanto. I think it is great that many people enjoy it and hope one day to have it at LingQ. it is not, to me, a natural living language.

[JonVonD]

@lingosteve and what I'm saying that the basis for saying that it isn't a natural or living language, as you've set forth, isn't consistent. Esperanto does have a history, a unique culture, ect., ect. You seem to write it off as neither living or natural because you can't sip wine at a museum or art gallery in Esperanto land. It's no more less living or natural than Modern Hebrew, one just hast more speakers.

[ababsurdo1567]

This video says it all very well. If you love Esperanto, go for it, but learning Esperanto is no easier than learning a spoken language unless you already understand at least one Latin language and two Germanic languages. That might be a given if you have grown up in Europe, not so much everywhere else.

[esperantoviro]

I am sure that nobody studies English in order to learn about Canadian culture which in its English-speaking version is greatly a subversion of US American culture. Only French-speaking Canada has a true culture of its own.

[antoruiz05]

amo lingvo Esperanto 

[powerdriller10]

Canadian English has the best clarity of speech and distinctivity of all the English dialects. When I listen to a canadian speaking English I almost forget that I am listening a foreign language. I discovered that, long time ago, when I studied English with several profesors of various parts of the USA and one canadian, the canadian was cristal clear. Every canadian TV series or picture I watched confims that finding. The canadian owner of this video, Steve, is not the exception.

[powerdriller10]

I am mexican, I learned English long time ago in the State of Utah USA , and for three decades I have been struggling with the language, improving gradually in all aspects of it, but never having the chance of a full inmersion in which I completely put aside my native language and only use English 100%, that has created, for me, a moving barrier that when I surpass it, I find it in front of me again if I just stop using English for one month or so.

[powerdriller10]

Steve is missing the point. Esperanto is for establishing a world common language for communication not for creating a culture. Anyway, an Esperanto kind of culture exists, there is some Literature, some common concepts, anecdotes, ideals, sacred places, and History.

There is service provided by the Esperantist community for esperantists travelling around the world called Pasaporta Servo. Travelling by Esperanto requires planning but can be done and has advantages.

[NestacaFamoso]

just wanted to say one thing. canadian french sounds sooooooo ugly....

[lucioquinzio]

mi jes ŝatas lerni esperanton

[blockrage8]

Oh boy! you folks don't have to agree with his opnion on esperanto. but just respect it.

If he has no motivation/interest to learn it, why he should? lol

wait.. does anyone else smell irony in the air?

Btw.. couldn't agree more, Steve.

[JohanoPasero]

Kara Oreyz, Ido estas iel pli bona ol Espereanto, sed Ido havas siajn proprajn de-

fectojn: 1. tro da pronomj 2. tro da demandovortoj 3. tro da infinitivoj, 4. tro da

participoj. 5. konservado de la litero C (ts). Dua respondo

Johano Pasero

[TutorialesBilingues]

Hello, Steve, I think you have made a very eloquent explanation of why you are not motivated to learn Esperanto. I'm with you 100%., I have no motivation to learn it With due respect to everyone learning and loving Esperanto.

cheers

[Forvill]

@TutorialesBilingues

Hello! You are right! As you are not motivated to learn Esperanto, it'd be a wast of time trying to learn it.

[JohanoPasero]

Kara Oreyz, mi havas lernolibron pri Ido.Grmartike g'i estas pli facila ol Esperanto kaj g'enerale g'i estas pli facila prononci. Ne plac'as al mi la sufikson -EZ, G'i sonas

malagrabla. La prnomoj estas nenecesaj komplikaj. Mi volas, ke la du lingvoj

farig'u unu. Johano Pasero

[JohanoPasero]

Mi estas Esperantsto dum pli ol 40 jaroj. Mi subtenas la celo de internacia lingvo,

sed mi ne elektas Esperanton JE G'IA NUNA FORMO esti tiu lingvo. Estas tro da

konsonantoj kaj kelkaj kun superskriptoj. La lingvo nececas iom da s'ang'oj por

gajni mia subteno. Dume, mi volonte dauros uzi g'in c'ar g'i estas la sola espero

por internacia lingvo. Johano Pasero USA

[inkstersco]

Esperanto might not succeed at cultural neutrality -- it might indeed be Eurocentric or whatever. But neutrality is not the main point of Esperanto. The main selling point of Esperanto is that it is supremely easy to learn, whatever its etymology. IF we're going to have an international auxiliary language, doesn't it make sense that it should be the easiest language imaginable? The point of Esperanto is that it was the easiest language that its creator could imagine.

[lemontofu]

I disagree. If my parents sent me to a far off country like China, hypothetically, I would have to learn Chinese to survive. I may or may not have motivation but that wouldn't really matter.

On the matter of Esperanto, I learn languages in order to communicate with more people because that is what I believe languages are for, communication, not for the cultural experience that you talk about.

[Forvill]

@lemontofu You are the Man! I agree! Languages are mainly for communication, not for the cultural experience!

[YouStoleMyTube]

I agree completely! I started learning Chinese (Mandarin) since the age of 3, I'm now 16. So I have known Chinese for 13 years now... I still can't read or write in Chinese! I can only communicate verbally, but I am fluent. Also, I can think in Chinese. So I guess I have *some* redeeming qualities. The reason I think I failed so badly was that my mother forced me to go to lessons when I hated them. If I wasn't pressured to learn Chinese I might have enjoyed it and done much better!

Subscribed!

[catadeluxxe]

Now let me tell you something. I presently live in Montreal, Canada. Though, I was born in Romania and as a result, Romanian is my first language. When I moved to Canada, I was forced to speak french, to communicate with other people. Then, I was told English was the most spoken language on the planet. Well, I've started learning English. With the internet, it got very simple.And now, in my school, I had to learn Spanish, and I did it and I've enjoyed it. It's not always the motivation I think.

[lumaix]

2 months to be fluent in esperanto vs 5 years to be fluent in english, hmmmm

[MegaPopcorn21]

Hello,

I am interested in languistics and learning languages and I want to be fluent or at least particually fluently in at least five different languages besides english. and i need some advice on the best way to learn a language? How many languages can you speak and how long did you study each one and can you speak any ameridian/ aboriginal languages? I hope to hear from you soon with your replay.

[aardvarkcustard]

All this to say you are not motivated to learn? Esperanto is connected with other European languages like Latin - It is an artificial language that is becoming natural, so I don't get your point? It is precisely the shallowness and neutrality of Esperanto that is what is attractive about it. You have not met me or you have not been on the Esperanto websites and your anecdote about not having met anyone who is an Esperanto speaker is just that, an anecdote. So you are not motivated!

[FrLawRE]

persian script is not arabic script

[sweetazpi45]

nerds

[Albesa81]

IMO languages are just tools to communicate with human beings,unlike you i don't see any hidden meanings in learning a language.

Since Esperanto doesn't give advantages to people that speak it natively,it allows to communicate in a real neutral way.

Of course,people can still speak the language they prefer:nevertheless,this would lead to invaluable benefits wherever people from different countries need to meet each other:think about business or friendship relations,or travels...

[KST0190]

I love the Idea behind Esperanto (neutral and national language) and it's very simple! I started to learn it a few days ago and it already changed my view on the structure of a language. I always had problems with it in school (german, english and greek).

[Andres91RV]

Interesting.

I learnt Esperanto a couple of months ago. When I started I had the same idea as you, the same. I also believe in the nature of the language and stuff ..... that's also the reason I stopped Esperanto. Some part of me couldn't conceive the idea of such language (for being created for 1 single man, ...etc) Nothing against it, but sometimes I felt I was wasting my time. again: nothing against Esperanto. The esperanto community is very nice and open.

[phkubicka]

...about my previous message, to be accurate : if there's no more need to learn english, one could ask how to do for international communication ? Again, your arguments are very exciting : everybody would have the freedom to choose Esperanto ! Ok, but... only six months (and not ten years) and I can express myself better in esperanto than in that english. So, again : you're perfectly right, your mother tongue has no right to be the international language. Esperanto is the best choice. Thanks !

[phkubicka]

you're so right... but i don't know in which language i should say that, because it's obvious you speak a lot of foreign languages... However, why do you understand me (and couldn't understand my mother tongue) ? Of course ! you're a lucky guy, i grew yp in a country where i had to learn english (suprise !). So I wish you could be true : no need for anybody to learn your english language. More time to learn things more interesting.

[MrCocytus]

This guy totally misses the point! He knows not of what he speaks.

He did not read a single article on Esperanto...

[icylakepaxphile]

even in asian countries like korean, japan, china, esperanto has, or once had enormance attraction between cosmopolitan, left wing intelectuals before world war 2 as a symbol of solidarity. ^^ i think it still has its role now too.

[Robindahoodz]

what kind of sucks is that its based on european languages...but asian languages almost have no influence in it, at least not that i know of.

But esperanto was interesting to me, even though i was mostly interested in japanese and chinese...

[kiette]

I appreciate your overall point of view here. I don't believe in the Esperanto cause or, indeed, that the world even needs an auxiliary language in the first place. I have a different motivation to learn Esperanto. But that was the whole point, right? Everyone has their own motivation, and going with the language(s) that best match your motivation will render the best results. I completely agree.

[robbkvasnak]

It seems to me that Mr. Kaufmann misunderstands the world. He takes a stance that English speakers worldwide take. In short and in the long run, they want English (which one?) to be the World Language. I wrote my dissertation on people studying English. The title is "Belongingness and Integrative Motivation in Second Language Acquisition". I, indeed, understand that motivation is the key to any learning. He doesn't see that Esp does have a history and its own culture - but they are universal

[lingosteve]

I find Esperanto of no interest and therefore I want English to be the world language? What sort of logic is this? I have to like what you like?

[robbkvasnak]

I don't particularly like English (and I find Canadian English even less attractive) but I am forced to speak and write it. When i was in Montreal last year, I found it annoying that some English speakers were insulted when I asked for directions in French. I was born in the USA - no choiice of mine! My mother language is German. I feel that English has been forced on me.

[lingosteve]

What is your point? I speak 11 languages and have no interest in Esperanto right now. I am not childish enough to dislike languages, including those that I have no interest in learning.

[Forvill]

@lingosteve You don't speak 11 languages Steve! Stop a little bit to think about what you're saying! My native language is Portuguese, and you don't speak Portuguese even in an intermediate level! Esperanto is just another language, if you have no interest in it it's up to you, but you should at least learn those languages which you say you speak better before saying that you you can do that!

[duodat]

@robbkvasnak It's your problem you were forced to learn English.I think Esperanto will never be the lingua franca because it's artificial.Now, comparing Latin to Esperanto,Latin has an enormous legacy.It wasn't created it's just a language that doesn't exist anymore.If I created a popular,easy pleasant-sounding language ,would you pick it up as the international language ? Zamenhof's dream will never come true.

[Forvill]

@lingosteve I understand you! You don't have to like what he likes, but you need to use your brain before giving an opinion, that's logic! If you had thaught bettter at what he said you'd be able to speak Portuguese and Spanish better than you speak now for your accent in languages besides your native one is terrible!

[BillA1016]

@robbkvasnak I speak 5 languages, one of which is Esperanto. People don't understand- Esperanto is supposed to be for communication. So many people learn English for communication and have no interest in 'English' culture at all (there is no true English culture, ironic considering that Esperanto is criticized in the video for just that). Also, with immersion, students come out with a native-sounding accent. If you learn later, although you'll learn faster, the accent will never happen.

[lilo621]

It's true, I live in Quebec and it's forbidden, from 1st to 12th grade to go to an english school (yeah, ridiculous) if you don't have one of both of your parents who is an anglophone OR that is not in army. So, a kid can go to school, he will speak french as well as a francophone, and speak english as well as an anglophoe, but won't be able to write a sentece without doing three mistakes in a word because they don't even learn the language they would be suppose to learn first.

[pnksbl]

Just so people know, I think Mr.Kaufmann has a rather distorted vision of Esperanto's history and fundamental facts.

[Jonnemanne]

Actually as an aspiring Esperantist, I would like to offer my 2 cents on this.

Esperanto actually opens huge amounts of doors to heaps of different cultures. Lots of literature has been translated to Esperanto, and also original literature has been written. I'm not trying to convert anyone, just wanna offer my own view: I thought to myself "If I can learn Esperanto in a short amount of time and thus access tons of literature from various cultures, then why NOT do it?"

Jonne from Finland

[lingosteve]

I love the enthusiasm of Esperantists. It has become like a cause. But let's not ascribe to much to this cause. People are just as happy killing each other when they speak the same language (Civil Wars, ex-Yugoslavia). Often the passionate pursuit of ideals can lead to some of the worst excesses. I remain uninterested in Esperanto, at least for now. But one day we would be happy to have Esperanto at LingQ for those who want to learn it. All the more power to the Esperantists, with respect.

[Profetak]

For those who are not motivated to learn Esperanto, just consider the fact that there are millions of people from all countries that speak it, and differently from an IMPERIALIST LANGUAGE, esperanto embodies all these cultures. It has a rich literature, with more than 25 thousand books published. It is taught at schools and universities all around the world. If you speak it, you'll have at your disposal an international service of free accomodations and esperantists will welcome you.

[Profetak]

And it's been a long time since that started being put into practice. Esperantists from all parts of the world welcome other esperantists in their homes. They comprehend each other and they are already friends just because they share the same feeling of brotherhood. At that time they are not Brazilians, nor Chinese, nor Americans, neither Russians. They are world citizens. They are human beings. And that's the ideology of ESPERANTO.

[yetwistedbastards]

Profetak, you can have that mentality without being a bi-curious tree hugger.

[Profetak]

Humans have the bad habit of making imaginary lines on the dirt in order to be separated from other humans, without giving any consideration to the fact that we are all equal. When these imaginary lines are not respected, that's when a country decides it's time to kill humans from other countries. The fantastic thing about ESPERANTO is that it ignores such lines and make us get closer-that's why "passport to the entire world" is one of the synonyms of esperanto. (continues)

[avloki669]

two things off hand do you know of some simple ways to get a basic foot hold in learning Japanese cause i watch a lot of japanese shows with subtitles and would love to learn it but i just cant grasp it that well, and second do you know what language this is tsnaputyi les tani a mi chesla mie pratsie pushkan trapayon ipatsamoun la poshta ken le stalion zaktuwan de anti meshermite shiterkamanie.

[permacultureli]

There is such a thing as an emerging culture as well, not just the old world cultures. Esperanto probably represents very well the derivative, yet more integrative and practical dimensions emerging culture must reflect.

It is idealistic. Thinking is not popular these days. Globalization has not yet gone past its Coca Cola neoliberal capitalist model, when it does get past that, then Esperanto will make more sense. Technology gets around... it is also a language, and also derivative.

[avloki669]

I don't think that is what he meant by it not having a culture. cause you are right that it does but only in that sense but it does not have a global community and there for no one to speak it with except in chance passing. Also the culture it has does have ideas and history but its history is not as formed as others it didn't shape itself from the oldest forms of spoken word it was just made and to some that might seem fake. So to at least to me it seems more personal opinion.

[permacultureli]

yes...personal choice. I personally integrate things that serve in my very particular search for expression of ideals...the titles of my musical works are in esperanto..easily comprehensible...i also am working on texts for an oratorio in esperanto...the theme is Gaia and world unity...

I make it a means to highlight progressive green and social ideals using a linguistic platform free of culture-specific baggage...a purely personal choice..

[avloki669]

If that's a crack at me not wanting that your very wrong. I would very much like to have a world of unity and acceptance but i believe it should be the persons choice not some one else making it for them, other wise that would be taking away free will defeating the reason for doing it. Also I like esperanto i have some very nice music that is sang in it but I don't want to learn it cause of the lack of usage I would have to actively search for people to talk to in it so I choose to learn others

[permacultureli]

the reason for one's own particular interest, determines the motivation. This reason will be a very particular and specific thing. I am afraid you are wrong. Esperanto does have a cultural profile. Progressive people, people who perceive separatism and nationalism as setbacks to human progress, and people who perceive any separatism as contradictory to the unified reality of nature. All 3 children of the creator of Esperanto died in concentration camps

decades later.

[Northwind47]

Yes, Esperanto was created however it was created from languages that already exist. It is heavily based in Latin. So there really isn't anything "artificial" about the language other than the way in which it is organized. By speaking Esperanto, you are speaking through a history of languages all rolled up into one package.

That is part of what makes Esperanto so fun and easy. The words are somewhat similar to european languages, so it isn't too tough to understand.

[andogigi5]

As a side note, many of my Chinese friends object to Esperanto on the grounds that it isn't inclusive enough of Asian languages. They are usually stunned to learn that one of their most famous authors, Ba Jing, was an Esperantist. This fact is not well known in China.

[gohmifune]

Why would it be inclusive of "Asian languages"? Most aren't really connected the same way European languages are, and considering the when and where it was created, it isn't like there is going to be Chinese vocabulary.

Any detractors based on the non-inclusive nature of the language should consider that the vocabulary is unimportant, it is the structure of Esperanto where its lingual value lies.

[andogigi5]

A well thought out argument. I know what you mean about enjoying the culture, since I also speak Japanese. I wonder, though... Is it the culture you're interested in or the interesting people who live in that culture. For me, I view culture through the windows of the people I know who live in that culture. People interest me. And it is one reason I stay in the Esperanto movement. I've found that Esperantists are incredibly interesting people, as well as kindred spirits.

[neilnachum1]

After returning from 2 conferences with 2,000 Esperanto speakers, Steve, I just regret the massive refusal to see how you can meet more people. You can't buy friendship in a Persian restaurant. You are repeating history, doomed to know nobody in Hungary, Togo, or Island where Esperanto is fully available. People seeking friendship in several countries will seek Esperanto. That was the goal of Esperanto and it has attained much of this.

[swlytle]

bcom11 said: "it is much easier for a chinese person to learn esperanto than to learn english."

It's much easier for *anyone* to learn Esperanto than English.

stevo

[evelioto]

грамматика является самой важной вещи в любом language.Poetry также имеет важное значение.

[swlytle]

Grammatika bez slov tol'ko teoriya. Slova bez grammatiki eshhe imeyut znacheniya. Poetomu leksikon samoe vazhnoe, a ne grammatika.

(Izvinite, no kirillicy u menya net.)

Grammar without words is only theory. Words without grammar still have meanings. Therefore lexicon is the most important thing, and not grammar.

(Pardon, but I don't have Cyrillic).

stevo

[evelioto]

Kif tista 'inti DARE li dissens mill Krashen? Huwa inkredibbli!

[ashleygonzalez1991]

I just want to point out something . I somewhat agree with steve but we should give esperanto a chance ! I go to a french school in N-B canada and they teach esperanto,german, and spanish ! beleive it or not . and apperantly you can learn esperanto in 100 hrs of study or even less . and it takes 2000 hrs to learn german&1500 hrs for english . why not take the time to learn esperanto if its the easiest language to learn in the whole entire WORLD??!

!!go EsPeRaNtO!!!♥♥♥♥

[dayeekiiins]

I wish my parent's immigrated to Canada, not America...instead of having learned one language (English) as I have, I would've learned two languages, (English & French).....what a bummer :/

[swlytle]

Not all Canadians are bilingual. And not all Canadians are tolerant of both languages. Canada has lots of good points, but the language situation isn't one of them.

[ashleygonzalez1991]

It's never too late to learn french !! :) , I'm bilingual and live in new-brunswick Canada and all the french speakers i Know gives a lot of respect to non french speaker who wants to learn french . It's easier than you think .

[thisusernameistaken2]

This is ridiculous. There /is/ a whole new world to Esperanto. You learn a culture. There is indeed a culture in Esperanto. It's a wonderful, very accepting culture, mixing elements of every national one. You also find that in learning Esperanto, you open up pathways to communicate with others (non english speakers) and learn a bit of their national cultures. You make new friends. This guy is totally wrong and I encourage anyone to learn it. What's a few months compared to years with others?

[ashleygonzalez1991]

I can't wait to learn esperanto !!! they now teach it at my school and I go to a french school, and i'm from Cadana !! I love my school because of that . and they also teach spanish and german .

[thisusernameistaken2]

Wow, you're so lucky.

Longe Vivu Esperanto!

[swlytle]

Esperanto is definitely based on European languages. So it is easy for Europeans to learn; they already know most of the grammar and a lot of the vocabulary. Is Esperanto hard for Asians to learn? Perhaps. But learning Esperanto is still a lot easier for them than learning a natural European language.

stevo

[Oerni93]

I don't know where you are from but the europeen languages do NOT have the same grammar. Not even a bit. I've never met a French ( and I've met a few) who's able to speak proper english! And that's not because of the vocabulary. and remember, a russian is also europeen and learning russian is HARD!

[swlytle]

I said that European languages are similar, not identical. They differ in the details, and Esperanto differs from them in the same kind of details. Russian, Latin, Greek, French, and English all share the same basic grammar. Chinese, Turkish, Japanese, Vietnamese have radically different grammars from European. Esperanto is easy for Europeans. It's also easier for non-Euroeans than natural languages. (And I'm a native speaker of American English living in Ohio.)

stevo

[lambert972]

L'Esperanto est aussi plus facile que l'angais pour les Chinois, les Japonais et tout le monde, l'anglais cause des accidents d'avions et incidents, je ne parle pas anglais, trop difficile.

[swlytle]

Mais vous parlez français, aussi une langue très difficile.

[lambert972]

Je conçois que le français est difficile pour les étrangers mais qu'on leur fasse comprendre que l'anglais est très difficile pour ceux qui ne sont pas nés anglais, tellement difficile qu'elle cause des accidents d'avions, seul l'Espéranto est la plus facile des langues.

[andogigi5]

Kaj mi ankaŭ parolas la francan tre malbone. Sed, ni povas komuniki per Esperanto. Ĉu tio ne estas vera lingvo?

(And I also speak French very badly. But, we can communicate by Esperanto. Isn't that a true language?)

[lambert972]

Mi konsentas ke la franca estas malfacila por eksterlandanoj kaj la angla ankaù estas tre malfacila por tiuj kiuj ne estas anglaj, nur Esperanto estas la plej facila.

[bcom11]

actually, structurally it has been proven that esperanto is very similar to asian languages, like chinese structurally...in terms of how words are formed.

it is much easier for a chinese person to learn esperanto than to learn english.

I'll give an example from Claude Piron's website.

[bcom11]

Claude Piron: In word formation as well Chinese and Esperanto share a similarity of patterns. In English, as in French, you have to learn separately such words as fellow-citizen and coreligionist and you cannot express in one word the concept 'a person of the same race' or 'somebody who speaks the same language'.

[bcom11]

Claude Piron, cont'd: In Chinese, you have only to know the structure and the basic word. Just as in Esperanto: to form samlandano 'fellow-citizen', 'compatriot', samreligiano 'coreligionist', samklasano 'school fellow', 'kid who is in the same class', samrasano 'person of the same race', samlingvano 'person with the same mother tongue', ....

[bcom11]

Claude Piron cont'd pt. 2:

you just have to know the pattern sam---ano and to insert the corresponding root. Similarly, a Chinese who studies English, French or Italian has to memorize as a completely different unit the word foreigner (étranger, straniero).

[shawie1800]

People who say that Esperanto is Euro-centric have completely missed the point. Even if Zamenhoff had studied and spoken non-European languages, and incorporated features from those languages, Esperanto would've ended up being almost unlearnable. Just imagine a language with a complex tonal system of Catonese combined with a polysynthetic grammar of Mohawk, topped up with a Slavic phonology mixed in with click consonants of Khoisan. Would anyone be able to learn such a language?? I think not

[Esoparagon]

You can make a language simple without making it euro-centric. It is euro-centric. That makes it very easy to learn for a European person. An Asia-centric language that was simple would be easy for Asians to learn and harder for Europeans to learn. Esperanto is easier for Europeans and harder for Asians. A truly neutral language would be more like lojban or something. It would at least take root words from as many world languages as possible without becoming to complex.

[drknmunky]

I'd have to strongly agree with you. I used to be such an advocate for Esperanto; however, the more I learned it, the more I realized how many problems the language has. Eperantists love to boast how global the language is, but it's entirely based off of Indo-European languages! The language has the right idea, but Zamenhof was horribly incompetent in the area of Linguistics, thus a horribly formed language was formed.

[christocr]

And English isn't? Think about it. Our 'world language' is English. And as a world language, it sucks bigtime. Esperanto is 1000 times easier to learn and use.

[drknmunky]

Esperanto is only deceptively easy. If you're gonna make an easy language, then get rid of the damn genders and suffixes. Second, the suffixes don't always make sense, and due to the awkward constructions completely disrupts the rules of basic phonology. Mi studis Esperanton por 4 jaroj, kaj parol ĝi juste bone. Ne dir al mi Ke mi ne scias multe pri Esperanto. Steve estas absolute ĝustigi. mankas Veran historion apog ĝin aŭ.

[christocr]

Ummm, being familiar with Esperanto, you should know that there are no grammatical genders. In Spanish, you have: el árbol (the tree). This is a masculine noun (el-masc and la-fem). In Esperanto, you have: la arbo. 'La' is always the definite article--no genders. As for Esperanto suffixes: once understood, they are far easier/ consistent than the way we do it in English. Is Esperanto perfect? No. Is it infinitely easier, more consistent and logical than English? Yes. Any day of the year.

[drknmunky]

I didn't mean grammatical genders. The language has gender differentiation such as 'knabo' vs. 'knabino'. I agree with you, that Esperanto's grammar is incredibly easy; however, there have been wide discussions in the Akedemio de Esperanto on a number of issues. One of them: Can you say 'Mi havis lernanta' because technically "mi lernis" should be sufficient, but English speakers try to compensate for the past perfect.

[drknmunky]

To further explicate on that little suffix and word-building problem: Esperanto has a number of words with double meanings. One example being "Acheto" can either be a purchase or a contemptable little thing. I gave it my all, and Esperanto was just one disappointment after another. Natural languages may not be perfect; however, their irregularities can be explained and make sense. Esperanto's problems are due to a haphazard and clumsy creator, who based his language after his own Belorussian.

[christocr]

How many double meanings are there in English? How do you explain our disastrous English spelling? And the menagerie of grammatical exceptions? Why is it that, even after 12 years of education, most English student still cant get it right? It's not the student or the educator. Its the language. There is no reason to have perfectly good grammar rules and not follow any of them. As an international language, I see Esperanto as an imperfect step forward. I see English as a step backwards.

[drknmunky]

Things are spelled the way they are in English, because of centuries of language change. It's the natural progression of a language. French used to be spoken the way it's written, but writing is a nicety we invented. Language has its own course. English too will one day work out its imperfections, as is happening as we speak. Why throw out a perfectly good old creole [English] that works fine to replace it with a bland, lifeless artificial one?

[christocr]

Who cares how Chaucer pronounced words? What matters is how we pronounce them now; our spellings a joke. No way around it. My main arguing point for learning a lifeless language over a bungling, illogical relic is efficiency, logic, and ease of learning. The time wasted learning English could be cut by about 90% with Esperanto. As for natural languages, I can think of at least 5 that would make a better world language than English. English senselessly breaks its own rules too often.

[christocr]

Also, think about what Esperanto is for. Its intended to allow mutual communication in minimal learning time. Its not intended to replace natural languages. Thats not the case with English, which is basically taking over the world. English is REPLACING or altering languages. How many languages have been tainted by English? Its all politics. If the Brits or we in America hadnt been the *big boys* on the block, no one would be speaking English other than the natives.

[drknmunky]

christocr... I hate to break it to you, but if Esperanto took on political dominance like English, it too would influence and replace a lot of words in other languages. Before you spew any more garbage on linguistics, learn your history on language and how it develops.

[christocr]

How about you speak/learn the languages you enjoy, I speak/learn the languages I enjoy, and we leave it at that, rather than throwing insults back and forth?

I have an entire library of language, linguistics, and language history books. If you think you can enlighten me, go ahead.

The difference is Esperanto has not developed in a random, haphazard way. In MY opinion, that is it's strength. YOU are entitled to your own opinion without an insult from me, so I won't enable your bad habit.

[win2007newtheravada]

What are these five languages that would make a better world language than English?

[villadavid4ever]

don't think it's easier

[lambert972]

Vous croyez que l'anglais est votre langue du monde quand elle cause de nombreux accidents d'avions entre autre, les pilotes et contrôleurs n'arrivent pas à se comprendre avec l'anglais, moi je dis vive l'Espéranto pour tout le monde.

[daveyork0]

Lingo Steve Kaufman.

Legend! ... showoff too

[AbcSchoolOfPolish]

Very interesting. Thanks for posting this. Keep up your good work!

[Luiseut59]

You may be right about esperanto not having any culture behind it, but that was the reason why it was created. L.L. Zamenhof created esperanto because when a person learn a language, native speaker has advantage over the new leaners and because when a vehicular language is assumed as such, this language's culture take over the other culture.

Esperanto was created to everybody were in equal conditions learning it.

[lingosteve]

I understand the motivation behind Esperanto. I understand why people can get motivated to learn it. I am not motivated to learn it precisely for the same reasons that motivated Zamnehof to create it and motivate people to learn it. I find it artificial and not an natural and interesting language learn. I respect the right of others to think differently.

[Forvill]

@lingosteve Hi Steve! I agree with you! We need to respect the right of others to think differently! If you are not motivated to learn Esperanto you're not going to learn it.

[lingosteve]

I have a done a little research. It appears that the number of people who are fluent in Esperanto is closer to a few tens of thousand. The definition of native speaker is someone who was brought up speaking the language at home, along with another language. To me this is not how I understand the term native speaker, it is more like a family of another language and culture deciding to ensure that their child learn Esperanto. If I were to learn a neutral language I would choose Interlingua.

[detlefkar]

My experience with French immersion has been that parents are usually highly motivated on behalf of their children. and usually manage to pass this on. My question would be on which basis would a six year old decide which language he or she wants to learn?

[lingosteve]

Parents are mostly motivated to get their children into an enriched stream with fewer special needs students. I do not think the parents motivation is a motivator for the kids, who are usually happy to learn what they are offered in the classroom, if they start young enough.

I would suggest that kids get some exposure to one or more widely spoken languages in the first years, and then get to choose if they want to focus later.

[detlefkar]

When I was in Florence at the World Esperanto Congress I spoke to Russians, Japanese, French, Italians and Germans all at the same time. Languages don't have culture but people do.

Starting a foreign language is always a leap of faith. A person with your language expertise will make significant progress in a week and if it doesn't result in any new insights about language in general, then go ahead and give it up. But at least you'll know more about Esperanto.

[lapun47]

If you get to know a fluent speaker of Esperanto, then you'll discover that there is an Esperanto culture--books, music, videos, a world view reflected in the language in the Sapir-Whorf sense. You might also ask yourself just how 'artificial' Esperanto is when it can be used to communicate the same sophisticated ideas that can be communicated in any of the 'natural' languages.

[disiciliano]

Lingosteve

I absolutely love your videos!

I have an account on Lingq and I agree 100% with all your methods on language learning. Its just most of your videos are critical of methods. This is not a problem. I would just like to hear some positive opinions in one of your next videos. Or about other methods of language learning that you like.

[teddythefrency]

Esperanto is interesting but is not sufficiently connected with a culture, it is too artificial, I prefer learn by example Welsh and do my best in Welsh and English at Swansea or both Basque and Spanish at Bilbao.

And Esperanto has a full of rivals like Interlingua , Ido etc...

[acromel]

For some reason, your comment reminded me that Cornish is related to Breton, and to Welsh as well I suppose.

Now that's a lot more interesting than an artificial and soulless language like Esperanto!

It never ceases to amaze me just how intertwined the Western European languages are. Although L'Académie française may not agree :o)

[RoyalKnightVII]

WHat about Klingon? It's connected with a vast galactic culture!

[thisusernameistaken2]

Interlingua I'm not sure about, but I wouldn't hold out much hope.

Ido is effectively dead. I'm sure it's a better language than Eo structurally, but they shouldn't have fought the establishment. It only served to weaken the community. Anyway, Eo in my opinion is already good enough and the rest is nitpicking.

Anyway, I'm not sure what "is too artificial" actually means, but as for culture- incorrect. If anything, Eo opens you to MORE culture because its speakers are from a wider variety.

[LoneWolf852]

Esperanto... who cares? I want to know when LinQ is going to have Klingon. Steve, did you know that Klingon is not only the most difficult language in the galaxy, but also the oldest? And talk about exploring new cultures! You haven't read Pushkin until you've read him in the original Klingon.

[thairob]

I always enjoy your videos Steve, but one request: please move your camera up so your face is centered in the frame. Very often in your videos there is so much headroom that it makes it difficult to watch.

[lifekiwi]

I think foreign language should be mandatory in elementary school, with the child choosing a new foreign language every year if he wants or sticking with a single one if he enjoys it. By 7th grade, he'll have a good idea of what he's interested in. I've found that my knowledge of English (my native language) has skyrocketed since I started taking French. I genuinely enjoy it.

[acromel]

The only downside is that you'll be far more aware of native speakers making appalling mistakes with their own language!

It always seems to be the native speakers who care the least about their language, well, that's been my experience with English speakers. I really don't know if it's the case with other language and cultures.

[lifekiwi]

I absolutely know what you mean. I could sit down and attempt to read a short story in French and enjoy myself, whereas I might not be as interested were it in English.

[xxxqwertxxx]

I feel the exact same way about Esperanto. It's cute, but it's just not rich enough to be worthwhile for me to study.

[yahags]

If people "learned how to learn" there'd be no need for any teachers or schools. Who would take the responsibility of torturing kids and young adults with uninteresting subjects and content? If everyone was allowed to be smart the world would implode.

[acromel]

Like most of us in the UK I was subjected to French and absolutely hated it due to a combination of the approach used and the fact that I just wasn't interested. Even as a boy I loved Latin but that wasn't available

unless I majored, as the Americans say, in languages. So it would still be in addition to French and German.

I remember the teachers saying that French would be much more `useful' than Latin.

Years have passed and I can say with conviction that their answer was absolutely wrong.

[zocurtis]

I'm sure it's a suitable language but the powers that be won't allow it to become a spoken language. We must not be fooled. I don't see myself learning it as well.

[ImAlwaysR1ght]

Having people "immersed" in an environment of non-native speakers of French does sound like a disaster. Are the teachers at least native speakers?

[shapirog]

A great video, as usual. Lots of good points! Thanks for talking about Esperanto.