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Adding Esperanto as a "side dish"?

  Tags: Esperanto
 Language Learning Forum : Esperanto Post Reply
23 messages over 3 pages: 1 2 3  Next >>
Gallo1801
Diglot
Senior Member
Spain
Joined 4904 days ago

164 posts - 248 votes 
Speaks: English*, Spanish
Studies: Arabic (Written), Croatian, German, French

 
 Message 1 of 23
19 March 2012 at 3:01pm | IP Logged 
Not to discount its status as a full blown language, just from what I've heard, because
of how easy it is supposed to be to learn, Esperanto in my opinion would not constitute
learning a full language, but more of a half-language. My interest in it has been
reawakened, and I am thinking of studying it, but I am already on a study regimen.

Could I add some Esperanto study alongside my Croatian and French without it being much
of a problem? I'd say that it would be like learning 2.5 languages (again, not to
discredit the die-hard Esperantists out there; part of the reason Esperanto is cool is
that it's easy.)
1 person has voted this message useful



Volte
Tetraglot
Senior Member
Switzerland
Joined 6441 days ago

4474 posts - 6726 votes 
Speaks: English*, Esperanto, German, Italian
Studies: French, Finnish, Mandarin, Japanese

 
 Message 2 of 23
19 March 2012 at 3:28pm | IP Logged 
Try it and see?

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Michael K.
Senior Member
United States
Joined 5731 days ago

568 posts - 886 votes 
Speaks: English*
Studies: Spanish, Esperanto

 
 Message 3 of 23
19 March 2012 at 5:35pm | IP Logged 
Write a 500 page book or give an hour long lecture in Esperanto, then you can tell us whether learning Esperanto is only learning "half a language."

You will still need to take studying Esperanto seriously. I don't find it easy, but it is very regular. Some say it only takes 6 weeks of full-time study to be conversational in the language, or that it can be learned 10 times faster than a natural language. I'm studying it for 6 weeks to see how far I get.

I'd also say learn it for the culture and community (the same reasons you'd learn any other language), not just because it's easy. I think you'd get bored if you learned it just because it's easy.
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vermillon
Triglot
Senior Member
United Kingdom
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Speaks: French*, EnglishC2, Mandarin
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 Message 4 of 23
19 March 2012 at 6:02pm | IP Logged 
Michael K. wrote:
Write a 500 page book or give an hour long lecture in Esperanto, then you can tell us whether learning Esperanto is only learning "half a language."


I would probably not even do that in my native language!
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Cabaire
Senior Member
Germany
Joined 5601 days ago

725 posts - 1352 votes 

 
 Message 5 of 23
19 March 2012 at 6:39pm | IP Logged 
I must admit that I feel a bit like that too. I never seriously studied Esperanto, there was no toiling at all. Many years ago, after a brief look at grammar I started reading simple texts with a dictionary, then a short novel (la malsana kiso), then a long novel (la senĉesa historio). Sometimes I read a book for leisure (now "la ŝtona urbo"). Maybe if you get something without any effort, you don't value it high enough. It's a nice language, I like its structure and the idea behind the project, but it never was a callenge, something to aspire to. To be honest, it was "a side dish", but a tasty one.

PS. Active skills are of course another piece of cake, as Michael mentioned.

Edited by Cabaire on 19 March 2012 at 6:42pm

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Iversen
Super Polyglot
Moderator
Denmark
berejst.dk
Joined 6705 days ago

9078 posts - 16473 votes 
Speaks: Danish*, French, English, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, Swedish, Esperanto, Romanian, Catalan
Studies: Afrikaans, Greek, Norwegian, Russian, Serbian, Icelandic, Latin, Irish, Lowland Scots, Indonesian, Polish, Croatian
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 Message 6 of 23
19 March 2012 at 6:59pm | IP Logged 
You shouldn't take Esperanto too lightly. I once made a video in Esperanto, and when I listened to it I discovered that I had forgotten at least half the accusative markers (-n). Even the fact there ARE accusative markers is a sign that Esperanto isn't just something you learn to speak between lunch and diner.

Edited by Iversen on 19 March 2012 at 7:00pm

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Gallo1801
Diglot
Senior Member
Spain
Joined 4904 days ago

164 posts - 248 votes 
Speaks: English*, Spanish
Studies: Arabic (Written), Croatian, German, French

 
 Message 7 of 23
19 March 2012 at 7:09pm | IP Logged 
Well the whole reason for learning it is communication with other speakers. I usually
don't learn languages just for the academic pursuit. They also serve to better connect
humanity.

Hmm... I'll have to do some searching and see if I can put it in my schedule. I never
thought it'd be that useful in the US, but since I'm going to be in Europe for a while, I
figure my chances of using it during my travels will be much greater. As a native
English speaker, I'd love to be on equal ground for once.
1 person has voted this message useful



Serpent
Octoglot
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Russian Federation
serpent-849.livejour
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 Message 8 of 23
19 March 2012 at 7:42pm | IP Logged 
I've spent some nice time with Esperanto, because I had heard that language learning gets easier after 5, and I was only any good in three. I never reached fluency but it was indeed a good investment nevertheless.

I think as of now Esperanto has fulfilled its role in my life. I kinda have a vague feeling that I'll get back to it eventually.

I recommend considering toki pona as well. Maybe it's just my impression but you seem to consider Esperanto boringly easy. Toki pona is also easy, but it's an insight into how some very different languages work (like Indonesian). It's the easiest mind-blowing experience you can get in language learning :)


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