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Why learn Esperanto? | ||
 Language Learning Forum : Esperanto |  | |
| Volte Tetraglot Senior Member Switzerland Joined 6444 days ago 4474 posts - 6726 votes  Speaks: English*, Esperanto, German, Italian Studies: French, Finnish, Mandarin, Japanese | Message 122 of 140 21 August 2009 at 8:19pm | IP Logged | |||||||||||
That's one of those special words that don't translate well into any other language. My first rendering might be "pendglacia nazmuko", literally "icicled snot" and hyperliterally "hanging-ice nose-mucus"; a more experienced speaker might do better.
Here you go. Edited by Volte on 21 August 2009 at 8:20pm 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||||||||
| Aeroflot Senior Member United States Joined 5607 days ago 102 posts - 115 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French | Message 123 of 140 21 August 2009 at 8:27pm | IP Logged | |||||||||||
You're right, it's not a universal language, it's the universal language. Just think about the semantics of that for a second.
I understand you, but this example doesn't help your argument any, because it could have been any language that you used. It just so happened that Esperanto was the common language, but it could have been Italian or French or Russian.
None of it is total nonsense. How many people other than whose with obsessions with Esperanto will learn it? Few to none.
*slaps face* Edited by Aeroflot on 21 August 2009 at 8:28pm 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||||||||
| Volte Tetraglot Senior Member Switzerland Joined 6444 days ago 4474 posts - 6726 votes Speaks: English*, Esperanto, German, Italian Studies: French, Finnish, Mandarin, Japanese | Message 124 of 140 21 August 2009 at 8:43pm | IP Logged | |||||||||||
It most assuredly is not. Many people in Western Europe don't speak passable English. An even lower percentage of people in regions like Japan or Eastern Europe do. Wikipedia's article on English gives an upper bound of 1.8 billion speakers; I assure you that this is using a very, very loose definition of speaker. Wikipedia's article on population claims there are a bit over 6.7 billion people. A language which is NOT spoken, even at the level of a few basic phrases, by over 70% of the world's population is not universal.
Erm, please reread - the common language was Dutch, not Esperanto. More generally, when I'm in Eastern Europe, German or Russian are often more useful than English, especially when dealing with middle-aged people. There are a lot of edge cases like this - I've also been in a bookstore in Japan and only had French as a common language with the owner. There is no universal language at present. English is the closest we have, but it's far from universal. Edited by Volte on 21 August 2009 at 8:45pm 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||||||||
| alang Diglot Senior Member Canada Joined 7226 days ago 563 posts - 757 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish | Message 125 of 140 21 August 2009 at 8:43pm | IP Logged | |||||||||||
I agree 100%, as I have been informed by some people learning another language in general is useless, and English is the only real useful language. It is extremely odd when others criticise another no matter what topic. What to learn, how to live your life among other things. Esperanto has been useful for me when I visit other countries and other Esperantists. I also use other networks to stay for free if I can. All in all learning languages is what this forum has in common. People have reasons to learn a language and it does not need to be justified to anybody else. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||||||||
 Jiwon Triglot Moderator Korea, South Joined 6441 days ago 1417 posts - 1500 votes Speaks: EnglishC2, Korean*, GermanC1 Studies: Hindi, Spanish Personal Language Map | Message 126 of 140 21 August 2009 at 8:46pm | IP Logged | |||||||||||
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I must remind people on this thread, that it's on the verge of turning into another flame war. Please do stick to the topic.
------------------------------------------------------------ ---------------------- Dear Aeroflot. I believe that English's unique position in today's world is quite unprecendented and it seems that the trend will continue for a long time. But that doesn't mean you can actually go on bashing another language just because some people believe it is more suitable as a universal language. Give it the respect it deserves as a language. Just because it is a constructed or, as some people say, "artificial" language, it doesn't mean it should be treated as a low-culture icon to be frowned at. What has Esperanto done to you? It's a pretty harmless language with very noble intentions. Also, please refrain from picking on trivialities. I also believe you didn't get some points that Volte was trying to make but will not comment further as it will exacerbate the matters further. Jiwon ------------------------------------------------------------ --------------------- I personally don't believe that Esperanto can win over English as the universal language of the world (not in my lifetime anyway). But my idealist soul tells me that if we just spent 15 minutes a day studying Esperanto, it might have been possible. As I stated, it's a very harmless language, with good intentions, although I DO feel that Esperantists can get a bit over-excited with the whole movement. But I guess the same can be said of anti-Esperantists. And Volte, I really like that T-shirt. :) 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||||||||
| Aeroflot Senior Member United States Joined 5607 days ago 102 posts - 115 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French | Message 127 of 140 21 August 2009 at 9:04pm | IP Logged | |||||||||||
You don't understand what I'm saying. A universal language and THE universal language are two different ideas. A universal language is one that is universal and everyone knows it. THE universal language means in reality what the most international language is. There is a subtle difference in the articles A and THE. I'm not saying everyone knows English, I'm saying it is the one most sought after for international affairs.
I'm talking about your group of people, but between you and the stand. Sorry. Edited by Aeroflot on 21 August 2009 at 9:04pm 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||||||||
| Cainntear Pentaglot Senior Member Scotland linguafrankly.blogsp Joined 6016 days ago 4399 posts - 7687 votes Speaks: Lowland Scots, English*, French, Spanish, Scottish Gaelic Studies: Catalan, Italian, German, Irish, Welsh | Message 128 of 140 21 August 2009 at 10:10pm | IP Logged | |||||||||||
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Aeroflot,
The majority of the world's population lives in abject poverty. This does not make poverty "universal", and I imagine quite a few members of this site are actually comfortably well off. English is the language most commonly used as an international non-native lingua franca, but it is far from "universal". To claim it is makes you look just as silly as the guy who claimed Esperanto was "universal". 1 person has voted this message useful |
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