doviende Diglot Senior Member Canada languagefixatio Joined 5990 days ago 533 posts - 1245 votes Speaks: English*, German Studies: Spanish, Dutch, Mandarin, Esperanto, Hindi, Swedish, Portuguese
| Message 9 of 19 15 December 2009 at 6:23pm | IP Logged |
A few weeks ago I wrote an email to google suggesting this, at someone else's suggestion, so I'm glad they decided to implement it. Unfortunately they didn't include it in the Canadian page or the main .com page. It could have benefited the vast amounts of monolinguals here.
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jondesousa Tetraglot Senior Member United States goo.gl/Zgg3nRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6268 days ago 227 posts - 297 votes Speaks: English*, Portuguese, Japanese, Esperanto Studies: Latin, Mandarin, Spanish
| Message 10 of 19 15 December 2009 at 7:19pm | IP Logged |
doviende wrote:
Unfortunately they didn't include it in the Canadian page or the main .com page. It could have benefited the vast amounts of monolinguals here. |
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The .com page definitely shows it. At least when accessing it here in the US.
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doviende Diglot Senior Member Canada languagefixatio Joined 5990 days ago 533 posts - 1245 votes Speaks: English*, German Studies: Spanish, Dutch, Mandarin, Esperanto, Hindi, Swedish, Portuguese
| Message 11 of 19 15 December 2009 at 7:44pm | IP Logged |
I still don't see anything on google.com and google.ca (when accessing from Canada), but I just noticed that The World is doing a radio segment on Esperanto. Apparently the audio will be available online in a few hours. It's featured on their front page too.
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IronFist Senior Member United States Joined 6441 days ago 663 posts - 941 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Japanese, Korean
| Message 12 of 19 15 December 2009 at 10:05pm | IP Logged |
I was going to make this thread but I've already been beaten to it :)
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pookiebear79 Groupie United States Joined 6034 days ago 76 posts - 142 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Dutch, French, Swedish, Italian
| Message 13 of 19 16 December 2009 at 1:28am | IP Logged |
Ok, I just had to go to google's homepage just to see it. It's pretty cool to see Esperanto get such a widespread "shout out." Because even though it just shows the flag and if you hover your mouse over it says "150th Birthday of LL Zamenhof," when you click on the flag it gives you a whole bunch of pages explaining what it's all about.
And while many people will just read it out of curiosity and then go about their business, it gives me 'warm fuzzies' to think there may be someone out there who will be fascinated by what they learn and, while they may not choose to learn Esperanto, might be intrigued/have their mind opened to the world of language learning. OK. that's a bit more optimistic/idealistic than I normally tend to be, but I think it's fitting given the idealism of Dr Zamenhoff himself.
I have not studied Esperanto beyond a few lessons because I always have other things demanding my attention, but it's on my 'one of these days (years)' list.
However, I'll always hold a little fondness for at least the story of Esperanto. When I was about sixteen I learned about Esperanto from some books in the library. I was so fascinated by the story of how it came to be, and the idea that this man had made his own language. (I didn't know anything about the existence of constructed languages then.) I was so interested by the story that I gave my big speech in public speaking class on the story of Esperanto and Dr Zamenhoff. So as I said, I'll always have fond memories of something that broadened my horizons, even though I haven't actually learned the language.
And Tommus, thank you for sharing that lovely story with us. :)
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datsunking1 Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5589 days ago 1014 posts - 1533 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: German, Russian, Dutch, French
| Message 14 of 19 16 December 2009 at 1:59am | IP Logged |
Splog wrote:
Since I decided that my challenge for 2010 is to learn Esperanto, I now seem to see Esperanto everywhere. Either there is a sudden flourish of interest, or I am simply more attentive than before. Perhaps it is similar to when you buy a new car, and suddenly see cars of the same make and colour everywhere.
My kind mother has managed to get for me Teach Yourself Esperanto (20 pounds for a used copy, and no audio - so hardly a bargain) - which I will collect when I go to the UK for Xmas. Then on 1st January the immersion begins (well, 1 hour a day) and I will be absolutely delighted if Esperanto becomes more popular so that I will have more people to talk to and learn with. |
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For maybe half that price I could have shipped that to you with the audio. Why is a book so expensive in the UK?!
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Envinyatar Diglot Senior Member Guatemala Joined 5540 days ago 147 posts - 240 votes Speaks: Spanish*, English Studies: Modern Hebrew
| Message 15 of 19 16 December 2009 at 2:04am | IP Logged |
I've been accessing different Google sites (google.ca, google.com, google.es, google.com.gt and many more) and there's no reference about Esperanto! Maybe this event is something intended for USA IP addresses only like some of you have already mentioned.
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pookiebear79 Groupie United States Joined 6034 days ago 76 posts - 142 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Dutch, French, Swedish, Italian
| Message 16 of 19 16 December 2009 at 2:32am | IP Logged |
I just read on one of the links that some people are whining that the Esperanto flag is there because today is also the day the US Bill of rights was signed, 218 years ago and they feel that should be there instead. Needless to say, there are some ignorant and not nice comments all round.
Frankly, I think it's beyond petty, because The 150th anniversary of Zamenhof's birth is something of a milestone year, whereas the bill of rights can be commemorated on any other year...it's not like 218 is a special milestone anniversary. To me, this seems a good year if they're going to celebrate "Esperanto Day" because likewise, if they waited till next year, it would look a bit silly to say "151st anniversary of Zamenhoff's birth."
To me it's a matter of timing, the timing makes more sense for the esperanto flag this year. But of course some people can't get over their own politics or sour grapes, and think it's some slight to US history. But it's just a search engine. Sheesh.
I am surprised, though, to read comments here that it's now only on the US site...(and yep, I just checked .ca from my US IP and it doesn't show for me either) that's a bit silly to limit their reach considering the topic is a very international one. Maybe some grumpy people flipped out and it was removed from other countries' google? I don't know.
Also, for some of the international pages, the 15th is now over so it would be gone anyway...Oh well, it's still neat that they recognized it!
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