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Esperanto Opinions | ||
 Language Learning Forum : Esperanto | ( Topic Closed) |  |
| Blunderstein Triglot Pro Member Sweden schackhandeln.se Joined 5422 days ago 60 posts - 82 votes  Speaks: Swedish*, EnglishC2, FrenchB2 Studies: German, Esperanto Personal Language Map | Message 33 of 51 08 April 2010 at 12:17pm | IP Logged | |||||
That is your opinion. No offense, but the Esperanto community has proved that it can also work the other way around, where the language comes first. You might want to check out some of the creole languages which were created because people from different linguistic backgrounds found themselves in the same place and needed to find a way to communicate. The first step was normally to create a "pidgin" language. If this language was passed on to the children (who had it as their mother tongue), it became a "creole". In some cases, the community in question developed a distinct culture of their own. Haiti is one example.
What do we Esperantists need to demonstrate that would make you accept that we have a culture? Lots of poetry written in Esperanto (not translated from some other language)? A strong sense of community? A history of persecution (Stalin executed thousands of Esperantists)? A big Wikipedia in our language? And what gives you the right to judge that "this group does not have a culture, no matter how they see themselves"? Please remember that many small groups have encountered such attitudes from the surrounding majority. In my opinion, one of the most important things that Esperantist have in common is the passion for how the language is used, and the community. Please not that this is not the same thing as passion for the language itself. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Splog Diglot Senior Member Czech Republic anthonylauder.c Joined 5673 days ago 1062 posts - 3263 votes Speaks: English*, Czech Studies: Mandarin | Message 34 of 51 08 April 2010 at 12:57pm | IP Logged | |||||
When I was looking for literature in Esperanto, I did find plenty of it on UEA and other sites (as you said), but I would be very cautious about ordering a book I had never heard of. How would I know which of the 25000 books is any good? One thing I did notice at the time was that a large amount of the literature is poetry, and I have no interest at all in poetry (apart from some well know classics). I am more interested in adventure stories, and non-fiction books, but only the really good ones. Picking out ones that I have never heard of just because they are only in Esperanto seems like quite a gamble. Can you possibly point me to some place that highlights the top 50 Esperanto-only books that are really worth reading? It may stimulate my interest again in advancing in the language. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| delectric Diglot Senior Member China Joined 7185 days ago 608 posts - 733 votes Speaks: English*, Mandarin Studies: German | Message 35 of 51 08 April 2010 at 1:10pm | IP Logged | |||||
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It seems there's always a passionate debate when Esperanto is mentioned. I think that
alone proves that it's certainly has some learning value to it. I don't see any long threads about Klingon like this. I don't see Esperanto taking over the world in my lifetime, but at someone that loves to learn languages I want to learn at least one constructed language. When shopping for that constructed language it was ridiculously easy to choose Esperanto. It seems no other constructed language will give you as much value for you Money as Esperanto. You'll find speakers everywhere in the world. With the Passporto Servo (is that what it's called) other Esperantists allow you to stay in their house when you travel. Also I think I'm likely to find people that have the same passion for language learning as myself. This whole thing about not learning Esperanto because it lacks 'culture' is really irrelevant for me. Esperanto is a tool for communicating between people from different cultures. Of course Esperanto isn't neutral, after all it has all Indo-European roots but as a middle ground it's probably the best there is right now. As for people saying Esperanto is superior/better! In these political correct times it's very difficult to make that comment. However, if you had to choose a language that was in terms of grammar and vocabulary quick and easy for Europeans to learn then Esperanto will be better than say German, French etc. Of course if you were going to judge better in terms of self expression, culture then a guess any language 'should' be ok. Talking about superior languages, has anyone tried loglan? Apparently it will allow you to express your real feelings and intent much more clearly than other languages? 3 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| linkmaster03 Newbie United States Joined 5724 days ago 3 posts - 3 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Esperanto | Message 36 of 51 09 April 2010 at 7:35pm | IP Logged | |||||
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After reading through this thread, it appears as though many people think that Esperanto is meant to create its own culture and replace national languages. I understand the goal of Esperanto as creating a language for people from different cultures to have a simple means of communication so that they can share their cultures and knowledge with each other.
That is why I am learning Esperanto. One could learn French and learn a lot about French culture, but with Esperanto, you can learn about a lot of different cultures because its speakers are so diverse. I don't believe that one needs to be surrounded and depend on a language in everyday life for it to be worth learning. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| 1qaz2wsx Diglot Groupie Greece Joined 5377 days ago 98 posts - 124 votes Speaks: Greek*, EnglishC1 Studies: Russian, Albanian | Message 37 of 51 09 April 2010 at 7:47pm | IP Logged | |||||
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I have never studied esperanto but I would like to learn it someday.Because of the fact that it is a constructed language it is based on solid rules and I think learning it would teach me a lot about grammar in general and about how a language works. Edited by 1qaz2wsx on 09 April 2010 at 8:27pm 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Delodephius Bilingual Tetraglot Senior Member Yugoslavia Joined 5407 days ago 342 posts - 501 votes Speaks: Slovak*, Serbo-Croatian*, EnglishC1, Czech Studies: Russian, Japanese | Message 39 of 51 10 April 2010 at 12:51am | IP Logged | |||||
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I'll just say I don't like Esperanto. Besides being a Western European-like language (boring) and also written with the Latin alphabet (even more boring), it's also not enough of a challenge for me.
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 Iversen Super Polyglot Moderator Denmark berejst.dk Joined 6707 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 Personal Language Map | Message 40 of 51 10 April 2010 at 1:33pm | IP Logged | |||||
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The question is whether a culture must have a geographical area where it is the common means of communication. In that case people will use it for all sorts of dailyday things, not only for writing poetry or discussing vocabulary. Languages with such an area get a lot for free that the Esperantists have to fight for.
It is almost like the difference between learning a language in situ or through selfstudy far from a place where you can use the language. It isn't impossible, but just not something you get for free. For me the most important thing here is not whether there is poetry in Esperanto (I don't read it), but the internet community, and here first and foremost the Wikipedia in Esperanto - one of the real heavyweights in that field, counted on the number of articles! For others it might be Skype or chat. Personal encounters is also possible, especially for travellers, and there are conferences. The culture that can develop on these premisses ressembles more the different youth cultures or professional comunities, such as the international league of nuclear physicists. But that is also something worthwhile to work towards. The problem with some Esperantists is that their expectations are so astronomical that this totally blotches aout the real budding Esperanto culture. But you can't sell Esperanto on its rich culture right now. Sell it on the promise of that overnational community feeling, which clearly is the thing that has functioned best. I have been dabbling a bit in Esperanto myself (and dabbling can actually take you far with this language), but I don't yet feel as a member of the "Big Esperanto Community". But without it I couldn't find the excellent resources for learning it on the internet. Now I just need some interesting content. So, dear community, please start writing/Speaking in Esperanto about the rearing of goldfish or travelling or UFOs ... anything but becoming the dominant world language, which clearly won't happen. Edited by Iversen on 11 April 2010 at 5:37pm 3 persons have voted this message useful |
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