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Thoughts on Esperanto? | ||
Tags: Esperanto | ||
 Language Learning Forum : Esperanto |  | |
| ellasevia Super Polyglot Winner TAC 2011 Senior Member Germany Joined 6146 days ago 2150 posts - 3229 votes  Speaks: English*, German, Croatian, Greek, French, Spanish, Russian, Swedish, Portuguese, Turkish, Italian Studies: Catalan, Persian, Mandarin, Japanese, Romanian, Ukrainian | Message 17 of 34 13 June 2010 at 7:36am | IP Logged | ||
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Hm... The opinions about Esperanto of different people and even within a single person seem to be greatly varied...
I myself learned it (which is to say that I can now read and write; I'm not sure about speaking and especially listening) because I wanted to learn a constructed language of some sort and it is the most important. I also became interested in its structure, which is indeed very fascinating. It's of course also very easy, so it's not like it would have been SUCH a huge waste of time if I didn't end up liking it or something. Personally, I like the idea of constructing languages and I find its makeup interesting, but I really dislike the sound of the language. It just sounds very wrong to my ears--almost like a failed attempt at trying to pronounce Italian or Spanish, which I really can't stand. I don't know, maybe I just need to hear someone speak it really nicely and it will sound better...
Here are some good one's that I've found and used: http://esperanto-panorama.net/vortaro/eoen.htm http://en.lernu.net/helpo/vortaroj.php http://www.xs4all.nl/~pilger/brenttl3.htm http://remush.be/tezauro/Kontakto.html 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Captain Haddock Diglot Senior Member Japan kanjicabinet.tumblr. Joined 6772 days ago 2282 posts - 2814 votes Speaks: English*, Japanese Studies: French, Korean, Ancient Greek | Message 18 of 34 13 June 2010 at 8:00am | IP Logged | ||
I don't see how Esperanto speakers could share the thousands of elements in common that make up a culture and a society, since they're scattered here and there all over the world. Even Yiddish speakers form close-knit societies in the cities where they live. Find me the Esperanto quarter in London, or tell me what an Esperanto speaker typically has for breakfast. 4 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| mrhenrik Triglot Moderator Norway Joined 6083 days ago 482 posts - 658 votes Speaks: Norwegian*, English, French Personal Language Map | Message 19 of 34 13 June 2010 at 12:25pm | IP Logged | ||
How about the internet? ;p And please, let's not start the Esperanto culture discussion again, it became painfully obvious last time that everyone has their own definition of that word. 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| John Smith Bilingual Triglot Senior Member Australia Joined 6046 days ago 396 posts - 542 votes Speaks: English*, Czech*, Spanish Studies: German | Message 20 of 34 13 June 2010 at 1:53pm | IP Logged | ||
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I don't like Esperanto because I feel as though it belongs to the person who created it. Learning it makes me feel like a wannabe. Real languages are rich because millions of people created them. Thousands of minds shaped them. Esperanto is the creation of one person. One mind.
Natural languages are like singers who try to develop their own unique style. They are inspired by many other artists. Esperanto on the other hand is like a singer who has decided to immitate/copy one famous artist. I can't think of a better analogy. Edited by John Smith on 13 June 2010 at 1:54pm 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| RedBeard Senior Member United States atariage.com Joined 6106 days ago 126 posts - 182 votes Speaks: Ancient Greek* Studies: French, German | Message 21 of 34 13 June 2010 at 7:57pm | IP Logged | ||
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The initial draw for me was learning a language quickly. I wanted to prove to myself that I could (finally!) speak another language. After failed attempts at Japanese and French (and Italian and ...) I just want to finally learn a foreign tongue.
Secondarily, I found that I liked the very idea of an International Language. Usable by any people, belonging to noone in particular, I can dig all that. The fact that Esperanto is the only con-lang to gain any numbers sealed the deal. Interlingua also interested me, but Esperanto has vastly more speakers, plus the "Passporto" travelling program, all that is very hep. I can dig it. The "politics" of Esperanto are another matter. For those extremists who believe that, "if just all spoke the same language, the world would be at peace," I have no patience. I think to myself, "Yeah, and the sky will rain magical gumdrops and we will ride our unicorns to work." [Wait...does WORK exist in that world? :-b ] Regarding the sounds of Esperanto, I like it OK. Not as wonderful as some, not as bad as others. Just OK. [As an aside, there are some differences - the Chinese speakers sound a bit different than the Polish speakers for example.] Alas, to finish the story, I still don't know Esperanto well because I let my studies lapse! What?! That doesn't sound like me! Oh, wait. Yes it does. X-b 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| dmaddock1 Senior Member United States Joined 5437 days ago 174 posts - 426 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Italian, Esperanto, Latin, Ancient Greek | Message 22 of 34 15 June 2010 at 10:56pm | IP Logged | ||
datsunking1, if you prefer the physical, paper variety, I just bought JC Well's dictionary and really like it. Except, I wish I hadn't cheaped out with the paperback and bought the hardback version instead. Regarding Eo itself (since I can't seem to stop myself from posting to yet another pointless Eo thread), I've really enjoyed learning about the quite rich literary tradition in the language. In about 40 hours of study I am already able to comfortably read original literature, considered "classic", in the language--all without caring one mite about world peace. I seriously doubt that could be achieved in Ukrainian or any other less common natural language. For me, its best aspect is the low "price of admission" to access a rather substantial body of literature that is basically unavailable in English translation. I like how the agglutinative aspect of the language allows you to make very interesting, but concise, turns of phrase. Occasionally, I find the extensive affixing jarring, especially mal- (denoting opposites). My brain does not want to think of "open" (malferma) in terms of "closed" (ferma) and thinking "not closed" of course has a different nuance to it. On the whole though, this allows some rather slick wording when I compare Esperanto I've read to how I would translate it into English. After doing some of my own research rather than uncritically accepting uninformed opinions spouted in this forum, the "hate the politics" complaint sounds to me like refusing to learn Russian because you hate communism. There is more to Esperanto than world peace. It may or may not be a good fit for you, but find out for yourself firsthand. However, if you don't care about world peace nor literature... ;-) Regarding the sound, as with anything the quality of the speaker's voice makes a huge difference. Aaron Chapman's (from Radio Verda) recording of Baghy's poem Al kavaliroj de la paco sounds quite lovely to me. d. 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| ellasevia Super Polyglot Winner TAC 2011 Senior Member Germany Joined 6146 days ago 2150 posts - 3229 votes Speaks: English*, German, Croatian, Greek, French, Spanish, Russian, Swedish, Portuguese, Turkish, Italian Studies: Catalan, Persian, Mandarin, Japanese, Romanian, Ukrainian | Message 23 of 34 15 June 2010 at 11:15pm | IP Logged | ||
Yes, that does sound very nice. It's astonishing how much a person's voice can influence one's opinion of the sound of the language. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| GREGORG4000 Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5527 days ago 307 posts - 479 votes Speaks: English*, Finnish Studies: Japanese, Korean, Amharic, French | Message 24 of 34 16 June 2010 at 2:30am | IP Logged | ||
Er, it's just that politics is embedded into the community; not all Esperantists partake in it, most likely the majority don't, but I dislike having a general political swerve in things I study. Communist politics aren't born from the Russian language, but Esperantist politics are directly involved with the language so much, and it's such a pain seeing the greater half of Esperantist websites talking about UNESCO, the U.N., making it a school subject, etc. You may see writing about the Soviet Union in Russian books, and about the Democratic People's Republic in Korean books, but they aren't petitioning you to get involved, it's just background information. I hope that you can see my trouble here and not call me a spouting machine of ignorance or uninformedosity because of this... Edited by GREGORG4000 on 16 June 2010 at 2:35am 2 persons have voted this message useful |
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