Esperanto: The Language You Weren't Supposed to Know Exists
Esperanto (n) a planned international language which has been taught and learned for over a century, but which has been beat down from schools by the Man.
Esperanto's purpose served to free learning from the inconsistencies of European languages, and subsequently had "language awareness effects, including awareness of linguistic inequality, linguistic structure, and the sociocultural functions of language." Through the results of experiments after WWI, Esperanto is also considered "modern Latin", a language for other languages to build upon that tied it all together. Studies in Manchester, England revealed that not only did learning Esperanto aid the process of learning other languages, learning one year of Esperanto was the equivalent of learning four years of French, and also had a positive, propadeutic effect on their knowledge of English. Similar results were found on a broad range of languages. Granted, there are various limitations that apply to these findings that apply to most scientific studies.
Esperanto is distinguishable from other languages through its small number of rules and morphemes which "allows students to freely employ both convergent and divergent forms of reasoning, and thereby stimulates linguistic confidence and creativity." The language is built to stress multilingual awareness.
It all sounds good, so why didn't/doesnt the language flourish?
Esperanto experiences the same prejudices as AAE and American Sign Language. Teachers also play down suggestions that it might lead students to question existing linguistic hierarchies, but this is exactly what the language is designed to do.
What do you think of Esperanto?
Have you heard of it before?
Should Esperanto be taught in schools?
Does the world, centuries later, still need an international language or has English taken this role, as the article suggests in its conclusion?
It is argued that the fact that Esperanto lacks a culture is a hindrance? Is it?
17 comments:
I beg to differ. Esperanto is indeed a flourishing language.
During a short period of 121 years Esperanto is now placed within the top 100 languages, out of 6,000 worldwide, according to the CIA factbook. It is the 17th most used language in Wikipedia, and in use by Skype, Firefox and Facebook. According to the CIA World factbook it is now within the top 100 languages, out of more than 6,000 worldwide.
Native Esperanto speakers, include George Soros, Nobel Laureate Daniel Bovet, Ulrich Brandenberg, the new German Ambassador to NATO, and World Champion Chess Player, Susan Polger.
Further arguments can be seen at http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8837438938991452670 and a glimpse of the language can be seen at http://www.lernu.net
I have never heard of Esperanto! This language sounds very interesting and educational. The thought of learning Esperanto being the same as learning 4 years of French is shocking. Why not teach it is school? I'm a little confused about that part. It doesn't bother me that the language lacks a culture. It kind of makes it more interesting and leaves the language up for grabs by not being assigned to just one group of people. As for an international language, I'm not quite sure I have an answer for that. I don't know much about different languages.
Wow! I have never heard of Esperanto before. I feel like may be behind in the academic world now. I am surprised to know that there is a language that is being pushed down by teachers. Why don’t we use this language to help students learn other languages faster? I found this article to be very interesting. I do not understand why we are not using this language. It promotes creativity and it has simple rules. I was really interested that one year of learning this language is compared to four years of French. I do not think that language needs a culture. However, I do feel that cultures are unique because they do have different languages. I think it would be interesting to learn some of this language. I would like to know more about it.
I've used Esperanto a lot on my travels, most recently in Cameroon. It is a practical easy-to-learn language. It's hard to know how many speakers it has, but a fair guess would be a couple of million.
A good place to start is www.esperanto.net
I'm amazed that Esperanto exsited and I had no idea. Not saying that I know every language, but one would think I would have heard it mentioned at some point. It seems like a very practical language to learn. I would have thought such a language would have been embraced considering the difficulty associated with learning a new language. I would think that this language would be more benefical to high school students than French or German, and if the student were to need one of these languages Esperanto would only make it easier.
Like many others, I have never head of Esperanto before. I was surprised to find out how popular this language is. The fact that this language has a smaller set of rules is something that I that would make it appealing for many to learn, especially those who are looking to learn another language. And according to the findings, makes learning other languages easier. However, I can see where the teachers discrimination is coming from. A language needs standard rules for the speakers to abide by. One that is too different from Standard English may confuse many students. I personally want to learn more about Esperanto after reading this article.
I, just like many other students, have not heard of Esperanto language. However it does evoke some thoughts into my head. There has to be some other problem or catch to learning this language because from what it sounds like, it could be the gateway to understanding almost every language in existence. It opens itself up to other language variations by encompassing such a small set of rules and stipulations to follow. The information also cites that the language makes comprehension of knowledge more efficient!
However, I do see the apparent drawbacks that teachers as well as others have in regards of this language's acceptance into our culture. A language must be accepted universally in order to be taught in the classroom, such as English.
I have never heard of Esperanto, but I am intrigued after reading about it. The idea of a universal language is thrilling, and provokes thoughts of why hadn't this been thought of sooner? A universal language would connect people, and allow for better communication and understanding of each other's culture. It might also rid many of us with thoughts of ethnocentrism, feeling like our language is superior to others just because WE speak it.
What I found most amazing was the research done in England. Scientists found that one year learning Esperanto could be the equivalent of four years learning French. I would assume that governments would like to adopt this language and unite its people, unfortunately, that's just not the way the world works.
I also have never heard of Esperanto. The idea of it interests me very much. It was interesting to learn that learning Esperanto is equivalent to learning 4 years of French. I also do not understand why it is not taught in schools. It should not be said that it lacks culture, because culture is relevant in any language. It would be interesting to see if teaching this language would help learn other languages. I see this language as a very creative one, and it's rules do not seem that difficult. I would like to learn more about Esperanto, because I feel it has a lot to offer and others can benefit from it.
Society, or those of the best interest of the government, tend to set restrictions on what we as citizens have access to. This confounds me on a regular basis. Esperanto, a language that I have yet to learn before this blog, has been restricted by teachers. The summary mentions that the purpose of Esperanto language was to suppress linguistic inequality. It doesn't suprise me that teachers along with other administrators have been hindering people/students from learning this language. English, agreeing with the summary, has or will take the role of becoming the official national language. Is this fair? Well, the answer to this question will vary amongst cultures. When will the public arena adapt to the notion that DIVERSITY HAS ARISEN?! There's nothing wrong with different. Besides one year of learning Esperanto versus four years of learning French is the best deal yet! lol
I have never heard of Esperanto. It seems that it would be an interesting language to learn. I also found the article to be very interesting, too. The idea of a universal language is so interesting to think about for the future.
I have never heard of Esperanto. It is interesting that learning one year of Esperanto is the equivalence to learning four years of French. I do not understand why this is not taught in schools. In my opinion, it all goes back to America thinking we are always right. Consequently, we use different forms of measurement than the rest of the world and we do not teach a language that could link other languages together. This would open the doors for us to be able to communicate with people of different languages easier. I think it would be good to have Esperanto as the International language. Should English be considered so we would not have to learn another language, but others would have to learn English. I do not believe Esperanto should be put in the same category as AAE, but I can see how it is compared to American Sign Language. I really like the idea of teaching Esperanto.
This was very interesting to read. I'd never heard of Esperanto. I think it's fascinating how quick it is to learn compared to other languages. After learning that this language is very simple to use I would think that it would be beneficial to have it taught by teachers in school. By learning this language it would give the students a broader knowledge when it comes to learning more difficult languages in the future. I don't think a language necessarily needs to have a language. In a way, a language already is a culture in itself.
I have never heard of the language Esperanto. I must admit, the name is very catchy and from that along I was interested in knowing what it was. As far as having the language taught in schools, I would have to ask, Is it beneficial to students? I am all for anything that will ensure an increase in language and education. Also, I would hope it is a language that will be taking serious and that students would actually utilize. I know of many students, myself included, who has learned a language and never did anything with it.
Before reading this article, I had never heard of Esperanto. It sounds interesting. I think that further research needs to be done to determine the ways in which it could help students. Unless it is implemented across the country, it may be a detriment to students. American culture is very different from the culture in Manchester, England. Students in England are already more likely to learn a foreign language than American students are. It is possible that a study in America could produce results that are very different from the ones found in England. I am not totally opposed to this idea; it seems like a good one. I am just not completely convinced by one article. I think an international language would be nice, but it is not a realistic hope. If we can’t stop nations from waging war with each other, we are definitely not going to get them agree on a common language.
Thank you for indicating this article. I am going to learn this language. The faculty and student population at my math and science academy included several Esperanto speakers, but I never looked into the language. Now that I have learned more about linguistic diversity and become a writer, I consider the concept of a non-proprietary language with the paramount of interest. Brian Barker's mention of its use on web projects like Wikipedia and Firefox attest to its utter relevance in today's world. For-profit, ownership oriented, exclusive systems dominate our government, education, employment, and leisure (some examples are the Federal Reserve, USDA, FDA, Microsoft, and Hollywood and its narrative form) and I find that fact both ridiculous and scary. Firstly, the idea that anyone can own and control our thoughts before we even think them makes no sense-- where did the first original thought come from-- and that widely-accepted concept leads to the stripping of our human right to protect ourselves and make our own decisions. Even more laughable, politicians, financiers, corporate and religious leaders all appear to believe that a small group of them can create something or make a decision with no input from most of those who will use or be affected by it. On the contrary, user-regulated Wikipedia articles, for example, have tested at significantly higher levels of accuracy than most other online encyclopedias, such as Britannica, and range much farther in scope.
Like most things we employ and consume, language has the remarkable property of constant change; therefore, no one can own it or control its understandability. Esperanto removes the last archaic barrier upon it, as speakers choose consciously to learn it, and educate themselves. No one demeans or starves them into learning it, as colonial powers have done with English, French, and Spanish.
Yet another post from my soapbox, hmm.
I've never heard of Esperanto. It seems like a good idea, seeing as how it is easy for people to learn and can be used to make communication easier. It is certainly an interesting language I just don't think I want to learn it because even if it is the easiest it still looks fairly intimidating!
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