cannona:I would question the assertion that almost any language will do. I wonder if there aren't some languages that are easier than others for native speakers. For example, I consider myself reasonably educated and quite familiar with English, it being my native language. However, there are some grammatical constructions that still give me problems.

Think of how much time, effort and money could be saved on language instruction for native speakers if English was as simple and regular as Esperanto.

Aaron

This is absolutely the case. I don't know what bartlett22183 is talking about. Everything I've read on the topic states that there are absolutely some natural languages which are easier or harder for children in immersion settings. I'm hesitant to put forth specific examples of languages, as I don't have the source material at hand, but I know that there are languages which are difficult to spell (really an alphabet problem, not language problem), languages which are difficult to pronounce (I believe Czech falls under this category, as well as a Chinese language, there being sounds that children usually can't form until they're 8 or even older), and languages which are supposedly more difficult to learn grammatically (I want to say Magyar is an example of this, but don't quote me on it). Consider a child learning English, most of a child's grammatical errors are because they simplify the language -- they form grammatical rules that don't hold true. It absolutely would follow, then, that depending on the level of grammatical complexity/irregularity some languages are simply easier or harder to learn.

There is a forum member who is currently experimenting with some of the things you mentioned in a language called Angos. http://angoslanguage.wikispaces.com/

Kove Angos? - What is Angos?
Angos is a constructed universal language created in 2011. It is an a posteriori language, meaning the majority of the vocabulary is borrowed from existing languages. Angos is completely phonetic and regular, and there are no verb forms or noun cases to memorize. A special feature is the distinction between natural and artificial qualities; in fact, the word Angos means "artificial language." The symbol of Angos is the North Star- the immutable figure of navigation among mariners of the ancient world.

The lexicon of Angos was designed to be international yet representative of each language's current influence and population; more words are used from larger languages like English, Arabic, and Japanese, compared to smaller languages such as Basque, Gaelic, or Navajo.

Angos vocabulary is influenced by:
English, Spanish, Chinese, Arabic, German, French, Hindi, Persian, Russian, Dutch, Swahili, Polish, Swedish, Portuguese, Korean, Danish, Japanese, Italian, Turkish, Finnish, Greek, Cherokee, Estonian, Czech, Malay, Hungarian, Basque, Gaelic, Hebrew, Navajo, Indonesian, Latin, Icelandic, Armenian, and more.

It looks pretty interesting, but for me it's finding time to fit it into my busy schedule. I think the best thing esperanto has going for it, is that it's popular. The reason why, isn't so important, but Esperanto is a quite a sound investment.

xdzt:

cannona:I would question the assertion that almost any language will do. I wonder if there aren't some languages that are easier than others for native speakers. For example, I consider myself reasonably educated and quite familiar with English, it being my native language. However, there are some grammatical constructions that still give me problems.

Think of how much time, effort and money could be saved on language instruction for native speakers if English was as simple and regular as Esperanto.

Aaron

This is absolutely the case. I don't know what bartlett22183 is talking about. Everything I've read on the topic states that there are absolutely some natural languages which are easier or harder for children in immersion settings. I'm hesitant to put forth specific examples of languages, as I don't have the source material at hand, but I know that there are languages which are difficult to spell (really an alphabet problem, not language problem), languages which are difficult to pronounce (I believe Czech falls under this category, as well as a Chinese language, there being sounds that children usually can't form until they're 8 or even older), and languages which are supposedly more difficult to learn grammatically (...)

Please note that I said "However, we tend to forget that, to some degree of approximation, all languages are about equally easy for all children in immersion environments." The magic words here are "to some degree of approximation" and "about." There may well be some languages which are not mastered by children until later ages than for those of children speaking other languages. That is not really the point. The point Mario Pei was making in his 1958 book, with which I agree, at least in principle, is that -- again, at least in principle -- the "world language problem" could be solved if there were just enough will among the peoples / governments of the world to settle on one language to be taught to the world's children.

Now, to be sure, in my opinion, this would be a daunting task. I suspect that there would be considerable social / political resistance to imposing some "natural" language by fiat. However, a conlang such as Esperanto might have a much, much easier path. Yes, there are adults, perhaps particularly speakers from some language families or from some individual language, who would have trouble with, say, Esperanto (I have some issues with it as an educated adult speaker of English), but for children, it would probably be adequate.

It has long been asserted -- and I agree -- in the auxlang community that the real issue for the acceptance of this or that conIAL, including Esperanto, is not this or that fine point of phonology, phonotactics, morphology, syntax, or whatever, but willingness to learn and use.

As all human languages around the globe are able to express our thoughts, they are equipotent and of the same complexity

Depends on whose thoughts are being expressed. That language without words for numbers would hardly be suitable for an irate Englishman's dispute with his accountant, or a shopkeeper who has given him the wrong change.

And I can imagine that there are quite a few jungle languages that would present some difficulties in expressing The French have moved the HD mux from channel 44 to channel 23 at the Boulogne transmitter in anticipation of the potential for co-channel interference when the Digital Switch Over is completed in the UK - a thought I had yesterday.

Forigite