Gosudar:With regards to Esperanto helping you learn other languages...

But that's true. I myself started with Esperanto. Now I can speak English, German....

Gosudar: I am not, however, very sympathetic to the idea of promoting Esperanto as a means to something else. Esperanto is the most important language you can learn. For its own sake. Period.

I agree that Esperanto is worth learning for its own sake. But I think that the strategy of teaching it as a means to something else is clever. It might help some people get to know Esperanto enough to see it as worthwhile for its own sake.

Sometimes we dress up ordinary foods in fun colors or shapes to get children to eat them. The goal is eventually that children will eat their vegetables for their own sake, because they are healthy and they taste good. But until children reach that level of maturity - maybe we put a cartoon character on the package of carrots to help push them along!

i2Bwitchy:Also, any tips or advice on the quickest method for learning that worked for you?

The best place to find tips and advice on learning languages is the website and the YouTube channel of the polyglot, Alexander Arguelles. Professor Arguelles has studied 120 languages and speaks fifty. The fact that a person who has spent his whole life studying languages and who just might be the world's top expert on how to study languages has been able to learn only one of those languages, Korean, to a level of native fluency is a rather telling indication of how really difficult it is to learn a language.

Of the learning techniques he suggests, the two strangest, and the two most helpful, are what he calls "shadowing" and "scriptorium". "Shadowing" is a way to learn good pronunciation and correct intonation by modelling recordings of the spoken language. For that you need a portable audio device and a download. Suitable downloads are available right here at Lernu! Just click "Learning" at the top of the page.

"Scriptorium" is a method for instilling a knowledge of grammar and spelling by paying very close attention to details. For this, using a website is not very convenient. You are better off with a printed text. May I suggest Karlo by Edmond Privat, availlable as a free ebook from Project Gutenberg. Download it, print it off on your computer's printer, and then copy the thing out by hand exactly in the way that Arguelles prescribes.

Learning languages is a lot of work. As the philosoper Bernard Lonergan said: "To learn thoroughly is a vast undertaking that calls for relentless perseverance."

i've been learning for two years, and i'm able to converse fluently over the telephone with long-time esperantists in the U.S. without needing a dictionary. that is not to say that i am not still learning though. assuming i remain an esperantist my whole life, and that i live a long life, it would be fair to say that i am still "one who is beginning" to speak esperanto.

Another note - it is rare to reach a real fluency just at home. But you would be astonished at how quickly you will progress if you can get yourself to an Esperanto event with an immersion environment. With a foundation in grammar and vocabulary, a week or even a weekend of Esperanto immersion will be a huge boost to your fluency (especially if you're the kind of person who is willing to talk to lots of people without being too shy about making mistakes).

erinja:Another note - it is rare to reach a real fluency just at home. But you would be astonished at how quickly you will progress if you can get yourself to an Esperanto event with an immersion environment. With a foundation in grammar and vocabulary, a week or even a weekend of Esperanto immersion will be a huge boost to your fluency (especially if you're the kind of person who is willing to talk to lots of people without being too shy about making mistakes).

hm, i dunno. it's very difficult for me to get to an Esperanto event because there just aren't very many around here, and because i don't have a lot of money... but i've achieved a working fluency at least when talking on the phone, Google Hangouts, etc. maybe that's because i put a lot of work into it. it's certainly possible, but you obviously can't just do it via text, and languages are obviously much more fun, useful and fulfilling when you speak them face-to-face.

i wish there were more Esperanto events in ohio (or Esperantists). there is one very well-known Esperantist here, but i don't know anyone who knows how to get ahold of him, which doesn't really surprise me... i'd imagine he'd get pestered a lot. i recently spoke on the phone to an older Esperantist from Cincinnati, initially introducing myself as a "komencanto"... but he told me i'm a "progresinto" and that he was impressed by my accent and general level of fluency. i hate the term "progresinto" though, because it implies there's no more work to be done. i much prefer "progresanto."

when i have more money, i'd love to travel for a LK, maybe even one day a UK, but right now actually getting that kind of money is more of a priority than Esperanto.

Don't use this site alone but, use it more than any other I suggest after you finish you first course here trying livemocha.com and continue to use this site for posting. After you finished it return here and do an intermediate course you will be ready. I'm currently reading Jen nia IJK and even though I'm not fluent I fill it coming as I am reading more and learning more vocabulary each lesson and I review each lesson before I go on to make sure I know the vocabulary. Next I plan to read "Gerda Malapris". As an experienced learner I find that learning the basics up to a certain point then reading or speaking as often as you can works best. If you can get a penpal get one if you can't post in esperanto to this site and others which people understand the language it helps. If you don't have access to a speaker practice by your self to try to see how much you can tell yourself in esperanto sounds stupid but, I did'nt learn French by Just studying and not speaking! As we say in French Il faut practiquer- One must practice. Even if its alone by yourself. And if you know French, Spanish or Italian it will help you beable to move faster than others because Esperanto is based largely on Latinaj Lingvoj vortoj kaj gramatiko. In otMher words Its based largely on Romance languages in Words and Grammar which makes learning esperanto even more fun to learn when you have a base. And Esperanto knowledge helps with other languages amazingly after learning esperanto American sign language seems easy and more learnable. Most important is don't give up! If your going to give up its best not to start. And heres a good practice pick a post any post try to translate it in esperanto post it and ask someone to edit it and then pick a post of a long time esperantist and try to translate it into English. If you can't don't worry about it. Its just practice and it will help you learn use a dictionary not worrying about Grammar a truely fluent esperantist will correct it if you ask him/her to. And you read there corrections and you will learn for a begginer translating will seem impossible but, remember the dictionary.

Oh, a comment to what someone said
I believe even a fluent linguist is still a learner. Learning a language is a lifetime commitment.

brw1:Oh, a comment to what someone said
I believe even a fluent linguist is still a learner. Learning a language is a lifetime commitment.

i'm still learning english, and english is my native language!

I am getting very frustrated with the Rezulto de lingvoekzameno, nivelo A (baza)!
I have taken this test 4 times and it seem I ALWAYS miss too many then I have to wait SEVEN days to try again! this time i got bitten by these:

4. Personaj pronomoj
mi estas malsataj!
Nekorekte (Devus esti "Ni/Vi/Ili)
Ankaŭ mia edzo venos. Mi venos ĝustatempe, sed mi iom malfruos.
Nekorekte (Devus esti "li)
Mi havas tranĉilon, sed mi ne scias kie li estas nun.
Nekorekte (Devus esti "ĝi)

I am trying to give myself a sense of progress but i am feeling like an idiot!

anyone else have this tuff a time?