Moosader:
So, similarly, how many of you talk about Esperanto to other people you know (online/off), and how many of you talk about the ideals like:

Moosader:Common second language

Sometimes

Moosader:making it THE universal language

Never! But international, yes.

Moosader: about peace

Never!

Ĝis, Novatago.

I rarely talk about Esperanto to others and I never talk about peace or universality. I mention it as a way to make friends by meeting people on equal linguistic ground, and a way to travel to cool places and meet cool people.

....but if this thread is going to turn into "things that we talk to people about regarding Esperanto", a new thread should preferably be started, since the topic of this thread is whether Esperanto would be considered conceited.

I find a lot of Europeans using ENGLISH in a sort of conceited sort of way. They throw in English words and phrases when they don't really understand (or can correctly pronounce) what they are saying or when there is already a word or expression in their language that fits perfectly. Deutsche Welle is one of the biggest sinners here. Uff! Everthing is a "highlight" or "mainstream" even when it is fully out of context - they sometimes use "highlight" like in German "Das war der Hoehepunkt!" meaning that was the "utmost insulting thing". To me they are just showoffs since they could use perfectly normal German. I have never heard anyone use Esperanto that way but I am sure that they will if ever millions of people pick up our language.

erinja:I rarely talk about Esperanto to others and I never talk about peace or universality. I mention it as a way to make friends by meeting people on equal linguistic ground, and a way to travel to cool places and meet cool people.

....but if this thread is going to turn into "things that we talk to people about regarding Esperanto", a new thread should preferably be started, since the topic of this thread is whether Esperanto would be considered conceited.

It was slightly on topic, since I was thinking that people might get that conception if we're all going around talking about how it's the chosen language and whatnot. I mainly just got that idea from this interview with a native speaker.

Anyway, thanks for the insight

Moosader:[…] I mainly just got that idea from this interview with a native speaker. […]

I had often noticed that (and wondered why) “native Esperantists” often stop using Esperanto once grown-up. This article gives me a lot of insight into the “why”. In this case the author's parents were too enthusiastic, and their very enthusiasm was a cause of failure. After being “force-fed” Esperanto the way he was, there was a high risk that an adolescence crisis would throw it all away. I know other families where Esperanto is the house language, because that's the language Mom and Dad are most easy with for talking to each other; but in some such families one parent talks Esperanto with the children and the other the language of the surrounding country; in at least one such family (Danish-Belgian living in Belgium) everyone in the family talks Esperanto before lunch and Dutch afterwards (or is it the other way round?): that's maybe a little weird but it works. And yes: there is quite some weirdness in Esperanto-land: to try Esperanto you mustn't be afraid of trying a different language than everyone's, so Esperantists are often nonconformists in other ways too: they do what suits them and doesn't hurt others, regardless of whether it's what everyone does.

But let's go back to our muttons: Are Esperantists conceited? I don't think so. In the case of the guy who wanted to bang two people's heads together just because they were fluently speaking a language in which they were comfortable (but which he didn't understand, and which happened to be Esperanto) rather than talking haltingly in the language of the overhearer (and of the surroundings), he was conceited, not they. Let's reverse the situation: when a U.S. couple goes to Paris (maybe because they want to climb the Eiffel tower, or she wants to see the latest fashion in dresses, or whatever), do they suddenly speak French to each other? And if they don't, is that being conceited? In fact, if they did, I would call it snobbery.

Or maybe the guy calls conceitedness the belief (and a true-to-fact belief, to boot) that it is possible to talk fluently in Esperanto about every single damn subject, with just as much fluency and precision as in any “ethnic” language. In that case, maybe he should revise his preconceptions about language.

Rather than conceited, what some Esperantists (not all of them, but the most visible ones) indeed are is enthusiastic: they've found a language which suits them better for international relations than they'd ever dreamt before could even exist, and they want everyone to share that exaltation. That enthusiasm can lead to some excesses (as IMHO in the case of the article author's parents) but I wouldn't call it conceited.

I don't try to sign people up, but if I'm asked if I speak any other languages I will freely admit I speak Esperanto.

When people ask me why I learned it, I tell them the truth. I wanted to know what it's like to be bilingual. I'd already tried German and French, and really gotten nowhere with them, so I decided to try the easiest language I could find. And that was Esperanto. And by choosing Esperanto, I achieved my goal.

People don't seem to have a problem with that explanation. I completely sidestep any of the more idealistic aspects of the language (which, honestly, to my mind would be great to achieve and all, but aren't really my primary concern; I'm pretty solidly a Raŭmist), and, when asked about it, try to present Esperanto in as "positively neutral" a tone as possible.

The idealism that some imbue Esperanto with is a turn-off for probably more people than it attracts, so I tend to steer completely clear of it. If I do mention it, it's usually only in a historical context.

Moosader:

efilzeo:
When these situations happen I immediately start to talk about the economic aspect of it and immediately they turn "oh, maybe isn't that bad".

Ooh, can you talk a little bit about the economic aspect of Esperanto? I haven't though of that at all.

You may like to take a look of the Esperanto Commerce International page.

Besides, Indonesia is making Esperanto as a subject for the young diplomats, the only one, I suppose in the world, unless others keep silence in this as not announce by the government like Indonesia.