noelekim:

captainzhang:

Now I am curious how many great science and philosophy works are translated into Esperanto, some authors that come to mind are Newton, Descartes, Aristotle, and Plato.

Have a browse through the online catalog of Universala Esperanto-Asocio, starting here: katalogo.uea.org

Thanks, I quickly found some interesting things like Plato's apology and Descartes Discourse on the Method. I can see that when I reach the level that I'm able to start working through advanced reading materials that I'll have plenty to work with.

sudanglo:Curiously, what Esperanto needs to advance the language is not more translations of classic works of literature religion and philosophy - so much has already been achieved in this field.

A greater contribution to the usefulness of the language would come from translation of manuals and instruction leaflets for domestic appliances, electronic equipment etc and drivers handbooks for cars.

I don't think I've ever even thought about manuals and things of that nature before, of course, they are important as well.

I think something that would really boost interests in Esperanto would be if some really amazing mainstream bands wrote some of their music in Esperanto. For instance, they wrote perhaps half or most of their music in English or some other natural language to attract most of their fan base, then had some really great songs in Esperanto that would spark the interests of some of their fans.

Those fans would get some of their friends into the language, and their friends would get some of their friends into the language. This would all repeat and build on itself exponentially for other bands or mainstream people sparking interests in Esperanto.

I'm a musician (guitarist). I think that if I ever reach a comfortable level in Esperanto, then I will write some songs in it, to support it and stimulate interest in it.

sudanglo:Curiously, what Esperanto needs to advance the language is not more translations of classic works of literature religion and philosophy - so much has already been achieved in this field.

A greater contribution to the usefulness of the language would come from translation of manuals and instruction leaflets for domestic appliances, electronic equipment etc and drivers handbooks for cars.

For example:
Your vehicle's safety features. Head restraints can help protect you from whiplash and other injuries. The restraint should be positioned so that the back of the head rests against the centre of the restraint.

Try that on any experienced Esperantist you know.

Why? No one reads them even in their own languages.

Why? No one reads them even in their own languages.

Translation has always been a driver for the development of the language. Many new Esperanto words now comfortably established and recorded in our dictionaries first saw the light of day in published translations.

Esperanto just doesn't get used for shopping and everyday activities in the same way as the national languages, so you can't rely on spoken usage as a source for the myriad of semi-technical expressions known to the average speaker of a national language, and the growth in such terms in the national languages since the birth of Esperanto has been enormous. English is said to have added 500,000 new words since 1900.

Sometimes it is relatively simple to decide on the form of a needed new word because there is an obvious compound or international form. But often this is not the case.

Did you know that it took 20 years for Esperanto to settle on a stable translation for 'computer' (now komputilo, not komputero or komputoro; which involved re-defining the application of komputi).

Even today there is not a wholly established word for 'supermarket', though I expect the winner in the battle to be supervendejo confining supermarkto to the dustbin of history and reserving superbazaro for a shopping mall, and magazenego for a large department store.

Telegramo became quickly established (it's international) but mesaĝo is a relative newcomer.

So by translating 'whiplash', 'safety features' and 'head restraint' - expressions you won't find in Shakespeare, Dickens or the Bible - you are adding to the richness of the language.

PS of course if you just see learning Esperanto as some weirdo hobby like learning Klingon, it hardly matters how many cumbersome workarounds you are forced to use.