Jxenja_A:
- Why did you learn / are learning Esperanto (i.e., what motivated you to learn the language)

I was randomly googling about a language for interfacing with computers and stumbled upon Lojban, which seemed very interesting at the time, and I started to read their introductory material. They referenced Esperanto somewhere in their FAQ or something, and that led me to read up on Esperanto. Its similarity to Spanish was a bonus (I took many years in school), and the philosophy was right up my alley.

I decided then that I would likely get a lot more use out of Esperanto than I would Spanish, and I do not regret that decision now (about 4-5 years later). Esperanto was far easier to learn than Spanish, and it is far easier to maintain the knowledge. I have conversations with people from all over the world on interesting subjects, and I can think in a language that is not English (never happened after 10+ years of Spanish in school). I am also a programmer, and this language just makes sense to our kind, I guess (I'd guess that the number of programmers is second only to linguists on Lernu). It makes some sense, since we learn many made-up languages as part of our trade.

Jxenja_A:
- Why do you participate in Lernu.net (i.e., what does the participation in the community of Lernu.net give you personally)

I became active in the forums to force myself to use the language initially, but now it is a good way to keep up my abilities. After a while I'd say I developed a bit of a sense of community with some of the other regulars. If there is a Lernu table at a congress it is the first place I'd go to. Lernu is my point of contact to the Esperanto community at the moment, since the Midwest US is quite devoid of Esperantists at this time.

Alkanadi:

Jxenja_A:

Alkanadi:

I don't think so

You mean, you don't think there exists a sense of belonging?

I don't think there is a sense of belonging on Lernu specifically. When I think of Esperanto, I think of a very large diverse community that is trying to bridge huge socials gaps. Lernu is a means to such an ends. But, I don't feel that there is a sense of belonging to the site itself. There is an Esperanto community but I don't feel that there is a Lernu community. Just my feelings.

That is truly very insightful, thanks for sharing your feelings! Do you personally feel you have a sense of belonging to a larger Esperanto community, that is, outside of Lernu.net?

Jxenja_A:Thank you all for your responses! Do you feel that there exists such a thing as Lernu community, with a sense of belonging (that is, not just the Esperanto community in general, but a community of users of Lernu.net)? If so, what makes it a community and not just a group of people using the website?

I think there is a Lernu community, but not in the sense of having a unifying vision or sense of strong relationships with an "in group" and "out group". It's a community in the way downtown is a community - a place to go where you know people will be; some you might know, others you might not. You can lurk, or argue, or pitch an idea, or tell a joke...it's one of the few Esperanto language sites with a large enough "community" to pretty much guarantee there will be something interesting and new each day, and if that's not enough there's a Tujmesaĝilo for immediate communication. I probably use Lernu most frequently for the Vortaro, but I like checking in on the forums too. I hope that in its new incarnation the Library will bulk up and perhaps provide some opportunities for discussion around the content there, or even addition of new or remixed content.

Jxenja_A:That is truly very insightful, thanks for sharing your feelings! Do you personally feel you have a sense of belonging to a larger Esperanto community, that is, outside of Lernu.net?

Maybe a little bit. I feel loosely connected to the Esperanto community. I feel that if I ever met another Esperanto speaker, we would get along.

Even though the passporta servo isn't active anymore, it is interesting that people would share their home with you just because you speak Esperanto. In general, it seems like there is a larger Esperanto community because people want to practice speaking with each other. The desire to communicate in Esperanto is what connects this 'community'.

"A community is a social unit of any size that shares common values. Although embodied or face-to-face communities are usually small, larger or more extended communities such as a national community, international community and virtual community are also studied." - Wikipedia

The values that most Esperantists have in common are a desire for self-improvement and a desire to bring people closer together. In this way, I see that Esperanto is a community. But, I have only been exposed to it for 6 months.

Maybe, there are two parts.
Part A - Language learners
Part B - Those who are part of what is called the "Esperanto movement"

The Esperanto movement is definitely a community. They even have a label for defectors, which is Kabo if I remember correctly.

Alkanadi:

Jxenja_A:That is truly very insightful, thanks for sharing your feelings! Do you personally feel you have a sense of belonging to a larger Esperanto community, that is, outside of Lernu.net?

Maybe a little bit. I feel loosely connected to the Esperanto community. I feel that if I ever met another Esperanto speaker, we would get along.

That's the feeling that many beginners have. But if you can't get along with some person, a common language won't change that. Not even Esperanto.

The values that most Esperantists have in common are a desire for self-improvement and a desire to bring people closer together. In this way, I see that Esperanto is a community. But, I have only been exposed to it for 6 months.

Maybe, there are two parts.
Part A - Language learners
Part B - Those who are part of what is called the "Esperanto movement"

It's far more complex.

I heard the expression "nia popolo" refering to the Esperanto movement, implying that the Esperanto movement is a people or an ethnos. This expression has more truth than one might think. The common language Esperanto is something that connects two Esperanto speakers and also distingushes them from the rest of the world. But that does not at all mean, that they are similar in their points of view or ways of thinking. Not even in their way of using Esperanto or in their oppinion about how Esperanto is to be used or what Esperanto should be.

To me it's more that there are several communities under the umbrella of Esperanto. In German I use the term "Szene" for that. It means a group, that is somehow loosely connected but does not share ideas and ideals and values like a real community would do.

The desire to communicate in Esperanto is what connects this 'community'.

Yes

The common language Esperanto is something that connects two Esperanto speakers and also distinguishes them from the rest of the world. But that does not at all mean, that they are similar in their points of view or ways of thinking. Not even in their way of using Esperanto or in their opinion about how Esperanto is to be used or what Esperanto should be

True

Jxenja_A:- Why did you learn / are learning Esperanto (i.e., what motivated you to learn the language)
- Why do you participate in Lernu.net (i.e., what does the participation in the community of Lernu.net give you personally)

I found a copy of Teach yourself Esperanto in an Oxfam bookshop at the end of 2003 and was attracted by the idea of a regularised, easy-to-learn international language. I was attracted to the website lernu! the following year, partly by the offer of free learning resources. I'm not now as active as I used to be (that could yet change), but my participation was, I think, the result of the enthusiasm of any hobbyist, having acquired some skill and experience. The historical idealism of the movement probably played a part. I'm still attracted by the idea of being able to communicate with people from all over the world, where we don't have any other language in common.

Jxenja_A:
Why did you learn / are learning Esperanto (i.e., what motivated you to learn the language)

I had heard about Esperanto a long time ago but never gave it much thought since I had never heard of someone able to speak it. I started getting more interested when I met someone who could speak it and I asked plenty of questions about it but what really pushed me to actually start learning was from Benny Lewis who suggested that learning Esperanto as your first second-language could help when learning other languages. I've always been fascinated with language but have never really gotten anywhere when it comes to speaking/comprehension. I started learning Esperanto for this reason but the more I study the more hooked I get on Esperanto. After only a few weeks of studying I feel more comfortable than I ever was after years of studying Spanish. At this point I'm content enough learning Esperanto and don't need to use it as an excuse to learn another language.

Jxenja_A:
Why do you participate in Lernu.net (i.e., what does the participation in the community of Lernu.net give you personally)

The first person I met who spoke Esperanto pointed me in the direction of Lernu.net. It was on a forum of another topic that I enjoy and the description was "it's like this forum except about Esperanto". So I checked it out and log on daily to keep up to date on what's happening at Lernu. I think the biggest thing participation on this website gives me is motivation to keep at it. Languages require a lot of time to learn regardless of language. There isn't a big Esperanto speaking population in my area so it's the best way to hear from other learners and people who are fluent.

sudanglo:

The common language Esperanto is something that connects two Esperanto speakers and also distinguishes them from the rest of the world. But that does not at all mean, that they are similar in their points of view or ways of thinking. Not even in their way of using Esperanto or in their opinion about how Esperanto is to be used or what Esperanto should be

True

True, but just as true about the "American people", "Chinese people" or "British people". The "Esperanto people" are in some ways more linked, in a philosophical sense, to other Esperantists than Americans are to other Americans, but in other ways, such as cultural heritage/etc., we are more diverse. I like to think that, at a certain level of education/enlightenment we all end up sharing more in common than not, even when our popular cultures differ greatly.

Jxenja_A:Why did you learn / are learning Esperanto (i.e., what motivated you to learn the language)

With each language I have studied so far, I was given new surprises. Some of them were (without any particular order): Adjectives can mark tense (japanese). Three parts of speech are plenty (arabic). There are different morphosyntactic alignments (q'eqchi' ). So this is an aspect (russian) and this is an Aorist (greek). Etc, etc.

When I read J.R.R. Tolkien, I was fascinated by Quenya and Sindarin.

Having seen so many different features in many different languages, I wondered what would a really international language look like. So I studied Esperanto. Then came the big disappointment: Esperanto is just another Indoeuropean language and not at all international by design. Nothing special or innovative about it, although the fact that it is constructed would have given a chance to be innovative.

Jxenja_A:Why do you participate in Lernu.net (i.e., what does the participation in the community of Lernu.net give you personally)

It gives me the frequent surprise that at the end of the first page of a viewpoint thread I already think: Well, this escalated quickly.