Hi,

I haven't been to these forums in a while, mainly because my interest in Esperanto comes and goes. I once made it a New Year's resolution to learn the language, but it all came to naught. Like many times before, I learned then forgot basic grammar and vocabulary. I've come to the conclusion Esperanto isn't for me before, only to regain interest at a later date.

Has anyone out there faced a similar wavering of interest, and overcome it to really learn the language? I'm leaning toward a period of renewed interest in the language, but it always comes down to the simple practicality of learning Esperanto. I guess I'm wondering, how has Esperanto improved your life? Do the benefits of learning Esperanto outweigh my perception of impracticality? Any thoughts?

Sorry if this thread has been done before, and thanks in advance for your replies.

To me it sounds like you don't really have a strong reason to learn Esperanto. If you had true passion or a true desire you would've done anything to learn and practice it. Ask yourself whether you truly want to learn it and what you want to use it for. Perhaps your case is just a mere whim. If you don't really know why you're learning it don't waste your time and move on to learn more interesting and useful things to you. Motivation is key to learn anything. Those comings and goings of yours translate into hesitation and a lack of motivation.

VocabGuy:Hi,

I haven't been to these forums in a while, mainly because my interest in Esperanto comes and goes. I once made it a New Year's resolution to learn the language, but it all came to naught. Like many times before, I learned then forgot basic grammar and vocabulary. I've come to the conclusion Esperanto isn't for me before, only to regain interest at a later date.

Has anyone out there faced a similar wavering of interest, and overcome it to really learn the language? I'm leaning toward a period of renewed interest in the language, but it always comes down to the simple practicality of learning Esperanto. I guess I'm wondering, how has Esperanto improved your life? Do the benefits of learning Esperanto outweigh my perception of impracticality? Any thoughts?

Sorry if this thread has been done before, and thanks in advance for your replies.

Everybody comes to the Esperanto movement for his own reasons. The central key is communication: being able to exchange ideas with and understand others who speak/write in the language. There are a lot of E-o users who do not speak English (or if they do, their skills are limited). Esperanto is about the only language on earth that you can teach yourself out of a book or from a computer with a minimum of frustration from irregularities and unwieldy complexities--and then you can communicate as well. Look at the E-o forum discussions---people on the same thread from all KINDS of countries---you don't get that kind of a shared, international perspective anywhere outside of "Esperantujo".

Esperanto allows communication with others who WANT to communicate--that's an important factor. If you decided to learn Swedish or Greek, what are you going to do once you've studied it? Unless you're actually going to spend time there, you can't just walk up to a random stranger who is a Swede / Greek and have a conversation. But people learn E-o precisely because they DO want to communicate. We do it here. We do it by e-mail. We have our own literature, news, etc., all by and from people who took the time and went to the trouble to develop language skills and learn to use the language. It's sort of like joining this big, multi-faceted fraternity, of sorts--we're like a big club with our own private language--personally, I think that's kind of cool.

The "mental floss" aspect is also a powerful draw---once you get to a particular level, it's simply fun to figure out what someone means by the way they're sewing together word roots and affixes, and then to realize that the person who wrote it speaks some other language that you'd never have occasion to learn--or would spend YEARS learning to a level that would allow the communication you just had to take place.

I teach in an American high school, so I'm interested in schools. I learned about the pathetic situation in French high schools from what a teacher from France wrote in Esperanto. I learned another side of the Ukraine / Russia debate from an Esperantist who lives there. I learned first-hand about the mentality of radical Muslim extremists from an Esperantist who lives under one of those regimes. Recently, someone from Poland wrote and asked me about learning Spanish! I was able to direct him to a site where you could compare Spanish with Esperanto so he could get an overview. Are you getting the picture? NONE of those exchanges would have taken place if E-o had not been a factor.

Finally--and let's just be unabashedly real here--Esperantists tend to be colorful, talented, and intelligent people who are interesting to interact with. I realize that we're all different, and some people are not so pleasant (it does take all kinds)---however, on the whole, we're the kind of people who would sit down with a book or at a computer screen and teach ourselves a language--and that in itself says a lot about us.

Obviously, you're probably never going to hail a cab, order dinner, or ask directions in E-o. You're may travel and be able to interact with other Esperantists in other countries (people do it all the time), but admittedly, you're not going to be going to any "Esperanto-speaking" countries. But travel purposes are only a few of the reasons why someone chooses to develop language skills. Acquiring a foreign language DOES take a considerable amount of time and effort, and it's definitely a marathon as opposed to a sprint. There IS a learning curve, even with E-o, and you won't get there over night. Only you can decide if there is enough value to you to make it worth your while when you consider the potential value of factors such as the ones I've mentioned--but do keep in mind that even if you are simply a dabbler, you can still have fun in Esperantujo.

VocabGuy:Hi,

I haven't been to these forums in a while, mainly because my interest in Esperanto comes and goes. I once made it a New Year's resolution to learn the language, but it all came to naught. Like many times before, I learned then forgot basic grammar and vocabulary. I've come to the conclusion Esperanto isn't for me before, only to regain interest at a later date.

Has anyone out there faced a similar wavering of interest, and overcome it to really learn the language? I'm leaning toward a period of renewed interest in the language, but it always comes down to the simple practicality of learning Esperanto. I guess I'm wondering, how has Esperanto improved your life? Do the benefits of learning Esperanto outweigh my perception of impracticality? Any thoughts?

Sorry if this thread has been done before, and thanks in advance for your replies.

I think everybody out there who ever takes a shining to anything goes through phases of greater and lesser interest. Go at it when you feel like it, don't sweat it when you don't.

Here's what I can tell you:

I like studying languages. I enjoy learning about languages. I enjoy using them. I never considered Esperanto because it ain't natural and didn't seem to have anything to lend to my studies. One evening a decade and some ago while sat bored to tears at mother's house, I picked up the John Cresswell & John Hartley Esperanto 'Teach Yourself' book. It had been on her book shelf since before I was born.. she did a few weeks course at a community college or something and never touched it again.

I picked it up to pass the time and in less time found myself intrigued with the logic of the language. I was very surprised by how well it was put together. Curious enough, I asked to borrow the book. She said keep the stupid thing. In a week I found I could understand a good bit and began speaking online with people.. Lernu was not yet around, but there were lists where you could find others. I also found online bookshops and have become very fond of reading Esperanto books.

As it turns out I've left and returned over and over, only to realize that of all the languages I've bothered to bother myself with, it is by far Esperanto that I use the most after my native tongue.

VocabGuy:I guess I'm wondering, how has Esperanto improved your life? Do the benefits of learning Esperanto outweigh my perception of impracticality? Any thoughts?

Entertainment is based on learning. I don't mean the boring, repetitive memorization that you did when you were in school. I mean skill based learning is entertaining. This is why it is fun to do something new.

When you do something new, the excitement you feel is a result of hormones. Your brain is rewarding you. However, the brain cannot sustain this level for long. Typically only about 3 months, which is sometimes referred to as the "honeymoon period".

The same hormones can also be released by practising an old skill. Maybe, riding a bike if you don't do it often.

Sustained interest, beyond the honeymoon period, is based on perceived benefits. The benefit that I get out of Esperanto is mental stimulation. Also, I feel that in the future it will be very valuable. UNESCO has already recognized it. The UN declaration of human rights can be found in Esperanto. Link

Maybe, learn it for a while, then take a break to play playstation. Then come back to it. If you overdue it then your brain will stop producing the 'feel good' hormones and it will just be boring work.

PS. Check out this link. It is to a thread where I asked people about the benefits that they receive from Esperanto

I've been and gone more than a few times. I've even had several incarnations here on Lernu. I'm not a master of Esperanto by any means, but what I have is functional.

What has brought me back this time (other than the ebb and flow of enthusiasm for what I know is a great idea that actually works) is mistrust of the western media's reporting on the Middle East, amongst other things. I want to know directly from the people concerned what those "crazy Iranians" and "inscrutable Orientals" think about what's happening in the world (yes, I know I am using potentially offensive stereotypes; that's part of my point!). I can do that using Esperanto forums and I don't have to have anything filtered through English.

Whenever I speak to people from other countries in Esperanto they don't appear to be "funny foreigners" any more, not two-dimensional characters in the stage play of life, but real, rounded folk with whom I can have a serious conversation about serious things. I don't want to appear to lay it on too thickly, but meeting non-Anglophone Esperantists is just like meeting people I don't know from the next street.

Esperanto has the added advantage that when I do meet some of the people from the next street, I can quite convincingly pretend not to speak English.

malglatamelo:
Esperanto has the added advantage that when I do meet some of the people from the next street, I can quite convincingly pretend not to speak English.

LOL. And there is your killer app right there.
No more need to deal with telesales, doorknockers, or random pests trying to convince you to support land rights for gay whales.

Bemused:

malglatamelo:
Esperanto has the added advantage that when I do meet some of the people from the next street, I can quite convincingly pretend not to speak English.

LOL. And there is your killer app right there.
No more need to deal with telesales, doorknockers, or random pests trying to convince you to support land rights for gay whales.

I'm doing that all the time. There's even a slang verb in Esperanto for that: gaviali

johmue:

Bemused:

malglatamelo:
Esperanto has the added advantage that when I do meet some of the people from the next street, I can quite convincingly pretend not to speak English.

LOL. And there is your killer app right there.
No more need to deal with telesales, doorknockers, or random pests trying to convince you to support land rights for gay whales.

I'm doing that all the time. There's even a slang verb in Esperanto for that: gaviali

I think maybe you just found EO's unique selling point LOL - as long as the telesales people don't start learning Esperanto, of course!