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why did you start learning esperanto ?

ya ravana, 23 Septemba 2015

Ujumbe: 40

Lugha: English

Tempodivalse (Wasifu wa mtumiaji) 23 Septemba 2015 4:58:22 alasiri

I learned Esperanto because I was on the lookout for "easy" languages to learn - so I could say I speak a lot of languages without having to necessarily put in all the requisite work.

lango.gif

Well, it wasn't quite like that, but the ease of Esperanto was one factor why I decided to learn it. Why not. For a relatively small amount of effort I could gain access to a small but vibrant and diverse community/subculture. Later on I realised this was not only an easy language, but it could be aesthetically pleasing as well. (And I can truthfully call myself a balanced trilingual, now ...)

jdawdy (Wasifu wa mtumiaji) 23 Septemba 2015 7:42:11 alasiri

I remember reading about Esperanto as a kid, when I read Harry Harrison's books. So I've always known what Esperanto was, and like some of the previous posters I had an interest in learning languages from a fairly early age- I studied Chinese in China in my teens, and eventually learned Russian, possibly because I married a Kazakh woman ridulo.gif

However, what prompted me was working on a ship in the South China Sea for 6 weeks at a stretch. As the ships medic, I had a lot of free time on my hands, and I thought I should put it to learning something, beyond the online classes I was taking. Somehow, out of the blue, Esperanto popped up. I don't remember if it was from a web search or what, but I almost immediatly decided I wanted to learn a language to a high degree of fluency (my Russian is very bad- I communicate fine in daily life, but I never formally studied it or was motivated enough to become really proficient in writing it and speaking it grammatically. Plus I've forgotten the Chinese), and I thought with Esperanto that was an attainable goal.

However, like most people, I've been drawn into it by the esthetics of it and by the unique worldwide community of Esperanto speakers. I'm also a bit of an idealist, and I agree with Arika Okrent- the world may not need Esperanto, but it does need the kinds of people who will sit down and learn a language, in the hope that doing so might in some small way make the world a better place.

RiotNrrd (Wasifu wa mtumiaji) 23 Septemba 2015 9:28:38 alasiri

sudanglo:Actually, I did once have an experience behind the Iron Curtain that could have come straight out of a cold war spy novel.
Alright, you can't say something like that without expecting people to want to hear it... ridulo.gif

RiotNrrd (Wasifu wa mtumiaji) 23 Septemba 2015 9:43:01 alasiri

I honestly do not remember where I heard of Esperanto first. It must have been as a kid, because I seem to have been aware of it for as far back as I can remember, although I never saw it or heard it actually spoken anywhere that I can recall.

I took German in high school for three years, and an additional year and a half in college. I got excellent grades. I cannot speak German.

I also took French in high school for three years. I also got excellent grades. I cannot speak, or even properly read and pronounce, French (I can do so with German, even if I don't know what I'm pronouncing).

I wanted to actually know a second language. Ten years or so ago I decided to brush up on my German, and found an old textbook. That lasted one day - it felt like being in high school again, which wasn't exactly a welcome feeling. I didn't even want to try with French.

I tried lojban. I even have the hardcover "The Complete Lojban Language", which is a description of the grammar but does not (or did not, at the time) contain the actual language. Uh, yeah, no. Nice idea. Too freaking hard.

And then, for some reason, I remembered about Esperanto. I bought TYE from Amazon, and once started immediately saw immense progress. Within a month I was way beyond any level I had attained in German or French after years of study (which apparently isn't saying much, but still made me happy).

se (Wasifu wa mtumiaji) 24 Septemba 2015 1:54:52 asubuhi

I searched youtube , language challenge, came upon Dr PIRON work, and got more in youtube about esperanto.

But the most important reason for my learning of Esperanto and promoting it is the brain health issue.

How many people believe that reason for old age dementia, I did not know.

sproshua (Wasifu wa mtumiaji) 24 Septemba 2015 3:21:49 asubuhi

Kurt Elling wrote a song called Esperanto. the title stuck in my mind but i didn't follow up on it until over a decade later. i needed a hobby to do during a time of transition for myself and my family.

ravana (Wasifu wa mtumiaji) 24 Septemba 2015 7:57:20 asubuhi

My first contact with esperanto was at english learningbook in the high school . There was a small article about esperanto . I try to memorise grammer and i noticed it is easy but i did not liked N for accusative so i stoped there . As the time passed i recall that article and find full lerning book for esperanto . It was ZAGREBA METODO that was most popular in ex yu . But i had one problemme . I know that it sound strange but i can speak esperanto but do not understand when someone else talks to me . So i do not know how to define my knowledge of esperanto .

sudanglo (Wasifu wa mtumiaji) 25 Septemba 2015 9:41:36 asubuhi

Reading through the posts on this topic, it is easy to conclude that two factors have been responsible for attracting new speakers.

1. The visibility of Esperanto (no surprise there)

2. The desire to speak a foreign language (at a high level)

Very little emphasis as been placed on motivation arising from a interest in a rational solution to the lingua franca problem.

Leke (Wasifu wa mtumiaji) 25 Septemba 2015 2:08:19 alasiri

I became generally interested in languages after needing to learn another language because I emigrated to another country. During this inquisitive period, I discovered esperanto from the wikipedia I think.

I'm not as super serious about esperanto as other esperantoists, but I do think it's a worthy commitment and of course, I think it's a great idea.

jefusan (Wasifu wa mtumiaji) 25 Septemba 2015 2:38:32 alasiri

sudanglo:Very little emphasis as been placed on motivation arising from a interest in a rational solution to the lingua franca problem.
I don't remember exactly what my thoughts were about that at the time, but I'm pretty sure they were something like, "That is a great idea. It would be cool if it worked."

But I don't think even then I bought into the optimistic, Utopian idea that the world would be a better place if everyone spoke Esperanto. Humans are programmed to find reasons to hate each other, whether it's nationality, skin color, religion, language, favorite sports team, or which side you butter your toast on.

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