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Esperanto in a week

di Alkanadi, 07 settembre 2016

Messaggi: 15

Lingua: English

Alkanadi (Mostra il profilo) 07 settembre 2016 14:46:17

Esperanto can be learned in about a week up to a month
https://auxlang.xyz/100-reasons-to-learn-esperanto...

I have been learning Esperanto for more than 2 years and I am still struggling.

robbkvasnak (Mostra il profilo) 07 settembre 2016 15:49:18

There is a Chinese saying: when you study the ocean there is no shore
This is also true of Esperanto since it is a world language.
However, as far as basic communication goes, one can reach a fairly high level within a short amount of time. To become a truly native-like speaker, however, one must live it day-to-day. My better half is using Esperanto with me more and more and as we do, we are discovering the words for everyday things that one does not encounter in text books. This does not make Esperanto particularly "difficult" but rather presents one with the scope of any language.

PlaidMouse (Mostra il profilo) 08 settembre 2016 01:27:23

robbkvasnak:There is a Chinese saying: when you study the ocean there is no shore
This is also true of Esperanto since it is a world language.
However, as far as basic communication goes, one can reach a fairly high level within a short amount of time. To become a truly native-like speaker, however, one must live it day-to-day. My better half is using Esperanto with me more and more and as we do, we are discovering the words for everyday things that one does not encounter in text books. This does not make Esperanto particularly "difficult" but rather presents one with the scope of any language.
Agreed. Alkanadi, don't give up. Read in the language (like Vikipedio), keep typing in this forum in Esperanto, and use it anyway you can (I often talk to myself or think aloud in Esperanto). Ni studu kune.

david_uk (Mostra il profilo) 08 settembre 2016 10:44:45

I think quotes like "Esperanto can be learned in about a week up to a month" are always made by people with an agenda.

Some people will be able to learn esperanto in that amount of time, but most will take longer, and some will take a lot longer. It depends on how many languages you already know, and your natural ability to learn languages, and how much time and effort you put into learning, and how good your learning materials are.

It is also not clear what anyone means by 'learn esperanto'. You might be able to learn all the grammar and be able to construct sentences after a week, but you would still have a limited vocabulary. So someone with higher standards might not think that counted as knowing esperanto.

Alkanadi, can I ask how you are learning esperanto? Did you do the 'Ana Pana' course on lernu.net? Or any other courses? Or joined a local esperanto group? Or been to an Esperanto Kongreso? Or anything else?

VolkmannTJ (Mostra il profilo) 08 settembre 2016 12:24:00

I agree with robbkvasnak. To learn a new language is to learn humility. I went to DLI in Monterey, CA to learn Korean. At the end of the 16 month course, for example, I could say in Korean, "I recently graduated from a prestigious university with a degree in higher mathematics." The my friend looked at me and said, "Say 'one plus one equals two,' in Korean." I couldn't, because they never taught us how to say that. With that said, I've been doing the Esperanto course on Duolingo for sixty days now. I can watch Evildea's videos on Youtube and understand about 90% of what he says (even as fast as he talks!). I'm incredibly happy with that, but I want to get to the point where I can speak Esperanto without having to translate from English to Esperanto in my head before I start talking. That's going to take some time, and practice.

bartlett22183 (Mostra il profilo) 08 settembre 2016 18:46:00

Because of the complexity of human thought and how language expresses that thought, no language which is adequate to express that thought (including Esperanto) can be learned in a snap. Yes, E-o in my opinion may take less time to learn adequately than many so-call "national" or "ethnic" languages -- I gained a more or less reading ability on my own -- but achieving expressive mastery takes time and effort. Yes, even with E-o, more regular as it is than many languages. I have a fair reading knowledge of Interlingua, but to express myself (which I sometimes want do) takes much more effort.

One matter is usage. The more one actively uses any language, the more it -- and especially its vocabulary! -- becomes settled in one's mind. Many individuals engage a language, including (constructed) international auxiliary languages, such as Esperanto or Interlingua, on a basic, usually reading, level and never become active users of the language. No matter how many advocates claim that Esperanto is oh so easy, it still takes time to attain proficiency. This is just the way it is. If one already has competence in more than one language there may be a sort of mental "flexibility" already attained which allows one to attain another more regular, systematic, language such as E-o (admittedly not common among many monoglot anglophones), but for others there is some effort that must be exerted. There is no way around this in human experience. So don't give up too soon.

Christa627 (Mostra il profilo) 09 settembre 2016 05:20:45

Even toki pona, which is supposedly able to be learned in one day, or in a week if you're slow, takes time; I did learn the words and basic grammar in about a week, but actually mastering using them spontaneously took months. So of course Esperanto, having more words and more complex grammar, would reasonably take at least that long.

bryku (Mostra il profilo) 10 settembre 2016 19:47:24

Alkanadi:
Esperanto can be learned in about a week up to a month
https://auxlang.xyz/100-reasons-to-learn-esperanto...

I have been learning Esperanto for more than 2 years and I am still struggling.
It is perfectly normal.

MarcDiaz (Mostra il profilo) 10 settembre 2016 20:21:50

I agree with david_uk. Statements like those (Esperanto can be learned in about a week up to a month) can't be taken too seriously. I don't think that even the writer of that sentence does. It is very difficult to give an objective description of what level one has achieved in any given language. That statement should be taken to mean "Esperanto can be learnt faster than other languages" rather than literally. The time they say it takes can't be proved scientifically, because it depends on so many factors that it is virtually impossible to predict with a high degree of accuracy.

NoordZee (Mostra il profilo) 11 settembre 2016 07:40:37

When anyone 'boasts' that he can learn Esperanto in a week, month or some other incredibly short time, I feel vaguely annoyed. When you start delving into the finer points of Esperanto grammar, you will soon find that there is much more to this grammar than meets the eye. I agree with some of the previous comments that it is one thing to learn conversational Esperanto but an entirely different thing to get to know this construct language in which you are able to think in Esperanto, write in Esperanto, master all aspects of its grammar as well as most of you seem to be able to do with the English language. These things take time and it all depends on whether a person wants to learn everything about Esperanto or just some conversational aspects of Esperanto. I am now into my third year of studying Esperanto and I wish to specialise in all aspects of its grammar. Alkanadi, do not ever try to compare your efforts to anyone else. You do it in your own time and even if you take a few more years, so what? Once you have more of this language under your belt, check out the written text of those who claim having learned Esperanto in a month. You may then be pleasantly surprised to find that these types of individuals (perhaps there are exceptions) often do make some fundamental errors which you by then would never make. I must admit that I am guessing here. Keep up the good work. By the way, I am also taking some considerable time to learn Esperanto, as I do not spend a sufficient amount of time on this subject every day due to circumstances beyond my control.

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