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Fastest Way to Achieve Fluency in Esperanto?

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Ubutumwa 54

ururimi: English

jsewell94 (Kwerekana umwidondoro) 21 Mukakaro 2009 00:09:38

Hey everyone! This is my first forum post ever, so I will give a little information about me.

My name is Jacob, and I'm 15 years old. I'm going to be a Sophomore next year. I enjoy reading, foreign languages, science, math, and friends. I also play tennis in school.

Alrighty, now that I'm done with the introductions, it's time to get to the important stuff okulumo.gif .

I'm fairly new to Esperanto. I started learning it about 1-2 weeks ago. I have found that most of the words are really easy to memorize! I really want to become fluent as fast as possible. I have ample amounts of time on my hands because it is summer. What is the fastest way too learn the language? I have heard people can become fluent in just a few months, so surely this isn't too ambitious of me. How did you go about learning it? What courses should I take?

Thank you so much for the answers! lango.gif

jchthys (Kwerekana umwidondoro) 21 Mukakaro 2009 00:22:55

I have some experience with language-learning, so I read the summary of grammar on Wikibooks before progressing to “Ana Renkontas”. (The concise grammar on lernu! should work just as well.) A dictionary like this or this (I have the latter) has a brief summary of Esperanto grammar as well as a lot of necessary words, so you might consider buying these. But on the whole you don’t need to spend much money.

Esperanto is logical and is thus natural to use: if a formation makes sense, it’s correct! Therefore you just need to get a big-picture feel for the grammar, and the rest will come. Concentrate on asking yourself, “Does this make literal sense, or is it just an English idiom?” and most of the time, if it’s the latter case, you can come up with something logical on your own.

Feel free to play around with word-roots and suffixes. As long as it’s logical, it’s correct. Make nouns into adjectives, adjectives into verbs and verbs into adverbs. Play around with the word order. Exploit the maligned and misused accusative!

RiotNrrd (Kwerekana umwidondoro) 21 Mukakaro 2009 01:26:44

I always give this advice: write in it.

Start a blog, and try to write a short post in it every single day (if you can - or every other day, or once a week, or whatever pace you think you can do regularly).

Doesn't have to be interesting. Just has to be something. Remember, you aren't writing it for the world, you are writing it for yourself, for practice. So, dumb posts about your cat, or the weather, or whatever, are just fine.

At first it will take you a LONG time to do even a single paragraph. Stick it out, and that phase will pass fairly quickly.

The advantage of this method is that you are forced to find (and use) exactly the words that you yourself will want to use most often. I consider it the absolute best method of acquiring rapid fluency (other than living full time in Esperantujo, which most of us can't do).

jchthys (Kwerekana umwidondoro) 21 Mukakaro 2009 02:04:45

Good advice, RiotNrrd.
And try to read the language often, too. Not only will it improve your skills, but it will be enjoyable—after all, one reason to learn the language is to enjoy the literature! Gerda Malaperis!, while not great literature, isn’t a bad story, and its great for learning the language—it starts with “Saluton, Tom.—Saluton, Bob” and progresses to full-strength Esperanto by the end. You can start on that after a couple weeks (or less, if you feel you’re ready). The lernu! dictionary system (click on an Esperanto word and the definition appears) is also very helpful.

jsewell94 (Kwerekana umwidondoro) 21 Mukakaro 2009 03:30:01

shoko.gif

Alrighty, I read through most of the basic grammar stuff. I also started an esperanto blog. Lol, here is my first post:

Saluton miajn geamikojn! Mia nomo estas Jacob, kaj mi lernas Esperanto! Mi skribos blogajxojn, cxar gxi asistos kun mian Esperanton. Nun, mi ne povas diri multajn ajxojn. Kio mi devas paroli pri?

Hodiaux, mi uzis mian komputeron. Mi ankaux mangxis matenmangxo, luncxo, kaj tagmangxo. Miaj gefratoj kaj mi parolis pri interesajn ajxojn. Kiam mia fratino forlasis, mia frato kaj mi ludis Mondon de Militan Slojdon en niaj komputeroj.

Pli malfrue, mia patrino kaj mi iris al la butiko acxeti paperon por nia presisto. Ni ankaux acxetis mangxajxo por morgaux. Mia patrino acxetis sandvicxon de Subway por mi. Gxi estis tre bone!

Nun, mi studas Esperanto kaj poralas kun miajn geamikojn en Facebook. Mi bezonas forlasi! Adiaux!

The topics are sort of random, but hey, I managed to get a couple paragraphs out ridego.gif.

So should I start reading that book you recommended? Also are there any printable grammar/vocabulary references?

Also, just another quick question (it's a little off topic), how can I get my younger brother excited about Esperanto? He is 11 years old, and has shown a little interest. I think it would be easier to excel if I had someone to talk to/teach.

Sorry for all the questions lol.

Thanks again!

T

Polaris (Kwerekana umwidondoro) 21 Mukakaro 2009 04:07:13

Hey, Jacob! Well that was pretty good. You've got a few grammatical errors in there, but you're off to a very good start. One thing you want to avoid is ending sentences with prepositions ("What should I talk about" would be "pri kio mi devas paroli"). Just remember that ending sentences with prepositions is something up with which Esperanto will not put. lango.gif

As to getting your little Bro on board---tell him that the two of you need a secret language. Make a point of saying a few things when your parents are in the room to help him catch onto the idea. Most of all, you've got to have fun with it, and make it fun for him, too.

RiotNrrd (Kwerekana umwidondoro) 21 Mukakaro 2009 04:27:44

That is pretty darn good for just two weeks of study!

As Polaris said, there's a few grammatical errors in there. However, they are common mistakes, for both beginners AND experienced users. Just pay extra careful attention to the accusative -n ending (you did it right a lot, but you also missed some spots).

The accusative ending is very hard for native English speakers to remember, so don't feel bad about those few errors. *I* still occasionally forget to tack the ending on, and I've been doing this almost four years now.

You are off to an excellent start.

andogigi (Kwerekana umwidondoro) 21 Mukakaro 2009 04:30:14

In real estate, they say the most important thing is "location, location, location". Likewise, in language learning the most important thing is "vocabulary, vocabulary, vocabulary". I try to focus my valuable study time on learning words rather than learning grammar. Grammar is important, but you can naturally absorb most of what you need to know if you read a lot and understand the words. Anyway, that's my $0.02.

darkweasel (Kwerekana umwidondoro) 21 Mukakaro 2009 07:46:18

Polaris:("What should I talk about" would be "pri kio mi devas paroli")
No, it wouldn't. Your sentence means "what do I have to talk about". "Should" is "devus", so: "Pri kio mi devus paroli?".

robinast (Kwerekana umwidondoro) 21 Mukakaro 2009 07:55:16

A good way to increase your vocabulary quickly is to use some flash-card program (handwritten cards may be even better as handwriting seems to help memorizing more than typing). Would also be wise to memorize phrases rather than single words.

Amike,
Harri.

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