patrik:@ceigered: "kabei" means "to suddenly leave the Esperanto movement, having been active within it". It came from the nickname of Kazimierz Bein.

Cheers mate! That clears up a lot!

Well, if you're referring to Hokan Lundberg's idea, I don't mean that. I see the Esperanto movement as a "parallel alternative world order" (NOT in the sense of being a secret group planning a conspiracy). It's like living an alternative culture, well, like a sort of escape from the cruel real world. Let English (or Interlingua!) handle the mess. Most people are willing to live in such an unfair world, like those people inside the Matrix. In fact, I think that the EU should rather pick Interlingua as its official language because they fit. I'd rather see Esperanto in the margins than seeing it becoming some soulless tool being used for political purposes. See my point?

I think that there is no need to worry about any language becoming a soulless tool - as soon as words come out of a human mouth and express what makes us human, there's clearly the soul involved . As long as humans can make our own choices in life, I think Esperanto's "soul" will be safe

As far as becoming a political tool, I do agree that I HATE something become an election issue and then surrounded by misinformation or false ideals etc - like the current refugee debate in Australia - even the UN has gone "hey guys, we're now somewhat investigating you, nothing major, just, you know, you're not actually going by our guidelines and are now even considering cutting back further, we're just a little worried because you now seem to be going in the opposite direction to what you say you are..." ( Come on UN, just say it - Australia's becoming rather stupid! )

So I am afraid of the same happening to Esperanto - I can imagine there being the minority here who would campaign with all their hearts against it. Of course, the Australian political system is pretty much designed to cancel the minority or outlier extremism, so perhaps the US or Europe would be a riskier place for Esperanto's credentials to be tested.

That said, were English is spoken in the rest of the world is hardly a matrix of sorts - it's the same world that Esperanto is spoken it, just different communication streams - unlike the dark and gloomy matrix vs. the free world with a hope, which were (for normal people) well and separate, the English and Esperantist communities are intertwined, as are all languages. (there's no escape! >)

Re Interlinguas, I think they'd be useful for bringing small communities together, e.g. give Scandinavia a sort of neutral Scandinavian standard language, give the rest of the Germanic countries a sort of neutral West Germanic (probably something like English + German with Dutch as a tiebreaker), give the Romance countries something like Interlingua (but perhaps more regular?), and there's already things like Slovianski/Slovioski (and to a minor extent Slovio) etc, and basically so forth until the "holes" are patched (the rest of the world would be harder - China itself would need to develop a more simpler, neutral Mandarin, which'd be a massive undertaking), then after that work can begin in Europe at least on trying to create an Interinterlingua , akin to a Futuristic Europajom/Dinghwa. Esperanto can be a layer in between when we inevitably find barriers between bridging language groups.

Of course, I also think that interlanguages should begin being made with "fuzzy" grammar and spelling etc, as that would help human cognitive ability and probably assist in the learning of new languages/concepts by breaking down the notion that something only exists in a solid, perfect form (which makes it hard for speakers to go "hey, this language is actually closer to mine than I thought"). (sort of in the spirit of Slovioski/Interslavic.

In continuation of my response:

nekojk:What's Esperanto for you?

I am Japanese and I belong to Esperanto -
Societo de Kawasaki(ESKa).

I've heared that the Esperanto is like a "jewel".

If you don't have it, it's OK.

But if you have it, it will glow with happiness(makes your heart rich).

Well, Esperanto is precious to me. It saved me from insanity (half-joking~!).

It has indeed enriched my life in many ways, and also gave me headaches at times, as well. But I never regretted studying it. I don't know if I'll remain an Esperantist as long as I live, but if I do leave the movement behind, I won't be as bitter and resentful like the others, for I'll always cherish the good memories I made in it, and it would be very stupidly ungrateful of me to badmouth a community, to whom I owe a lot.

super-griek: People usually ask me to instantaneously translate the most impossible phrases; luckily, they can't hear it when I make a mess of it.

well yes, sometimes I realise I cannot translate a word to esperanto... but realise just after that I don't know the word in english too... For example, the different pieces of a car.

,

That's a very good article by Esther Schor that you referred to. Her Esperanto is very clear in the clip, possibly even more than her American English. However I have to say that becoming an Esperantist has not stopped me enjoying cheeseburgers in general (and blue cheese burgers, in particular), as well as pork and shrimp banh mi (on holiday in Manhattan*) without the least qualm of conscience.

Regarding language, the article should use monujo instead of monejo; in my view horzonozo doesn't need an internal a, and possibly Bush should have been told Reiru al via stelo, though a (kvindekopa) stelaro might apply here, since presumably the speechmaker wasn't referring to the bright morning star of Rev 22:16.

Hilelismo offers very interesting possibilities for inter-religious dialogue (and maybe intercommunal or international dialogue where religion matters), because I understand that the Ayatollah Khomeini approved of E-o at first - till he learned that so did the Bahai (to whom Lidia Zamenhof, daughter of Z belonged), and he changed his tune somewhat. But there may well be Iranians who have studied E-o who have contacts with people that people from the West would find it difficult to speak to otherwise. If such a contact led to a breakthrough in a difficult international situation, it could be a big break for
Esperanto.

*I just found out that banh mi is available in London! A good reason for visiting the place.

Radio~!:I have one manager at work who is particularly vocal in his disapproval of Esperanto..

Some people like that might become good Esperantists if they could overcome their prejudices. Lorenz Friis wrote about how it happened to him (Kiel mi fariĝis Esperantisto, first part of lesson 8 of Vojaĝo en Esperanto-lando). This account might be helpful.

In my office I get a lot of "What's that language called again? Esperanza?" There's a woman from another department who is very good-hearted but embarrassing. When she introduces me to people, she will say things like "Erin went to MIT, and she's a speaker of...what's the name of that language you speak again?" So I have to tell them, and of course it's 100% unrelated to my job, so I wind up sounding like some weirdo. I have zero interest in convincing my colleagues of the benefits of Esperanto, and mainly I would prefer to be left alone, and that they should never mention it again. Every time I mention it to someone new, I end up regretting it for one reason or another. But unfortunately, to avoid mentioning it, I would have to construct (and then later remember, and maintain) some outrageously complicated lies.

It does bother me that I could have hobbies that are far more esoteric, and provide far less tangible benefit than Esperanto, and be considered more "normal". No one would think I was strange if my hobby were embroidery, but Esperanto produces more tangible benefit than that, and yet people laugh when it's brought up, as if it were a joke.

I wouldn't say specifically that Esperanto makes you like a Jew, but some Jewish Esperanto friends and I have discussed this, and we definitely see parallels. I think it does give you something like the experiences of an ethnic or religious minority. And I think it does make you more understanding of others who have unusual hobbies or minority beliefs. I would certainly never laugh at someone's unusual hobby; I know very well how it feels to be on the receiving end of that.

erinja:

jan aleksan:@Erinja: What kind of joke?

Normally just a comment meant to be funny, but not funny at all.

Like, if someone wrote a report that is hard to read, someone might say,"Maybe it was written in Esperanto!"

Or "Let Erin do [whatever task], she speaks Esperanto!"

Or some kind of snide comment, "A [name of something], eh? How do you say that in Esperanto, I wonder?"

I try to ignore it.

It's meant to be funny but it isn't.

Hhm, sounds like a "we need some topic for daily blaming" Esperanto dartboard. But, they will never score something more then the black ring. In my opinion only former esperantists (kabei) are capable to score the middle. Anybody else has to much trembling fingers and will frazzle only the black ring.

Hello.

Firstly, excuse me for my English. I'm not good with this language.

@Erinja I understand you very well. I suffered in that way too. But the solution is very easy: just talk about Esperanto only with reliable people. Maybe that people is in contact with more reliable people, and so on. Well, I'm not good in giving pieces of advice, but I try it.

Well, friends, there are many solutions in order to make Esperanto better known: translating "libre" software, translating games, making games in Esperanto, translating books, and so on.

Mmm, people likes to laugh at minorities or at people who is or thinks different. Just another piece of advice: ignore them, and be yourself

I tend to advertise Esperanto quite often, and tell others about it all the time. People always come up to me and ask me what language I speak, or if I can say something in Esperanto. Sometimes it is out of curiosity, while sometimes it is out of harassment. People never seem to be able to remember the name of the language. Esperanza is common, though one girl thought that it was Swahili. If I am ever harassed for anything, it is usually for my political viewpoints (I formerly thought my viewpoints were communistic, then anarchist communistic, then independent under the name of Luna). People are still clinging on to my original viewpoints from communism. Whenever a teacher mentions Stalin, Lenin, the Soviet Union, or communism, it is usually in a negative context. The classroom then screams out that I'm a communist, though, during the school year, I was an anarchist communist.
Among my other "weird" viewpoints are Linux, which I'm teased about a lot, atheism, which I am rarely teased about and usually hated for by Conservative Christians, my support of homosexuality and gay rights, and my immense knowledge of computers. Esperanto seems to be low on the list, as most people have received no information about it, and none of them care about what I have to say about it. Thus, I am usually teased about things that people know about, like communism. Not sure why Linux, though. Probably because Linux and my political viewpoints are almost inseparable.
Whenever people tease me about these things, I usually go into a detailed explanation to clarify, go crazy activist on them, or I start speaking in Esperanto (aŭ la esperantjapana lingvo XD).

For instance:

"y are u so gay"
"Cxar gejismo mojosegas!"
"wtf"

Or, in la esperantjapana lingvo:

"y are u so gay"
"チヤルゲイスモモヨセガス！"
"WTF y did u just send me boxez"

Why doesn't Windows XP have default support for Japanese?
Oh dear, I went slightly off-topic with this.

I talk about Esperanto quite a bit, but almost never get teased about it. I get teased more about being a socialist or an atheist, and sometimes but rarely (and mostly in good humor) about being gay (or not being "gay enough").

josephschwenker:Whenever a teacher mentions Stalin, Lenin, the Soviet Union, or communism, it is usually in a negative context. The classroom then screams out that I'm a communist, though, during the school year, I was an anarchist communist.

I can totally relate. Even though I never was or claimed to be a communist... at every mention of Communism in history class... That's the only teasing that bothered me.

Most of the people I discuss Esperanto with seem genuinely interested.