For a language that's supposed to be an international language it is not simple enough for the average person.

Most people I know can't tell the difference between an adverb and an adjective. In English, I think this distinction is dieing. "I'm doing well" vs. "I'm doing good".

It took me a long time to finally learn this.

Then there's all of the Participial suffixes. Why do we need them? An international language should be balanced between precision AND ease. It would be better to just have (past, present, future, imperative, and conditional). It would still be difficult for some but at least it will easier than it is now. I still struggle with these suffixes.

Then there is the crazy consonant clusters. I'm not going to make the boring "Asians can't pronounce it" argument. The problem is, I can't even pronounce some of these words and I'm AMERICAN where there's many consonant clusters.

knabo
kvaro

and then certain words are ugly (akvo).

The original Latin word was "aqua", now I know in Esperanto you need an -o to make it a noun so why not something like "aguo" which looks similar to "aqua"? "Kv" and "gv" just looks ugly. Yes it is a personal opinion but I'm sure most other people would agree too since most languages have "ku" and "gu" rather then kv and gv.

One thing I look about Esperanto is the mal- prefix meaning opposite. But what is not good, is the many synonyms. Having 4 different ways to say one word instead of just using "mal-(root)" will make learning this language difficult. This language is supposed to be as quick as possible to learn. Some people say "Well you can just use that an be understood". Ok. Well there is no comprehending if someone use one of the many synonyms and I use the mal- prefix so I don't understand them.

All of these synonyms should be erased and there should only be one way to say something. Yeah, it does away with precision but the majority is not going to have time learning all of these different words for one thing. That's why I gave up Greek, it was too many ways to say "The" (20-something).

Although words in Glosa are also difficult to pronounce, I found it way easier than Esperanto because there is much less inflection and only about 6,000 words. In Esperanto you will keep learning and learning and never be done.

All I can say is that esperanto is by far the easiest language I've ever studied.

Well the whole Akvo argument is pointless, I personally like the word "Akvo" I only ever had to read it once and instantly knew what I was looking at without a dictionary. Now you say you have problems with constant clusters. Well your learning a new language, get used to it it’s not meant to be a walk in the park. What you find hard is bound to be easy for others. Personally I never had any problem trying to pronounce "kvaro" and I'm a native English speaker. Now I understand you have trouble with the participial suffixes, that’s understandable as it is very foreign for us English speakers, but I know some Esperanto speakers who have trouble trying to speak without them, because they come from other language backgrounds! Remember a language trying to be international doesn’t translate as “Easy for English only speakers” One last thing, no matter what language you decide to learn, created or not, you will have to learn about adjectives, adverbs ect...

Anyways thats my two cents I'm supose to be driving work now - cya

Difficult, FOR ME, is understand your difficulty.

In fact, for you, Esperanto should be very much easier than it is for me to write this post. I studied English during some years – when I was a young boy - and, believe me, Esperanto is much more easier than English, and that Portuguese, and that French.

You are wrong when you say Esperanto is “supposed to be as quick as possible to learn”.

Perhaps you have no time to spend. If this is the case the best would be to wait until you have it. Do not hurry!
But if you have time go on and forget the difficulties!

Wilhelm:All I can say is that esperanto is by far the easiest language I've ever studied.

Then you obviously haven't studied Tok PIsin, Glosa, or Toki Pona. =)

Esperantist do tend to overegg the pudding in their claims about the ease which Esperanto can be learnt.

But the progress that can be made at the beginning level compared to that which you can reasonably expect in the national languages is phenomenal.

The popular opinion in the the UK, by the way, is that some Americans even experience difficulty with speaking English.

It seems that this is troll week here at Lernu!

All of these synonyms should be erased and there should only be one way to say something.

You sound like the Newspeak guy from 1984.
Erasing all synonyms makes a language really boring. I wouldn't read a book or even a short article where the same word appears in every sentence.

If you read a lot in Esperanto, you'll automatically learn words. Just use an (online) dictionary for the things you don't understand.

Donniedillon:It seems that this is troll week here at Lernu!

But it's a strange group of trolls. These are the trolls that brag about how hard it is for them to learn the easiest language on earth.

"We're too challenged to learn it!"

"We get confused by minor imperfections!"

"Pronouncing words that everyone else can say is too hard for us!"

Honestly, if *I* was having this level of prolonged difficulty with the easiest language on earth, I'd maybe find a new hobby instead of making sure everyone else knows how incompetent I am.

jeeks:

All of these synonyms should be erased and there should only be one way to say something.

You sound like the Newspeak guy from 1984.
Erasing all synonyms makes a language really boring. I wouldn't read a book or even a short article where the same word appears in every sentence.

If you read a lot in Esperanto, you'll automatically learn words. Just use an (online) dictionary for the things you don't understand.

But that's not the point of language, especially and international one.

The point of an international language is to communicate simplistically and efficiently.

But it's a strange group of trolls. These are the trolls that brag about how hard it is for them to learn the easiest language on earth.

"We're too challenged to learn it!"

"We get confused by minor imperfections!"

"Pronouncing words that everyone else can say is too hard for us!"

Honestly, if *I* was having this level of prolonged difficulty with the easiest language on earth, I'd maybe find a new hobby instead of making sure everyone else knows how incompetent I am.

Yes, I am, and that new hobby is finding an easy language to speak since Esperanto is too difficult. It's just a bit disappointment that Esperanto is possibly the best candidate for artificial international communication and I was really hoping to speak it but it takes too much work. I've been studying Esperanto for a few years off an on and while I've gotten used to seeing "kv". It's still hard to pronounce and it takes me a while to say when practicing talking.

You are mistaken RiotNrrd. Esperanto is NOT the easiest language in the world.

Tok Pisin is a natural language and it is way easier than Esperanto.

I don't know how I'm a "Troll". I'm talking about Esperanto, if I remember correctly, this IS what this forum is for, right?