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Hi, I'm new, or "Ack! Help!"

de tophat, 2006-majo-06

Mesaĝoj: 21

Lingvo: English

tophat (Montri la profilon) 2006-majo-06 19:45:05

Okay, so.. two quick questions: would it be "Mi estas lernas Esperanton", or "Mi lernas Esperanton", assuming that's the proper word for "learn"? Is there any word for "I'm"? The other qestion I wanted to ask was does anybody have any tips on how to pronounce an Esperanto [e.g. tapped] R? I understand that a lot of native english speakers pronounce the t's in words like butter, as tapped d's, but I can't seem to do this with an R. (Non-Esperanto question: How about trilled R's? I'm learning a bit of Spanish while also learning Esperanto. ridulo.gif )

Аnna (Montri la profilon) 2006-majo-07 14:58:33

Hi,my name is Ann,Ann Zimnitskaya.As you see from my sername,I am from Ukraine,it is near Russia.I don't know English very well,but I want to find a friiend for speaking English and Esperanto.Please,send your massages on my e-mail: zimnitskaya-a@yandex.ru

mgayoub (Montri la profilon) 2006-majo-15 14:24:31

"Mi estas lernas Esperanton" is not correct; "Mi lernas Esperanton" is. The latter can be translated as "I learn Esperanto" or "I am learning Esperanto"; though Esperanto does have forms to more accurately represent the second translation, they are rarely used, and this simple present tense forms (-as) are usually used. Teach Yourself Esperanto says this:

"Continous tense - Although there is a form in Esperanto similar to the English 'am --ing', it is little used, and the ending -as is generally used to translate both the simple and continous tenses ... In translating from Esperanto into English, either of the English forms is used, according to the context."

"Mi parolas Esperante"?

Well, -e is the adverbial ending, but that's really, err, odd. I guess it could be translated as "I speak Esperantoly", id est, "I speak the Esperanto way", but it's still really odd. I would say "Mi parolas Esperanton".

Talking Pie (Montri la profilon) 2006-majo-20 11:54:07

To me, "mi parolas esperante" makes perfect sense. The problem is that we're trying to translate it into English to understand what it means, and there just isn't really an English translation for it. So think about it in Esperanto. The 'E' indicates an adverb. That is, 'esperante' is saying that whatever we're discussing is done in a certain kind of way. And what way is that? In an Esperanto kind of way. Don't fall into the trap of thinking that the verb 'paroli' needs to be transitive; "mi parolas" is all the verbage that's going on here. "I speak". And then an addendum - "esperante"; "in the way of Esperanto".

It is tricky, but when you think about it, it kind of makes sense. It's a good learning method to try not to think about Esperanto in conjunction with your own language. Okay, you'll need to learn the translation of new words to assimilate them, but once you have a big enough pool of knowledge, try not to bring your own language into it at all (when we learn new words in English, we use a dictionary to gather their meaning from existing words we know, etc.), else it could very well hold back your understanding.

I hope that was helpful...

william (Montri la profilon) 2006-majo-23 08:59:22

"Mi parolas Esperante" i think means I speak IN Esperanto since it is an adverb.

Novico Dektri (Montri la profilon) 2006-majo-25 22:21:24

Hey. I'm Novico Dektri (Novice13). As you can see from my name, I am also new. I comepletely identify with you. I just started learning Esperanto two days ago and I don't think its going too well. I tried talking to people on the instant messenger here, but even when I explained that I was new they said I was raving. You know what I'm really confused about? In my esperanto dictionary I bought, it said that "I am speaking Esperanto" is "Mi parolas Esperante"? But I don't understand. Why would Esperanto have an 'e' on the end? Wouldn't it be "Esperanton" instead? Also, I get very confused about word order. If anyone can explain the whole "Esperante" thing to me, I would be very appreciative.

Benjamin

boy-o (Montri la profilon) 2006-junio-09 02:16:09

I always say "Mi parolas Esperante" because I see it as more elegant than "Mi parolas Esperanton." To me, it uses a more 'advanced' feature of the language, and the meaning is slightly different. Not only do I speak the language, but I speak it as an Esperantist (as opposed to someone who's just reading/repeating what another just said).

Amike,
Stefano

paloh (Montri la profilon) 2006-junio-30 16:53:51

I am probably little late but just in case somebody still cares I'd complete the mgayoub's answer. "I am learning Esperanto" can be translated as "Mi estas lernanta Esperanton". As correctly pointed out, the continuous present tense ("estas" + present active participle) is seldom used, only when talking about "this moment action". So, if you learn Esperanto these days, you say "Mi lernas Esperanton". When you are sitting with the textbook in your hands - you are learning at this moment - you can say "mi estas lernanta ..."

There exist also future active participle (root+"onta") and past active participle (root+"inta"), so you can do really lot of neat tricks:
I was learning - Mi estis lernanta
I will be learning - Mi estos lernanta
I had just finished learning - Mi estis lerninta
I was about to be learning - Mi estis lernonta
etc...

gûr_idhren (Montri la profilon) 2006-julio-02 22:22:32

mi parolas Esperanton - I speak Esperanto
mi parolas Esperante - I'm speaking in Esperanto

You can go as far to say that translating mi parolas Esperante as "I speak Esperanto" is incorrect. There is really a very distinct difference between the two sentences. Adverbs are used much more in Esperanto than they are in English. You can say bonvolu skribi tion hispane or bonvolu skribi tion en la hispana (even bonvole skribu tion hispane rido.gif). Some find adding the root LINGV to be more clear (paroli esperantlingve etc.)

As far as flipping your r's, it's really kind of close to a d sound, if it helps to think of it like that. Maybe say "butter" over and over again really fast. As far as trilled r's in Spanish, I have no idea what to say. Just practice tons. Keep trying to imitate. It's taken me almost two years to get it, and I still don't have it nearly as adequately as I'd like. Good luck!

scottish_chic (Montri la profilon) 2006-septembro-14 17:00:34

The other qestion I wanted to ask was does anybody have any tips on how to pronounce an Esperanto [e.g. tapped] R? I understand that a lot of native english speakers pronounce the t's in words like butter, as tapped d's, but I can't seem to do this with an R.
The best way to learn how to tap your 'r' is to put on a [stereotype] Scottish accent (like Willie out the Simpsons) and say something like
'The weather is warm and Im raving about rabbits' (pronounced 'the withur iz vaurm an Am ravin aboot rabbits', but obviously with a strong accent and 'r' roll.)

But never try it in front of an actual Scottish person lol.

Hope I helped rideto.gif

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