2006-11-12T04:16:33Z https://www.taurillon.org/Europe-and-its-languages-Babylonian-chaos-or-expression-of-cultural#comment1423 2006-11-12T04:16:33Z

<p>It is almost beyond belief how <strong>Esperanto</strong> can be introduced, and then dismissed in one short sentence because it is supposedly « artificial » ! Are you telling me that you refuse to live in an apartment, ride around in a car, or use a computer or telephone all because they are « artificial » ? What nonsense ! Totaler Quatsch !</p> <p><strong>Esperanto</strong> might well be perceived as « artificial » by those who do NOT speak it - just as I perceive Indonesian and Welsh [no offence intended !] as strange, because I don't speak these languages and know nothing about them. To people who DO speak <strong>Esperanto</strong> however, the language is not perceived as « artifical » at all, but as totally natural (as is any language that one speaks fluently). And anyway, the correct term is « planned » or « constructed ». The « artificiality »-argument is irrelevant.</p> <p>If you mean that <strong>Esperanto</strong> was invented out of thin air, you are quite wrong. I defy you to find me even one « artificial » root in Cherpillod's <strong>Konciza Etimologia Vortaro</strong> [2003] of Esperanto. 99% of the roots which make up <strong>Esperanto</strong> are taken from already existing ethnic languages.</p> <p>And if you are telling me that people learn a language chiefly because they are interested in its literature and culture, then I would seriously doubt that. My guess is that most people simply want a wider means of communication. So why then learn an ethnic language that takes years to master and is culture-specific, when one is available that takes only 1/10 of that time, and is not culture-specific ? Is that not masochistic ?!</p> <p>A willingness to investigate ALL possible solutions would be most welcome. Ignoti nulla cupido !</p>

2006-11-08T21:29:32Z https://www.taurillon.org/Europe-and-its-languages-Babylonian-chaos-or-expression-of-cultural#comment1400 2006-11-08T21:29:32Z

<p>And what is the problem in being an « artificial » language ? Works such as Old Testament, Shakespeare's Hamlet and Cervantes' Don Quixote has been translated into Esperanto.</p> <p>The solution is to inform people about what Esperanto is, and what is not.</p>

2006-11-07T18:10:33Z https://www.taurillon.org/Europe-and-its-languages-Babylonian-chaos-or-expression-of-cultural#comment1389 2006-11-07T18:10:33Z

<p><strong>The formula 1 + 2 (mother tongue plus 2 foreign languages) sums up the ambitious but also necessary aim for the next years and for this reason more investments on language teaching have to be made</strong></p> <p>Why not the formule regional language+mother tongue+esperanto (only two years at school)+ one foreign language. esperanto is easier, and more cost-effective. Learning foreign language is a tough job, and it would not be possible for everybody to have enough time , and make enouch stays outside to become fluent. Besides, in your formule, as today, quite everybody will choose english as first foreign language, nothing new in your proposal. The idea that it is only a problem of number of teachers, or cost is false. Usually, big investments must provide something in return, not only the actual situation in EU.</p>