Ideas for Change in America

  • Obama, introduce Esperanto as a Second Language subject in schools.

     

    In this time of global communications and encouragement of international diplomacy by the American government, implementing lessons on the international language, Esperanto, in American schools would be a grand gesture of goodwill towards the international community.

    The obligation to learn English has been a weight on the lives of millions of people worldwide, because, although a very beautiful language, it is also very difficult. It takes a person an average of 7 years to learn English, and thousands of dollars in expensive English courses.

    The idea that everybody speaks English is erroneous. Most people can't speak more than "Hello", "Good bye" and "thank you". If you travel, the only places where you can really converse in English are in hotels and tourist places. If you really want to learn about a culture while traveling, and meet the locals, English would be a very poor tool.

    Esperanto was designed to be the international language and is on its way to becoming so. It is easy (one can learn it in 4 to 8 months, instead of 7 to 10 years as is the case with English). If Americans gave it a push, it would soon become the world's second language. (Russians would speak Russian and Esperanto, Americans would speak English and Esperanto, Brazilians would speak Portuguese and Esperanto, etc. This is the idea. Everybody being able to communicate easily with one another, without the need of translations, hand signs, etc. Esperanto already has a vast literature and over a million speakers world wide.

    It is also NEUTRAL. It is not from any ONE country, but to ALL countries. It’s public domain. A bridge-language, for all to communicate with easy and equality of conditions (because everyone involved would have to learn it). No one country would hold the communication advantage of having learned it since birth.

     

    In regards to advantages for americans: Esperanto helps kids learn other languages, and increases the child’s capacity for logical thinking. This has been proven true in numerous studies since the 1920s. The learning of Esperanto improves the motivation of learners, and improves the grades in every other subject matter.

    The first documented experiment was in England - Bishop Auckland, 1918-21; later studies: New Zealand (1924), New York (1931), Manchester (1948-'65), Sheffield (1951), Finland (1963), Hungary (1970), Germany (1980), 5 European countries (1990), Italy (1993) and Australia (2000). The 1931 work was by a team led by the eminent educational psychologist, Edward Thorndike of Columbia University. The plain facts are that young people enjoy learning Esperanto; they learn it up to 5 times more quickly than other languages and the skills learned are readily transferable."

     

    The learning of Esperanto also increased the child’s curiosity to learn about different cultures and different points of view. It makes them more tolerant human beings and gives them a grand opportunity to make good friends worldwide.

     

    The implementation of Esperanto in American schools would make kids more tolerant people. And we certainly need more tolerance in this world.

    http://education.change.org/actions/view/study_esperanto_10_minutes_a_day_and_become_a_world_citizen

     

    - Renata Ventura Jan 25 @ 02:38PM PST

Comments (327)

156 older comments see the full discussion ^

  • Mike Sadler
    Mar 11, 2010 @ 09:05AM PT
    Mike Sadler

    As a fairly fluently Esperanto speaking Brit I would say that yes Esperanto is life-enhancing and agreably idealistic, but when travelling, unless you are with Esperanto speakers who speak the indigenous language, English is rather more useful.. Of course if lots more people spoke Esperanto then it would be much more useful..

    Although the regular structure of Esperanto makes it relatively easier to learn, it's not a doddle, witness quite a few people who call themselves 'Esperantists' but make a dog's breakfast of speaking the language. It's OK if you get lots of practice in the company of others who speak it well or are gifted with language ability (I was in the first category!), and I'm fully in favour of more Esperanto teaching but in my opinion some proponents, with understandable zeal and good intentions, rather stretch the truth a bit..

    Report close

    You must be signed in to report content.

     Reply
  • Dr. Lajos Molnár
    Mar 11, 2010 @ 09:05AM PT
    Dr. Lajos Molnár

    Kara Dante!

    Klaku supre, dekstre al "View All Ideas"

    Poste rigardu la titolon "Education". La rezulto ne estas tro ĝojiga...

    Sed ni esperu, ĉar ni estas esperantistoj...

    Amike

    Ludoviko

    http://www.egalite.fw.hu

    Report close

    You must be signed in to report content.

     Reply
  • Miguel Huaripoma
    Mar 11, 2010 @ 09:22AM PT
    Miguel Huaripoma

    "We don't need to invest anything to learn Esperanto. Everything needed to learn it is on the Internet, for free."

    And how many people have access to internet (again, outside of the West)?  For those 4 billion people I mentioned earlier, the internet isn't exactly 'free' and may be impossible to access.   This is the kind of out-of-touch thinking I'm trying to put in perspective.  Also, there's not only direct costs involved of buying a computer/paying at an internet cafe, but also the indirect opportunity costs of doing something MUCH MORE PRODUCTIVE with your time (especially if it takes you a long time to get somewhere with access to the internet).  I know most everyone here considers themselves to be sympathetic and understanding of the less-fortunate, so please be aware of the large costs and miniscule payoffs a scheme like this would impose on the majority of the world.

    Report close

    You must be signed in to report content.

     Reply
    • Neil Blonstein
      Mar 11, 2010 @ 09:42AM PT
      Neil Blonstein

      I agree with much that you have said. I tend to believe that under 10 percent of the world has access to computers, but also read sources that say only 1 percent of the world now has access to computers.

      Where I differ, is on the feasibility of Esperanto. With or without computers Esperanto is an investment that will save BILLIONS of dollars, now spent by the elites of the world to get an education in the United States and Britain.

      Esperanto is learnible with 5 dollar teach yourself books. The vowel system is similar to that of Spanish or Italian and anybody who has heard those languages-live or on a tape recorder- doesn't need a computer to master the sound system of Esperanto.

      As a retired English as a Second language teacher, I vote for Esperanto as a Second Language.

      Report close

      You must be signed in to report content.
    • Reply to thread
  • Miguel Huaripoma
    Mar 11, 2010 @ 09:35AM PT
    Miguel Huaripoma

    "No need to hire new teachers to teach Esperanto. The teacher already in the classroom can learn Esperanto and teach Esperanto at the same time. I know that this sounds incredible. Experiments made in Australia prove that this is possible."

    Probably no coincidence that Australia is already a very rich country and can afford to test the efficacy of teaching such non-critical material in their already-well functioning school system.  When hundreds of millions of children either aren't in school or struggling to learn basic math and reading, let's get our priorities straight (and again, learning English gives them a much better shot of getting out of poverty than does Esperanto - that's probably why they're annoyingly trying to sell you stuff).

    Report close

    You must be signed in to report content.

     Reply
    • Neil Blonstein
      Mar 11, 2010 @ 09:51AM PT
      Neil Blonstein

      A most active supporter of Esperanto was Australian UN Ambassador Ralph Harry (1970's).

      A former head of the US Esperanto movement was the US ambassador to England.

      Esperanto will free up  several years of ones life of every human individual now dedicated to the study of colonial languages--often to the detriment of mother languages-now totally ignored. In short, the masses will learn two languages (mother language + Esperanto)  in the time the elites learn one colonial language. www.linguistic-rights.org

       

       

      Report close

      You must be signed in to report content.
    • Ljeonjiid Dasheevskjij
      Mar 29, 2010 @ 09:51AM PT
      Ljeonjiid Dasheevskjij

       

       

      .!saluton ,zelotoy de Esperanto.
      ..mi koprenas vian vidpunkton ,char vi ne hhavis eblecon kompari Esperanton kun alia artefarite planita lingvo (nome ,la globala muljtedialekta Eespa lingvo ,auh simple nomata Eespe) ,sed ?chu vi povos honeste respondi al du miay demandoy: .1.?kiun automobilon vi achetus por veturi chien -+ ?chu kabrioleton de la 19+a jarcento au ?chu Mersedeson de la 21+a jarcento.
      ..la sama estas demando pri praktika uzado de artefaritay lingvoy: .Esperanto estas ,kiel kabrioleto ,la lingvo de pasintay jarcentoy ,sed jam ekzistas nova artefarita lingvo Eespe ,kiel Mersedeso ,de la kuranta 21+a jarcento ,kiu estas pli facile lernebla ,ol Esperanto ,char chiu nacia lingvo povas hhavi siaspecan naciEespan dialekton kun nacia leksiko kaj chiuy naciEespay dialektoy hhavas komunan gramatikon ,ech Esperanto povas hhavi konforman EsperantEespan dialekton kaj ,certe chiuy naciay lingvoy de la mondo ,pro kio jam tute ne necesas lerni iun ajn maljfacilan fremdan lingvon ,chu la anglan ,chu la chinan auh japana ,ja sufichas lerni nur nacian liksikon kaj uzi qhin je kadroy de komuna Eespa gramatiko.
      ..do ,resondu: .?chu vi elektos Esperanton au novan simlan lingvon Eespe ,se vi ekscihis pri qhi.

      .!vizitu www.esperanto.com por ekscihi pri globala lingvo Eespe.

      ..bondezire

      ,Ljeonjiid Dasheevskjij

       

      Report close

      You must be signed in to report content.
    • Reply to thread
  • Miguel Huaripoma
    Mar 11, 2010 @ 09:53AM PT
    Miguel Huaripoma

    "Miguel,

    I would like you to take a couple of minutes to read this report from China. If you don't read it, you can use the translator or even leave a msg for them to tell you.

    http://hi.baidu.com/yananlx/blog/item/4b8e8951a8270d2142a75bc4.html"

    I can't seem to find the translation, and can't read Chinese.  Oh, I get it, if only the whole world spoke esperanto, there wouldn't be problems like this.  Makes me wonder, though, if China had been the first civilization to develop and colonize the world, but then a bunch of progressive Chinese decided they were tired of unjustly imposing their language on everyone else so instead they invented a new 'neutral world language' comprised of all the different dialects of Chinese, perhaps with a little Korean and Japanese thrown in, written in Chinese characters, that takes only a fraction of the time to learn than regular Chinese, except less than 1/20 of 1% of the world spoke it 100 years after its creation.  I think I would find this 'Sinsperanto' just as culturally-bound as the Mandarin I had been 'forced' to learn before, only thousands of times less useful.

    Report close

    You must be signed in to report content.

     Reply
  • Miguel Huaripoma
    Mar 11, 2010 @ 10:41AM PT
    Miguel Huaripoma

    "Esperanto is learnible with 5 dollar teach yourself books. The vowel system is similar to that of Spanish or Italian and anybody who has heard those languages-live or on a tape recorder- doesn't need a computer to master the sound system of Esperanto.

    As a retired English as a Second language teacher, I vote for Esperanto as a Second Language."

    Thank you for recognizing that the vast majority of people don't have computers, but a 5-dollar investment is still probably out of the range of half the world population that lives on less than $2 per day (and have more important investments to make like mosquito nets or basic school supplies).  Plus, where can they find these teach yourself books?  Remember, no Amazon.com in the Amazon.

    Also, as an ESL teacher you should know that Western consonant sounds are very hard to master for non-Western language speakers.  Examples include distinguishing between l and r for Japanese students, and between b and p or f and v for Arab students.  All that I'm saying is Esperanto is a great idea... as long as we're talking about the West.

    Report close

    You must be signed in to report content.

     Reply
  • Dante Kieriko
    Mar 11, 2010 @ 12:24PM PT
    Dante Kieriko

    I vote for Esperanto as a Second Language for a great number of nations" because I think it could be the most easier true international language.

    Dante Kieriko

    Report close

    You must be signed in to report content.

     Reply
  • Jorge Purgly
    Mar 11, 2010 @ 12:31PM PT
    Jorge Purgly

    Por la lingvo Esperanto!

     

    Report close

    You must be signed in to report content.

     Reply
  • Miguel Huaripoma
    Mar 11, 2010 @ 12:41PM PT
    Miguel Huaripoma

    "I do believe that learning the local language is the best tool for learning about the local culture. I don't believe that the simple fact of knowing their language would make friends of them. I visited Japan, Korea, and China for brief periods. I would have needed at least 20 years of hard studying to be able to communicate using those 3 languages.

    Instead, I communicated and lived at the house of Esperanto speakers in those 3 countries. They were local people who showed their local culture to me. Anybody can learn to communicate in Esperanto in much less than a year. I know individuals that reached communication level in a couple of months."

    Of course just knowing someone's language doesn't make you friends with them.  The same could easily be said for Esperanto.  Whether or not you become friends with them is based on how you use the language, not what language you speak to them (although learning someone's native language DOES help you understand their culture better... which can't be said of Esperanto - unless it's the non-Westerners learning about the West, since Esperanto is in fact a Western, not a neutral, language).

    Sure, you can probably find 'Esperanto houses' in many countries and connect with some Epseranto speakers, but I would wager that you're restricting your contact to a tiny slice of the local population that share many of the same characteristics (free time to hang out in Esperanto houses, living in proximity to an Esperanto house, driven by idealism, well-off and connected enough to have heard of Esperanto and learned it, etc.)  If that's all you want to get to know about a foreign country, fine.  But it still takes a colonial language or even better the local language to get to meet people from a variety of different backgrounds (and it's not only the elites who learn English, as your point about them trying to sell you something rightfully implies).

    Report close

    You must be signed in to report content.

     Reply
  • Penelope Vos
    Mar 11, 2010 @ 01:21PM PT
    Penelope Vos

    Wow Miguel, you are really doing a great job of this!

    You are not quite right though with this effort at a parallel for comparison:

    instead they invented a new 'neutral world language' comprised of all the different dialects of Chinese, perhaps with a little Korean and Japanese thrown in, written in Chinese characters, that takes only a fraction of the time to learn than regular Chinese,

    First of all, any character/alphabet system involves a certain amount of memorization and therefore time and effort. It is an objective fact that an alphabetic system which ties sound to symbol requires less acts of memorization that a character system which does not. 28 discrete and invariable sound-symbol combinations is at the lower limit of what is available in a working language. Many languages have less letters but more exceptions and complications.

    Secondly, "a bit of...thrown in" is misleading. Esperanto is a system, not a soup. It has roots which are carefully chosen not to overlap, for the convenience of any learner. At least hundreds of thousands of Asian people have found this to be so.

    Roots came from, and continue to come from, various places. The root word for a truly huge wave comes from Japan, the root words for echidnas, kangaroos and koalas come from various Australian indigenous languages.

    It doesn't matter much whether the root is familar because learning root words is a very small task compared with the task of learning at least 20 times more words in a language which makes less extraordinary use of the potential of roots.

    Now to the other part of tyour problem:

    except less than 1/20 of 1% of the world spoke it 100 years after its creation.  I think I would find this 'Sinsperanto' just as culturally-bound as the Mandarin I had been 'forced' to learn before, only thousands of times less useful.

    Tell me any language which was spoken by a similar fraction of the world's population 100 years ater its creation. Actually E-o is growing at about the same rate as either middle or modern English in its first 100 years. And progress of ideas is not a straight line affair, witness the progress of the metric systetm or the Euro.

    "Culturally bound"- tell me something you think a Chinese person can't express in Esperanto. If you can fnd such a thing, tell me why that wouldn't simply become a part of Esperanto, as echidnas got added when the need for such a word became apparent.

    Report close

    You must be signed in to report content.

     Reply
  • Penelope Vos
    Mar 11, 2010 @ 01:32PM PT
    Penelope Vos

    Miguel, about "Esperanto Houses", I don't think you understand. When my daughter and I travelled in Korea and Japan, we weren't hanging around in some elite neutral zone, we were staying with real people in their homes. We learned about tiny bathtowels and mothers exam-stress and prayers at the temple for her son's success and other things that are very intimately part of the culture. And while we talked about those things, we did it on an equal basis- neither of us using a broken or inferior version of the others language, neither of us unable to express or understand subtle aspects of each others lives and values. My 11 year old daughter talked too. She could not possibly have learned enough Japanese and Korean to participate otherwise.

    Report close

    You must be signed in to report content.

     Reply
  • Penelope Vos
    Mar 11, 2010 @ 01:37PM PT
    Penelope Vos

    Miguel,

    Re $5 being a lot for some people and l/r and p/v/b being difficult for some people, yeah, it's not heaven but what are you offering instead?

    English has those consonants and it costs thousands of dollars.

    Nothing is perfect, rational people choose the best there is and get on with it.

    Report close

    You must be signed in to report content.

     Reply
    • Sachiko Istok
      Mar 12, 2010 @ 05:06AM PT
      Sachiko Istok

      I like you Penelope.

      I am one of those people after 40 years in Canada having problem with those pronunciations & spelling.
      Esperanto is far easier than English to learn at least at the beginnning. If I did not know Esperanto my English learning would take far too long time.
      Forty years ago when I did not speak English except a few word like 'please', 'thank you', 'i don't understand', Esperanto helped me a lot.

      Report close

      You must be signed in to report content.
    • Ljeonjiid Dasheevskjij
      Mar 29, 2010 @ 09:01AM PT
      Ljeonjiid Dasheevskjij

      .!saluton ,Sachiko Istok.
      ..mi koprenis vin ,sed ?chu vi povos honeste respondi al du miay demandoy: .1.?kiun automobilon vi achetus por veturi chien -+ ?chu kabrioleton de la 19+a jarcento au ?chu Mersedeson de la 21+a jarcento.
      ..la sama estas demando pri praktika uzado de artefaritay lingvoy: .Esperanto estas ,kiel kabioleto ,la lingvo de pasintay jarcentoy ,sed jam ekzistas nova artefarita lingvo Eespe ,kiel Mersedeso ,de la kuranta 21+a jarcento ,kiu estas pli facile lernebla ,ol Esperanto.
      ..do ,resondu: .?chu vi elektos Esperanton au novan simlan lingvon Eespe ,se vi ekscihis pri qhi.

      .!vizitu www.esperanto.com por ekscihi pri globala lingvo Eespe.

      ..bondezire

      ,Ljeonjiid Dasheevskjij.

       

      Report close

      You must be signed in to report content.
    • Sachiko Istok
      Jul 20, 2010 @ 07:00AM PT
      Sachiko Istok

      Por longa tempo mi ne eblis veni cxi  tie. Do, mia respondo estas iom tro malfrua, sed mi kredas malfrua estas pli bone ol  niniam.

      Saluton Ljeonjiid,

      Miaj respondoj al viaj demandoj estas, 1: mi acxetas ion ajn auton malmultekostan, cxar mi estas malricxa ;)

      2:Lingvoj kreskas aux sxangxas kiel tempo progresas. Zamenhof mem jam diris tion, cxu ne?

      Via ideo "Esperanto estas malnova pro tio mi jxetas" memorigas min iun viron kiu disigas sian edzinon, cxr sxi estas malnova ;<

      Esperantistoj esperas. Semas, semadas esperante iam ni vidos frukutojn.

      En la mondo malbonaj homoj neniam malaperas, sed policistoj ne cxesas kapti ilin. Esperantistoj havas pli bonan sxancon ol policistoj efektivigi la celon, cxu ne?

       

       

      Report close

      You must be signed in to report content.
    • Reply to thread
  • Penelope Vos
    Mar 11, 2010 @ 01:55PM PT
    Penelope Vos

    Miguel,

    "Probably no coincidence that Australia is already a very rich country and can afford to test the efficacy of teaching such non-critical material in their already-well functioning school system."

    Actually, it is critical for us Australians because we are not happy with our poor success rate in foreign language instruction. We consider that making our children's learning effective is important, we believe in maximizing their cognitive functions and we care about making wise use of our education budget. That is why we have been very interested to discover that early bilingualism in Esperanto increases the success of later language learning, after individuals are old enough to have some idea of which language interests them.

    "When hundreds of millions of children either aren't in school or struggling to learn basic math and reading, let's get our priorities straight"

    Absolutely. When I was in Benin I saw children using their measly 6 years of schooling to learn French instead of learning how to write the language they spoke at home (Idaacha) and instead of learning any number of things that my children got to learn. If they could have learned Esperanto instead for the outside world, there would have been time for Idaacha and science and business education (which would have more accuarately reflected the needs of the students).

    "learning English gives them a much better shot of getting out of poverty than does Esperanto". While rich people like you refuse to speak to them in E-o, that may be true. But there  is hope that enough rich people will decide that 100 hours of E-o in Primary school is a good investment for their children's future and, in that case, those African kids will have a shortcut to global participation.

    Report close

    You must be signed in to report content.

     Reply
  • Penelope Vos
    Mar 11, 2010 @ 02:02PM PT
    Penelope Vos

    Miguel,

    Did you know that 34 schools in Burundi started teaching E-o last year, no-one made them do it, or paid them to do it, but they did.Esperanto is growing very fast in many parts of Africa.

    Do you know better than they do what is a good use of their time?

    Report close

    You must be signed in to report content.

     Reply
  • no thankyou
    Mar 11, 2010 @ 08:36PM PT
    no thankyou

    Neither Barry Obama nor the federal gov't should have anything to do with curriculum. That is something should be left to individual states and localities.

     

    Report close

    You must be signed in to report content.

     Reply
  • Enrique E
    Mar 11, 2010 @ 10:37PM PT
    Enrique E

    Miguel Huaripoma

    I really don't understand how could you think that for those 4 billion people it is easier or cheaper to learn English (in 10 years) than to learn Esperanto (in less than one year). Some people are already learning Esperanto in several countries in Africa.

    You will tell me that more people there are learning English ... yes ... but at what cost? With a fraction of what costs to learn English, much more people could learn Esperanto. Many people that learned Esperanto go on to learn other languages.

    Again, if they really want to learn English, they will save some time by learning Esperanto first. It takes less time to learn Esperanto and one other language, that just learning that other language.

    Note that I did learn Esperanto, and I did learn English. My first language is Spanish. I am not against learning English.

    Maybe the number of Esperanto speakers is low, but most Esperanto speakers are always ready to help other Esperanto speakers, all around the world. I cannot say the same about English speakers.

    Enrique   (esperantofre.com)

     

    Report close

    You must be signed in to report content.

     Reply
  • Enrique E
    Mar 11, 2010 @ 11:05PM PT
    Enrique E

     

    Dear Miguel Huaripoma

    I learned Esperanto half a century ago in august 1959. Then I continued learning English. Today I use my 3 languages every day. Would you let me tell you why? Would you please write to me? My address is on all my web pages. Just click the word Enrique at the top or at the bottom of any of my pages.

    For those that are curious about Esperanto, please visit my pages. Start at

    http://esperantofre.com/edu/iloj01a.htm

    http://esperantofre.com/edu/lernua.htm

    Best wishes,

    Enrique

     

    Report close

    You must be signed in to report content.

     Reply
  • Helmut Klünder
    Mar 12, 2010 @ 02:05AM PT
    Helmut Klünder
    Report close

    You must be signed in to report content.

     Reply
  • Mar 12, 2010 @ 03:40AM PT
    G H

    Me not understand english. Too difficult language. Please translate article in esperanto.

    Report close

    You must be signed in to report content.

     Reply
    • Helmut Klünder
      Mar 12, 2010 @ 05:59AM PT
      Helmut Klünder

      Mi ne havas la tempon, traduki tian longan tekston.

      Sed bonvolu kompreni, ke tiu chi diskuto okazas en unsona forumo, kiu unuarange direktas sin an anglalingvanoj. Chiuj aliaj - ankau mi - nur estas gastoj.

      Report close

      You must be signed in to report content.
    • Reply to thread
  • Lauren Serven
    Mar 12, 2010 @ 05:37AM PT
    Lauren Serven

    I think it would be better if we just started languages like spanish, french at an earlier grade level. Also, I think we should bring back some Latin. 

    Report close

    You must be signed in to report content.

     Reply
    • Helmut Klünder
      Mar 12, 2010 @ 05:56AM PT
      Helmut Klünder

      Tio tamen ne solvas la problemon. La kauzo de la problemo estas, ke naturaj (etnaj) lingvoj postulas tro da lerno-tempo. Planlingvoj kiel Esperanto estas simple pli rapide lerneblaj.

      En kelkaj germanaj federaciaj landoj la lingva instruado jam komencighas en la unua klaso. Le rezulte ne estas kuraghiga.

       

      Report close

      You must be signed in to report content.
    • Helmut Klünder
      Mar 12, 2010 @ 01:21PM PT
      Helmut Klünder

      "Also, I think we should bring back some Latin."

      Absolutely brilliant idea! How many deklinations? How many konjugations? How many irregular verbs? Do you really think, that that is necessary for international kommunikation?

      Report close

      You must be signed in to report content.
    • Ljeonjiid Dasheevskjij
      Mar 29, 2010 @ 09:52AM PT
      Ljeonjiid Dasheevskjij

       

       

      .!saluton ,zelotoy de Esperanto.
      ..mi koprenas vian vidpunkton ,char vi ne hhavis eblecon kompari Esperanton kun alia artefarite planita lingvo (nome ,la globala muljtedialekta Eespa lingvo ,auh simple nomata Eespe) ,sed ?chu vi povos honeste respondi al du miay demandoy: .1.?kiun automobilon vi achetus por veturi chien -+ ?chu kabrioleton de la 19+a jarcento au ?chu Mersedeson de la 21+a jarcento.
      ..la sama estas demando pri praktika uzado de artefaritay lingvoy: .Esperanto estas ,kiel kabrioleto ,la lingvo de pasintay jarcentoy ,sed jam ekzistas nova artefarita lingvo Eespe ,kiel Mersedeso ,de la kuranta 21+a jarcento ,kiu estas pli facile lernebla ,ol Esperanto ,char chiu nacia lingvo povas hhavi siaspecan naciEespan dialekton kun nacia leksiko kaj chiuy naciEespay dialektoy hhavas komunan gramatikon ,ech Esperanto povas hhavi konforman EsperantEespan dialekton kaj ,certe chiuy naciay lingvoy de la mondo ,pro kio jam tute ne necesas lerni iun ajn maljfacilan fremdan lingvon ,chu la anglan ,chu la chinan auh japana ,ja sufichas lerni nur nacian liksikon kaj uzi qhin je kadroy de komuna Eespa gramatiko.
      ..do ,resondu: .?chu vi elektos Esperanton au novan simlan lingvon Eespe ,se vi ekscihis pri qhi.

      .!vizitu www.esperanto.com por ekscihi pri globala lingvo Eespe.

      ..bondezire

      ,Ljeonjiid Dasheevskjij

       

      Report close

      You must be signed in to report content.
    • Reply to thread
  • Peter Sirois
    Mar 12, 2010 @ 08:24AM PT
    Peter Sirois

    I think the teaching of Esperanto is a good idea, up to a point. I find it somewhat Eurocentric and of very little value to Arabic and far eastern cultures who do not share our Roman alphabet. I also disagree with the article that said only tourist locations spoke English. I was in the Scandinavian merchant marine in the 60's and English was the most common language among seamen from all over the world.

    I did read some of the comments in Esperanto. Because I am a little familiar with Spanish, Portuguese, French and Italian, Esperanto appeared to be quite easy to catch on to. Nevertheless, it still remains Eurocentric. But it is better than going along with the Anglo-American ideology of empire.

    Report close

    You must be signed in to report content.

     Reply
  • Dr. Lajos Molnár
    Mar 12, 2010 @ 08:47AM PT
    Dr. Lajos Molnár

    Lauren Serven wrote:

    "Also, I think we should bring back some Latin."

    A medical diagnosis in Latin: "Atrophia flava hepatis acuta".

    The same diagnosis in Esperanto: "Akuta, flava atrofio de la hepato".

    Esperanto estas moderna latino, kun regula gramatiko. Esperanto is a modern Latin with regular grammar.

    See also: http://www.esperanto.net

    http://www.lernu.net

    http://www.edukado.net

     

     

    Report close

    You must be signed in to report content.

     Reply
  • Oscar Mifsud
    Mar 12, 2010 @ 10:26AM PT
    Oscar Mifsud

    Lauren Serven,

    What a nonsesical idea!  Sorry, but: How would teaching Spanish and French at an earlier stage, help global easy communication, in as short a time as possible?

    Report close

    You must be signed in to report content.

     Reply
  • Oscar Mifsud
    Mar 12, 2010 @ 10:37AM PT
    Oscar Mifsud

    Al ciu kontribuanto!     To all contributers!

    Je la komenco, Bv. indiku pri kio oni traktas!  Dankon!

    At the start, please indicate to what you refer!  Thank you

    Report close

    You must be signed in to report content.

     Reply
  • Elmar Duensser
    Mar 12, 2010 @ 12:55PM PT
    Elmar Duensser

    Re: "eurocentric" Esperanto

    Language is structure, and the structure of Esperanto is not very European. Clear indication of word categories, grammatical cases, absence of grammatical gender, word stems that never change (no flection), endings that always transport the same meanings, combinations of words with particles or other words so that you can understand the meaning of the combination from the meaning of the components (and be sure you understood it correctly), grammatical rules that always apply - every Esperanto rule you learned you will be able to apply again and again, without unlogic exceptions that "natural" languages endlessly have, etc. etc. European languages usually support none or maximally two of these features - Esperanto has got them all.

    Words are just the material a language needs to function (and can easily be exchanged if necessary), but unlike to European languages, endings or other words are "glued" to a word stem without ever inflicting it (in English however the word stem of "live" changes from liv- to lif- in some forms). The word stems of Esperanto have well-defined meanings and are selected mainly from the so-called international words (i.e. words widespread in many languages), like e.g. Esperanto "direktor-" (Engl. director, French: directeur, Japanese: dairekutaa).

    About 70% of the word stems of Esperanto (and about 50% of the word stems of English) have their origin in the Romance languages, but this does not make Esperanto a European language, it makes Esperanto only LOOK like a European language. Because of its effective grammatical structure it can be learned easily by people from around the globe - the origin of the word stems is not that important.

    Report close

    You must be signed in to report content.

     Reply
  • Ronaldo Matos
    Mar 17, 2010 @ 03:00PM PT
    Ronaldo Matos

    As Obama said: "Yes we can!".

    I am a example of this. I`ve been study english since I was ten by myself. I am not a rich person, so I don`t have conditions for to pay

    a english course, I brought a computer last year(my first computer),I find some cheap books (second hand)in old bookstores and so on. So I don`t agree with Miguel`s opinion in this issue. Today I study Esperanto at home and It is more  easy to learn than English. So I like both of then.

    Say yes to Esperanto!

    Report close

    You must be signed in to report content.

     Reply
  • José Passini
    Mar 17, 2010 @ 08:09PM PT
    José Passini

     

    "No need to hire new teachers to teach Esperanto. The teacher already in the classroom can learn Esperanto and teach Esperanto at the same time. I know that this sounds incredible. Experiments made in Australia prove that this is possible."

     

    Report close

    You must be signed in to report content.

     Reply
  • Guy Camy
    Mar 19, 2010 @ 07:21AM PT
    Guy Camy

    Just this comment for all of us:

    In 2005, the French Supreme Council on the Evaluation of the Educational System requested a report from the famous professor at the University of Geneva, François Grin, to know what would be the best for the Europe regarding the "Foreign language teaching as public policy".

    So, F. Grin looked into and analysed three systems: either English only, or Multilanguages or Esperanto. It is this last one solution that he finally proposed for economic and social reasons. See: http://en.nitobe.info/ar/kampanjoj/grin-raporto.php

    It is no doubt; what would be good for Europe communication would be good for the world as well!

    No doubt also that introducing the Esperanto in the US public schools would be “A BIG STEP FOR THE HUMANITY”, as much as walking on the moon was  “a big step for the science & technology”. Bresil is already thinking about that scope; should the States follow!
    Indeed, please, imagine how rich would become our live if, next year, we could clearly talk and exchange with any one else in the world! Then, the whole world will become closer to us; it will definitely be our second nation.
    This “low cost” dream is possible subject to human behavior & decision from our governments. Yes they can...if they want to.

    But it is our duty to help them by enforcing and supporting that request, everyday, everywhere.

    Report close

    You must be signed in to report content.

     Reply
  • Penelope Vos
    Mar 19, 2010 @ 03:24PM PT
    Penelope Vos

    Well said, Guy!

    Report close

    You must be signed in to report content.

     Reply
  • Alessandro Pentori
    Mar 20, 2010 @ 09:15AM PT
    Alessandro Pentori

    Great idea, please consider it!

    Report close

    You must be signed in to report content.

     Reply
  • Tony Gravagno
    Mar 23, 2010 @ 10:12AM PT
    Tony Gravagno

    It looks like no one knows that we actually did have several Chicago Public Schools teaching Esperanto to 5th graders and to a number of autistic students.

    For the autistic kids, Esperanto introduced order into their language with simplification of grammar that confounds people trying to learn English. Those kids were better able to learn English (and communicate with their family and friends) after first getting a grasp on basic communication.

    For the other kids, Esperanto introduced language without the burden of grammatical speed-bumps that interfere with learning national languages. In other words, they had immediate success and were therefore not put off from language the way kids get when starting with English to learn French, Italian, Spanish, or Latin.

    There were kids in other parts of the USA learning Esperanto too, thanks in large part to the efforts of R Kent Jones, who is no longer with us, and many others. Kent would teach the teachers by phone and mail so that they could keep up with the kids who were eagerly racing forward.  :)

    This was an experiment that worked, with no budget, no new teachers. The problem was that it relied entirely on volunteers, grassroots efforts, and evening/weekend time to teach the teachers just a few chapters beyond where they were teaching their students. An official program would help to establish the program into something more self-sustaining.

    I taught myself Esperanto when I was in high-school, around 1980. This helped me with further studies of Italian, French, Spanish, Polish, Japanese, and other languages. I don't claim fluency in these, but at an early age I came to understand the structure of language and that helped me to understand any language I later studied. It also allowed me to become more of a world citizen, understanding people in other countries through direct communication.  That is one of the greatest benefits that all Americans can derive by learning this language.

    Tony Gravagno
    Former President, Esperanto Society of Chicago

    Report close

    You must be signed in to report content.

     Reply
  • Manuel Francisco FONTES
    Mar 23, 2010 @ 11:49AM PT
    Manuel Francisco FONTES

    Jes, mi estos kontenta cxu esperanto iu tago estos enkondukata en amerikaj lernejoj. Mi kredas ke cxiuj esparantistos deziras ci tion.

    Report close

    You must be signed in to report content.

     Reply
  • Guy Camy
    Mar 23, 2010 @ 01:37PM PT
    Guy Camy

    Nice, Tony, to know that several Chicago's Public Schools are teaching Esperanto to 5th graders and to a number of autistic students : do you know how many schools, approximately? How old are the 5th graders?

    Also, do you know others states where esperanto is teached in several public schools?

    This kind of data would help me here, in france, when I speek about esperanto (conferences,..)

    You know, I strongly believe that sould the US introduce e"speranto in all their public schools, then the world would follow...and Obama will be a second time "Nobel Prize".

    A "big" country must start: why not the US?

    Chear up, guy's!!

    Report close

    You must be signed in to report content.

     Reply
  • Tony Gravagno
    Mar 23, 2010 @ 02:44PM PT
    Tony Gravagno

    That project was started between 1991-1992. I could not continue my efforts with our local group after 1993 for personal family reasons and I moved to California shortly after. I don't know long the Chicago teachers continued their work. Note also that the Principal (like a Head Master here) from at least one school was also learning the language and working closely with teachers and students. Such approval from management is an important factor in adoption.

    Someone at the Esperanto Society of Chicago may be able to tell you how long that program lasted or if indeed it still does. (http://www.esperanto-chicago.org/) I have often wondered if anyone did testing of the kids in control groups years later, to see how the kids who studied Esperanto fared in life and studies compared to those who did not in their same class groups.

    Children in the 5th grade here in the USA are between the ages of 9 and 11. I do not know specifically what other schools or age groups were learning Esperanto but I do know that R. Kent Jones was working with several teachers around the country.

    To my knowledge Esperanto has never been adopted in any USA school system as anything other than an experiment, subject to the initiative and available time of the few individuals who had interest and understood the value. But it's my firm belief that we should have some number of schools across the USA at least trying a dedicated program for a period of at least 3 years, to generate enough statistics to determine the value of a more general program.

    Report close

    You must be signed in to report content.

     Reply
  • Guy Camy
    Mar 23, 2010 @ 03:49PM PT
    Guy Camy

    Thanks a lot, Tony. It is quite the same here also.

    The proposal for introducing the esperanto in the education system must come from the citizens and students. So, subsequently to the proposal got on the change.org competition, don't you believe that a national petition could be started in the US, subject to some prior relevant  "campaign"?

     

     

    Report close

    You must be signed in to report content.

     Reply
  • Ljeonjiid Dasheevskjij
    Mar 29, 2010 @ 09:14AM PT
    Ljeonjiid Dasheevskjij

     

     

    .!saluton ,chiuy zelotoy de Esperanto.
    ..mi komprenis vin ,char vi ne hhavis eblecon kompari Esperanton kun alia artefarita lingvo ,vi komparas qhin nur kun la angla kaj aliay naciay lingvoy ,kiuy esta ,certe pli komplikay ,ol Esperanto ,sed ?chu vi povos honeste respondi al du miay demandoy: .1.?kiun automobilon vi achetus por veturi chien -+ ?chu kabrioleton de la 19+a jarcento au ?chu Mersedeson de la 21+a jarcento.
    ..la sama estas demando pri praktika uzado de artefaritay lingvoy: .Esperanto estas ,kiel kabioleto ,la lingvo de pasintay jarcentoy ,sed jam ekzistas nova artefarita lingvo Eespe ,kiel Mersedeso ,de la kuranta 21+a jarcento ,kiu estas pli facile lernebla ,ol Esperanto.
    ..do ,resondu: .?chu vi elektos Esperanton au novan simlan lingvon Eespe ,se vi ekscihis pri qhi.

    .!vizitu www.esperanto.com por ekscihi pri globala lingvo Eespe.

    ..bondezire

    ,Ljeonjiid Dasheevskjij.

    Report close

    You must be signed in to report content.

     Reply
  • Helmut Klünder
    Mar 29, 2010 @ 11:55AM PT
    Helmut Klünder

    Ljeonjiid,

    chu vi ne povas chesi viajn spamajhojn?

    Report close

    You must be signed in to report content.

     Reply
  • Adrien Luzincourt
    Apr 10, 2010 @ 04:16AM PT
    Adrien Luzincourt

    Mi subbtenas tiun ideon.

    Tutkore,

    Dro Luzincourt Adrien

    Report close

    You must be signed in to report content.

     Reply
  • petko denev
    May 17, 2010 @ 11:16AM PT
    petko denev

    Mi ankau subtenas tiun ideon kaj esperas ke baldau Esperanto sukcesas esti parolata inter multaj homoj.Mi gxojas se tiu idejo sukcese venos en Usona lernejoj.

    Report close

    You must be signed in to report content.

     Reply
  • Alcyr Rossi
    Jun 23, 2010 @ 08:09AM PT
    Alcyr Rossi

    Unue,  Mi deziras diri al la tuta samideanoj ke oni povas skribi la ĉapelaj leteroj kiel mi faras tie ĉi, sen la necesoj meti "h" helpon, se vi elŝutos la programon komputilan nomata EK.  Estas la granda solvo por tiu problemo . Due, mi petegas al Ljeonjiid ĉesi tiajn spamaĵojn. Sufiĉas, ĉu ne ? Ĉu vi deziras kolerigi la esperantistojn? Jam sukcesis !

    Report close

    You must be signed in to report content.

     Reply
  • Alcyr Rossi
    Jun 23, 2010 @ 08:13AM PT
    Alcyr Rossi

    JES POR  ESPERANTO !

    Report close

    You must be signed in to report content.

     Reply
  • Sonja Lund
    Jun 30, 2010 @ 02:45PM PT
    Sonja Lund

    Mi lernas Esperanto. :)

    Report close

    You must be signed in to report content.

     Reply
  • Sven Frank
    Jul 15, 2010 @ 08:35AM PT
    Sven Frank

    Car amicos, como vos vide, Esperanto non es compresibile sin haber apprednite iste lingua antea.

    Esperanto es un hobby, ma non un solution.

    Le idea de motivar alumnos de apprender un nove lingua es de communicar con mulre personas.

    Il ha linguas international que es comprednite per personas qui parla italiano, espaniol, portugese e latino ab le initio.

    E vos como educate americanos pote comprender tamben.

    Iste nova es scribite in interlingua!

    E le facto que vos comprende e deveni irritate prova que io ha ration.

    Salutes cordial de

    Sven

    Report close

    You must be signed in to report content.

     Reply
  • Tony Gravagno
    Jul 15, 2010 @ 01:13PM PT
    Tony Gravagno

    Sven - I respect your view but disagree for many reasons. I do not speak spanish but I am able to read your note perfectly, in large part because of my experience with Esperanto. Esperanto isn't just a "destination", it's a "vehicle" toward learning other languages. It can be a hobby but with practical use as well. It helps people to understand the concepts of grammar without exposing them to word genders and completely illogical rules of conjugation. With that new understanding, students are much better prepared to learn other languages. Studies show that 1 year of Esperanto followed by 1 year of any other languages is much better than 3 years of immersion in the target language.

    Quite simply: the rate of "failure" (defined in different ways) to learn a foreign language in american schools is very high. Once someone claims to have learned a language in school (typically spanish or french in USA), I'd say about 5% actually ever use that knowledge or continue their linguistic education. (I challenge people who say "I learned spanish in school" to articulate a single coherent sentence outside of a ridiculous "this is the pencil of my aunt". I expect a low success rate.) Americans who travel to other countries usually won't learn the other languages, and those who do probably didn't get their language base in school. Even after learning a foreign language, I doubt many people would pick up a magazine in their second language to see what's happening in the rest of the world. Compare this to Esperantists, where a large percentage do travel internationally, and do communicate with people outside of their own country - and most Esperantists do learn two or more languages in addition to their own. And because there are magazines in Esperanto written all over the world, Esperantists get a good sense of what's going on in the world directly from people on the scene.

    Even if Esperanto is "just a hobby" or perhaps "no one speaks it", these benefits alone make this language a fine tool for learning other languages, and for helping people (americans anyway) to get a much better understanding of the international community.

    And after all of that pragmatic reasoning, here's something purely subjective: after 30 years, I still sometimes dream in Esperanto. That's a very cool experience that most americans will simply never have with a conventional education.

    Report close

    You must be signed in to report content.

     Reply
  • Sonja Lund
    Jul 15, 2010 @ 02:20PM PT
    Sonja Lund

    (Quick note, Tony- Sven was writing in Interlingua, not Spanish)

    I would also like to respond to Sven- regardless of what you think about Esperanto, sir, you have to acknowledge that Esperanto is what caught on and is being used as a means of international communication between people.  If a person wants to have this level of access to other cultures and peoples, Esperanto is the most practical.  There are up to two million speakers in the world, in over 100 countries.  Meanwhile, Interlingua itself is actively used by a few hundred people.

    While Interlingua is comphrensible by people with Romance language education, it falls short as an actual communication tool.  To quote someone on an Esperanto forum: "...if someone came up to you in the street and started speaking something that sounded like a mix between English, Scots, Dutch and Norwegian, you might understand him but it'd be very awkward. Generally, I think it's safe to assume that if you're going travelling, you should expect only to use English/Esperanto/Interlingua with people who have learnt them, more due to social reasons or because people might be busy and don't want to decipher foreign-sounding registers."

    If you're travelling to a foreign place independent of anything related to Esperanto, it's easier to just learn some of the language of the place to which you're travelling.  Esperanto opens doors that might not otherwise be opened with another language, including Interlingua. (There's a great moment in Arika Okrent's "In the Land of Invented Languages", where an Interlingua speaker at an Esperanto conference is quoted as saying "I think [Interlingua] is a better language.  It's clearer, more logical, and more beautiful than Esperanto... but I have no one to speak it with.")

    Report close

    You must be signed in to report content.

     Reply
  • Jorge Purgly
    Jul 15, 2010 @ 02:50PM PT
    Jorge Purgly

    Dear Sirs, 

    I translated the two last comments and published on my blog in Portuguese.

    Please check it out at 

    http://networkedblogs.com/5ScIL

    Best Regards,

    Jorge Purgly

    Report close

    You must be signed in to report content.

     Reply
  • Tony Gravagno
    Jul 16, 2010 @ 12:55PM PT
    Tony Gravagno

    I'm embarrassed - I thought Sven was joking and that he was actually speaking some dialect of Portuguese or Spanish, heck or maybe Romansch. :)

    Looking at the InterLingua now, it's no surprise that it never caught on. What's the point of trading one linguistically intensive natural/national language for another one?  That's one of the reasons why I love Esperanto - there are only 16 rules and they are rarely broken.  _That_ is why it's easy to teach kids and give them an appreciation for language through this "vehicle".  Compare this to the experience people typically have in american schools now where they take a year of a language and they're afraid of languages for the rest of their lives.

    Jorge, I'm honored that you took  the time to do the translations - thanks! I hope this thread helps someone!

    Report close

    You must be signed in to report content.

     Reply
    • Ian Fantom
      Jul 17, 2010 @ 02:35AM PT
      Ian Fantom

      Yes, Interlingua confuses people. That what it was designed to do. Interlingua was a fraud. A research group called IALA was set up by Esperantists in the UK and taken over in the US by someone who just seemed to be out to destroy the idea. See http://rik.poreo.org/documents.html .

      At about the same time, Esperanto Association of North America was taken over by a gang of McCarthyites, who seemed intent on vilifying leading members of the world body, the Universala Esperanto-Asocio. EANA was expelled from UEA and Esperanto survived yet another onslaught.

      We now know that the powers that be in the US and the UK were pushing English as the imperial language of a militaritstic New World Order. Esperanto is a great language and a great idea. For it to have survived for so long with such opposition, coming mainly from within, shows that there must be something particularly resiliant about the Esperanto movement.

       

      Report close

      You must be signed in to report content.
    • Reply to thread
  • Jorge Purgly
    Jul 16, 2010 @ 06:33PM PT
    Jorge Purgly

    Dear Tony, thanks for your comment. Ni semas, kaj semas konstante.

    Koran saluton el Brazilo,

    Jorge

    Report close

    You must be signed in to report content.

     Reply
  • Marie Anne Jouanique
    Jul 17, 2010 @ 02:28AM PT
    Marie Anne Jouanique

     

    Gratulon al chiuj esperantistoj! Chu finfine okazos io en Brazilo pri la instruado de esperanto en la lernejoj?

    Kaj ne forgesu: "La nepoj vin benos se vi pacience eltenos."

    Report close

    You must be signed in to report content.

     Reply
  • David Curtis
    Jul 18, 2010 @ 11:09PM PT
    David Curtis

    On Mar 17, 2010 @ 08:09PM PT, José Passini wrote: "No need to hire new teachers to teach Esperanto. The teacher already in the classroom can learn Esperanto and teach Esperanto at the same time. I know that this sounds incredible. Experiments made in Australia prove that this is possible."    I know this to be true, having seen the evidence in Australia in 1996.  Since then, Penelope Vos, in Australia, has produced an excellent resources-book which enables English-speaking teachers to learn Esperanto and teach Esperanto at the same time, giving the language to children in bite-sized chunks at any time in the teaching day, according to the judgement of the class-teacher.  This prepares primary-school children for learning whatever foreign language they are offered in the secondary school.  As the task of language-teachers is thus made easier they will surely realise the value of Esperanto and learn it themselves - which they can do very successfully, because of the skills they already have.  Up to now they have been convinced that Esperanto is an inferior language, and have done their best to keep it off the secondary-school curriculum.  In Britain, in 1990, their leaders "forgot" to recommend it to the Education Minister who was reviewing the National Curriculum, and as a result it has since been illegal to teach Esperanto  in British schools, except as an out-of-hours club activity.  Pneelope Vos's book, "Talking to the Whole Wide World", changes all that,  Translations of it into other languages are being made possible by a leading American professor, Donald Glossop, who is busy translating it into Esperanto, so that Esperanto-speakers in various countries can translate it into their own languages. 

    Report close

    You must be signed in to report content.

     Reply

  • Add a Comment

    Check Spelling

    Comment Policy

    Comments on Change.org are meant for further exploration and evaluation of the ideas covered in the posts. To that end, we welcome constructive comments. However, we reserve the right to delete comments that are offensive, abusive, or off-topic; that contain ad hominem attacks; or that are designed to subvert or hijack comment threads rather than contribute to them. Repeat offenders may be permanently removed from the site at our discretion.

This idea was voted into the final round of the 2010 Ideas for Change in America competition. To view more information, including the 10 winners of the final round, click here.

Delete Idea

close

This user's Profile page is not public. They have restricted it to only their friends.

Already a Member?

Create an Account

You must create a Change.org account to complete this action. If you already have an account click here.

Cancel