I came across Esperanto "many years ago" in the 1980s and even learned a bit. Here's a documentary on the scattered numbers around the world who speak Esperanto fluently:
This "Esperanto TV" broadcast comes from Poland, homeland of Esperanto's creator. The language sounds a lot more natural in this East European accent:
Esperanto is supposed to be spoken with an "Italian accent"; that is, the 5 vowels have the same values as in Italian and word stress is on the penultimate syllable in polysyllabic words or the first syllable in two-syllable words.
This lady really does speak it naturalistically and fluently. This class is about "how to talk on the telephone in Esperanto"
About Me
- Gledwood
- 38 year-old guy, 6 blogs (the main one is gledwood vol 2 so go there for new postings: blogs are linked via my sidebars), I also have 3 video blogs. One mainly music vids, the other random "novelty" clips from Youtube/etc. The third is my Fabulous Celebrity Blog for fans of trash culture. Unfortunately addicted to drugs - yes it was my own fault but what can I do about it now? Addicted means trapped & can't stop. That's how addicted I am. But that's not ALL I blog about. Apart from drugs I love drink. Apart from drink I'm into little furry animals like Pingpong, my Chinese hamster, and my 3 roborovski hamsters: Itchy, Bashful and Spherical... and ... er, food. Lately there has been a drought of the substance that enslaved me for so long. Will I clean up? Only time will tell...
4 comments:
Esperanto speakers may be scatterted but that does not mean that we are few in number.
Take a look at http://www.esperanto.net
Esperanto works! I’ve used it in speech and writing - and sung in it - in a dozen countries over recent years.
Indeed, the language has some remarkable practical benefits. Personally, I’ve made friends around the world through Esperanto that I would never have been able to communicate with otherwise. And then there’s the Pasporta Servo, which provides free lodging and local information to Esperanto-speaking travellers in over 90 countries. In the past few years I have had guided tours of Berlin and Milan and Douala in Cameroon in the planned language. I have discussed philosophy with a Slovene poet, humour on television with a Bulgarian TV producer. I’ve discussed what life was like in East Berlin before the wall came down, how to cook perfect spaghetti, the advantages and disadvantages of monarchy, and so on.
I agree with Bill Chapman.
Esperanto has indeed become a living language.
If you have a moment please see http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8837438938991452670
Other assistance is available at http://www.lernu.net
I do know a bit. Enough that with a dictionary I can write letters/etc. (ie I know ALL the grammar now including how to say "I gave her an apple" things that confuse beginners...)
The very best practical use I can think of Esperanto, except meeting people you never coudl through English, would be e.g. in an international relationship where neither party speaks the other's language v well, BOTH learning Espeanto would be a far better (and quicker) compromise. Also you can have confidence in Esperanto, once you know it well enough, that anything you say is truly idiomatic. Which takes years and years and years and years to attain in any other languge...
was I making sense? by "truly idiomatic" I meant correct according to the language's idiotm...
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