15 Responses to School exchanges in Esperanto: a springboard for languages? »»

1. Cédric Castel
   Comment by Cédric Castel | 2009/05/27 at 10:11:27

   Bonjour,

   bonne initiative, merci !
   Je relève une faute d’anglais (qui prouve que l’anglais est une langue compliquée), classique chez les francophones :

   Vous écrivez “A Europe who can also show solidarity. These are the objectives set by the three associations who have launched ”Challenge for Europe”.”

   Vous deriez écrire “A Europe THAT can also show solidarity. These are the objectives set by the three associations THAT have launched ”Challenge for Europe”.

   L’EUROPE et des objectifs ne sont en effet pas des personnes mais des choses, donc “who” ne s’applique pas et il convient d’utiliser “that”.

   On peut se demander, toutefois, pourquoi vous choisissez de vous exprimer en anglais, ce qui semble contredire votre thèse…
   Je suis moi-même anglophone, germanophone, hispanophone ET espérantophone.

   Cordialement

2. Penny Vos
   Comment by Penny Vos | 2009/05/27 at 11:01:17

   Esperanto is proposed as the first “Language Other Than English” in Australian schools because it is an achievable goal, providing both access to a wide variety of cultures and a solid basis for later language learning.
   It can be taught and practiced in frequent short lessons provided by the normal classroom teacher which avoids the chronic teacher supply problem and is very much more effective than weekly lessons.
   Let’s all meet each other halfway in Esperanto!

3. Charlotte
   Comment by Charlotte | 2009/05/27 at 13:36:55

   Bonjour Cédric,
   Bonne remarque! Et pourtant, si on avait choisi de s’exprimer uniquement en français, on aurait touché qu’une petite part des européens! Le but était de ne pas être lingui-centré… Tout le monde n’est pas quadrilingue!
   Mais, sur le fond, tu as raison : à quand le blog en esperanto!? Peut-être est-ce une réponse au débat européen… et à certains débats nationaux??
   Laurent Zibell aura surement quelque chose à répondre là-dessus.
   Charlotte, chargée de projet pour http://www.challengeforeurope.eu

4. Diano
   Comment by Diano | 2009/05/27 at 16:05:44

   When I spent a year at an English medium, International School in the Czech Republic several years ago, I was lucky that as well as English I also spoke Esperanto. At the school everyone mainly from different countries, did speak English at various levels of proficiency. Outside the school it was almost impossible to find anyone who spoke English.

   No doubt there were good English speakers in the big hotels, banks and fancy shops but that is not where you can get to know people and acquire a knowledge of their ways and culture. It was only through contacting Czech Esperantists that I felt I came to an understanding of this wonderfully interesting nation and its people.

   When I did ask English speaking Czechs why they did not learn Esperanto as their international language instead of English which is much harder to master, they ofen said that they would prefer to learn Esperanto, but they didn’t because English speakers don’t learn it.

   This is when I realized how important it is to encourage English speakers to learn Esperanto, if they really believe in being fair. English speakers are the most advantaged people in the world and yet they are becoming more advantaged by not having to spend time and money on learning another language. As they are becoming more advantaged others are becoming less advantaged. Isn’t this the real cause of terrorism?

5. robert leleu
   Comment by robert leleu | 2009/05/27 at 18:01:59

   Fakte, Charlotte, kial ne esperanta babililo? Aŭ al menaŭ kelkaj esperantaj mesaĝoj en la nuna babilaro??

6. Louis F. v. Wunsch-Rolshoven
   Comment by Louis F. v. Wunsch-Rolshoven | 2009/05/27 at 20:59:46

   I really enjoyed reading this article as I do speak Esperanto for more than thirty years. And I very much like to be part of this growing international community of people who speak Esperanto.

   The article states: “Thus, the level allowing a first meaningful dialogue (B1) can be reached within about one year.” Quite often people become fluent after much less time. I sometimes teach Esperanto in weekend courses. A “first meaningful dialogue” is possible after one or two weekends. And no one up to now ever wanted to book more than three weekends - they just continue learning by speaking or reading.

   Laurent Zibell makes the proposition “to organise a European primary school partnership network”. I would prefer a network for pupils at the age of 14 up to 18 years. They know much better what they really want and it is much easier for them to travel to meet the others. And because they already learnt English, they are somehow free to learn a language just for fun and international understanding. (Yes, I know, Esperanto first would be a good preparation for English - but nearly no one wants to hear this, people are nearly crazy about their children learning English as quick as possible. So I prefer the way with more perspective.)

   I would like to add an idea about Esperanto in schools. I think every European pupil should be tought what Esperanto nowadays is, during one or two lessons in school. Older ones could give a presentation they prepared. I think, as a first step this would help Esperanto much more than teaching Esperanto in just a few schools. People need to know first, how Esperanto is used today and how it is spreading, before they can make a sound decision in favour (or against it).

7. Sean O Riain
   Comment by Sean O Riain | 2009/05/27 at 22:51:23

   Diano’s final point has particular importance. If people realise that they have been placed at a lifelong disadvantage merely because they were not born in an English-speaking country, whilst others have a permanent, unearned, advantage merely because they were born in an English-speaking country, they can react negativly and sometimes violently, i.e. terrorism.

   Therefore peace really is linked to justice and fairness, and Esperanto epitomises both. As a COMMON language, of course, not as a SOLE language. Diversity, linguistic as much as that of flora and fauna, is a richness to be preserved, whilst communicating beyond language boundaries in a language which underlines equal rights and parity of esteem for everybody. Esperanto can admirably fulfil this role, but it can also improve language-learning in general and thus strengthen multilingualism.

8. Ángel
   Comment by Ángel | 2009/05/29 at 06:37:50

   I think Esperanto is the universal language. Mi parolas Esperanton de antaux 30 jaroj kaj mi komprenas la anglan, tamen mi ne kapablas gxin dece paroli, kaj Esperanto donas al mi pacon kaj fido je la homaro.

9. Juan
   Comment by Juan | 2009/05/29 at 08:44:38

   Iba a empezar mi respuesta disculpándome por no saber el suficiente inglés como para redactar este mensaje en esa lengua. Pero me he puesto a pensar que realmente no estoy haciendo nada malo expresándome en mi propio idioma. Puedo comprender lo leído en inglés casi al 100% pero el crear frases es algo más complejo ¿verdad?
   Cuando aprendí Esperanto de forma autodidacta recuerdo mi perplejidad al comprobar que una herramienta tan sencilla pero expresiva no estuviera propagándose a los cuatro vientos sin más apoyo que su propio e indiscutible mérito. Entonces era muy joven e ingenuo. Más tarde aprendí sobre los intereses económicos y políticos, sobre las considerables inversiones que algunos países anglófonos llevaban a cabo para promocionar su lengua en todo el mundo y comprendí que tomaba parte en una batalla perdida de antemano, que militaba en el bando equivocado. Es tal el bombardeo publicitario sobre la “necesidad” que todos tenemos de aprender inglés que ya nos lo hemos creído, hasta tal punto de disculparnos por no saber hablarlo. ¿No deberíamos aprender los españoles francés o portugués antes que inglés? Más que nada por aquello de la proximidad y las probabilidades reales de disfrutar de estas culturas tan cercanas y cautivadoras…
   Hoy voy a romper una lanza por el Esperanto. Retomo mi ingenuidad e idealismo. Las buenas ideas son tercas. Apoyo sin reservas cualquier proyecto encaminado a enseñarlo, si bien no comparto del todo el objetivo último que me ha parecido entender aquí: que sirva como paso intermedio hacia el aprendizaje de otras lenguas. ¿Creen ustedes realmente que después de haberlo aprendido, de haber constatado en primera persona su facilidad, precisión, regularidad, lógica y expresividad el ya esperantófono se va a embarcar en el aprendizaje de una tercera lengua nacional, irregular, ilógica, saturada de frases hechas, con fónetica a veces imposible de reproducir? Lo harán los amantes de las lenguas o aquellos con intereses directos en el país donde se hable. Los demás preferirán seguir encendiendo fuego con una cerilla en lugar de hacerlo frotando dos palos. La ley del mínimo esfuerzo.

10. Joan
    Comment by Joan | 2009/05/29 at 15:51:31

    Catalan:
    Estic d’acord amb vostè, Juan, sobre el portuguès i el francès; jo fins i tot diria que el gallec, el basc, el català i l’occità són a més de més propers i atractius, fins i tot oficials en algunes comunitats espanyoles.

    Esperanto:
    Mi konsentas kun vi Juan pri la portugala kaj la franca; mi eĉ dirus ke la galega, la eŭska, la kataluna kaj la okcitana estas krom pli proksimaj kaj allogaj, ili eĉ estas oficialaj en iuj hispanaj komunumoj.

    English:
    I agree with you, Juan, about the Portuguese and the French; I even would say that the Galician, the Basque, the Catalan and the Occitan are besides nearer and attractive, even official in some Spanish communities.

11. Karl-Gustaf Gustafsson
    Comment by Karl-Gustaf Gustafsson | 2009/05/29 at 17:17:15

    Svenska
    Jag har använt Esperanto sedan 1965. Jag har tack vare Esperanto blivit mer medveten om mitt eget språks grammatik, liksom att jag även förbättrat mina kunskaper i Engelska.

    Jag är därför övertygad om att Esperanto kan hjälpa personer som tycker att det är “svårt” att lära sig ett främmande språk.

    English
    I have used Esperanto since 1965. Due to Esperanto I have got more conscientious of the grammar in my own language as well as the grammar of the English language.

    I am convinced that people who think it is “difficult” learn a foreign language will find Esperanto a nice “springboard” to other languages as well as their own native language.

    Esperanto
    Mi uzis Esperanton de post 1965. Dank´al Esperanto mi iĝis pli konscia pri la gramatiko de mia propra nacia lingvo (la sveda), krom fakto ke mi ankaŭ evoluigis mian komprenon de la gramatiko de la angla lingvo.

    Mi estas tute konvinkita ke Esperanto povas esti je helpo al homoj kiuj opinias lernado de fremda lingvo “malfacila”.

12. Laurent ZIBELL
    Comment by Laurent ZIBELL | 2009/05/29 at 23:35:46

    @Louis F. v. Wunsch-Rolshoven
    I thank you for your warm comments. The reasons why I believe that it is more adequate to have this network of exchanges at primary school level are the following:
    * preparing oneself for language learning only makes sense BEFORE the actual language learning has started - once it has started, a preparatory exercise makes less sense
    * having a first, positive and gratifying experience is an advantage and a source of motivation for later language learning. Several studies, specifically at the University of Paderborn in Germany have illustrated the propedeutic virtues of having learnt a simple language before embarking in the more arduous experience of a natural one. You say that “no one wants to hear this” - well, if the ultimate goal of better speaking English in the longer run is reached (and it has been demonstrated), then I believe that the argument may indeed be heard.

    @ all
    The purpose of this proposal is very much to help young Europeans to discover by themselves how intersting and potentially easy it can be to communicate with people from different countries. It aims at motivating them to learn about other places and cultures, to train them in thinking in a different language (which is a discovery for those born in a mono-lingual environment). If this goal were reached, it would already be a huge achievement: learning a foreign language would not only be an abstract “must do”, a hard and frustrating experience, but on the opposite a source of pleasure and enjoyment.

    After this direct communication experience, the children either may very well be motivated to learn the language of the country of their partnering school: this would favour the diversity of language learning in Europe, along the model of the “language of heart” of the Maalouf committee.

    If after that, they also want to continue speaking Esperanto, this is their responsibility…

13. Dr. Lajos Molnár
    Comment by Dr. Lajos Molnár | 2009/05/30 at 18:18:17

    Congratulations!

    Look at our website http://www.egalite.fw.hu …

    Esperanto estas la ideala pontolingvo por EU!

14. David Curtis
    Comment by David Curtis | 2009/05/31 at 18:41:28

    To test whether Esperanto worked, after I had learnt to speak it, I spent a fortnight in a summer-school where there were people from many nations, in Czechoslovakia, in 1980. I was deeply impressed to meet an Inspector of Esperanto from Hungary, with a group of Hungarian children. They were able to socialise easily with all the adults and children there, and I feel sure that, like me, they never forgot the atmosphere of peace and mutual understanding.

    Por testi chu Esperanto funkciis, lerninte paroli ghin, mi pasigis dusemajnon en somerlernejo kie estis homoj el multaj nacioj, en Chehhoslovakio, en 1980. Profunde imponis min renkonti Inspektoro de Esperanto el Hungario, kun grupo da hungaraj geknaboj. Ili povis socialigi facile kun chiuj el la adoltoj kaj geknaboj tie, kaj mi certas ke, kiel mi, ili neniam forgesis la etoson de paco kaj interkompreno.

15. Brian Barker
    Comment by Brian Barker | 2009/06/11 at 18:16:08

    If you are now learning Esperanto please check the following video which is in this international language, but with English subtitles.

    http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8837438938991452670

    Other assistance is available at http://www.lernu.net

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