tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34821333.post5889045278775815701..comments2023-08-06T05:23:02.470-07:00Comments on Confessions of a Laundry Faerie: The romance of the wordSoozcathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12549632685008663664noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34821333.post-61628283383475495352013-06-07T18:03:17.873-07:002013-06-07T18:03:17.873-07:00Olá, Denis! Welcome to the blog! I'm glad yo...Olá, Denis! Welcome to the blog! I'm glad your postcard got there OK... some Postcrossing cards do go astray.<br /><br />Your thoughtful comment is well said; since Esperanto was meant to be an access language of sorts, it does provide a means by which cultures can be accessed -- but only to a limited degree. To push the analogy, learning Esperanto gives you the chance to look at French culture through a window; learning French gives you the key to the front door.<br /><br />I recognize that giving Esperanto an associated culture may potentially limit the appeal of the language to potential users -- but there is already an indication that Esperanto as it stands has limited appeal. On the other hand, attaching a culture to the language might greatly improve public knowledge of and interest in Esperanto.Soozcathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12549632685008663664noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34821333.post-65517400177732722932013-06-06T17:37:19.076-07:002013-06-06T17:37:19.076-07:00Greetings! I was very happy to receive your postca...Greetings! I was very happy to receive your postcard today and was impressed with the coincidence, enter one of your blogs and encontarr this auspicious article about Esperanto! I speak Esperanto, and my two children to learn from the cradle, I am one of the most active editors Wiki Esperanto, translating currently on the municipalities! I found it very interesting to read about the relationship of culture with Esperanto, and it is true; beyond Klingon, I also see those who learn another language or Sindarin Elvish only because the Lord of the Rings and is also the other side that was quoted here, the use of Esperanto to travel the world, it is wonderful! I used it in practice and I was very happy when I went to Cuba. What about culture, the idea of Esperanto is not to create a new culture, but accessing all cultures of the world through the union language, for example: it is true that learning French will be fully integrated into the culture and other gastronomic delights of France and other Francophones, but knowing Esperanto can enter the culture of France (but depend on an Esperanto French to help me), culture of Mongolia (Mongolian without learning), in the culture of Russia (Russian unknowingly), etc.. And gradually, Esperanto will create your personal culture: we have the habit of participating in hundreds of Esperanto conferences being held around the world each year, which is culturally very rich. A hug and thank you!Denis Conradohttp://postselos.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34821333.post-41922376601389723082013-06-06T02:11:21.819-07:002013-06-06T02:11:21.819-07:00Greetings, Bill and Brian, and welcome to the blog...Greetings, Bill and Brian, and welcome to the blog.<br /><br />I'm interested in hearing your side of the story, though I note that both your comments did not address the main thesis of the article, to wit: languages, whether natural or constructed, tend to attract more human interest when they are part of a distinctive culture.<br /><br />Structurally speaking, Esperanto is superior to Klingon as a working language -- which is only to be expected, as one was deliberately constructed to be useful and the other was designed to be alien. Nonetheless, I have seen more and keener interest in Klingon not because it is a highly useful or elegant language, but because something about the fictitious culture speaks to a percentage of the population and drives them to learn it despite its limited lexicon, difficult pronunciation and confusing syntax. This is a phenomenon other conlangs would do well to consider, and perhaps to emulate.Soozcathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12549632685008663664noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34821333.post-57149730565332518072013-06-06T00:33:15.084-07:002013-06-06T00:33:15.084-07:00For those people who think Klingon should be the f...For those people who think Klingon should be the future international language the following may be of interest.<br /><br />Pretty useless to compare Klingon with Esperanto. Especially because Esperanto is designed to be an international language, whereas Klingon is not.<br /><br />Probably less than 10 percent of all educated people have even heard of Esperanto so do not know that, for example, the Esperanto Wikipedia has about 150,000 articles, (which gets about 400,000 views per day). By contrast the total number of articles about Klingon in Wikipedia total only 189, and nothing has been added since 2006.<br />The World Esperanto Association enjoys consultative relations with the United Nations. Does Klingon ?<br /> <br />A pity also that it is not generally known that you may find Esperanto speakers in more than 130 countries. Or that more people in Burundi per head of the population speak Esperanto than in any other country. Thirty schools in Burundi teach Esperanto ; how many teach Klingon? The World Esperanto Association enjoys consultative relations with the United Nations ; does Klingon?<br /><br />Your readers may also like to see<br />http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=8TQGVh025E4Brian Barkerhttp://www.lernu.netnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34821333.post-45818448780669631312013-06-05T23:50:39.378-07:002013-06-05T23:50:39.378-07:00I think you are unfair to Esperanto. I see Esperan...I think you are unfair to Esperanto. I see Esperanto as a remarkable success story. It has survived wars and revolutions and economic crises and continues to attract people to learn and speak it. Esperanto works! I've used it in speech and writing in about fifteen countries over recent years. I recommend it to anyone, as a way of making friendly local contacts in other countries.<br /><br />There is a downside to Esperanto, of course. Esperanto has no country, or government or real money behind it. And yet it continues to attract young learners and users. Don't write it off!<br /><br />Bill Chapmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12810992711601197508noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34821333.post-87223745434782339282013-06-05T21:25:09.467-07:002013-06-05T21:25:09.467-07:00Back in the late 80s or early 90s, I was at a larg...Back in the late 80s or early 90s, I was at a large-ish Science Fiction convention, waiting in line for some event or other, with a group of young men from Japan standing behind me. They spoke very limited English, but one of them was in a spirited discussion with another random guy who happened to be standing nearby in line, who did not appear to know any Japanese... instead, they were both speaking Klingon.<br /><br />It really stuck with me, because I remember thinking at that moment that someday there would likely be more people speaking Klingon than Esperanto... and for basically the same reason you've cited: culture. But I was thinking of it from a different direction... not necessarily the specific culture of the fictional race behind the language, but fannish culture in general. How often are two Esperanto speakers from different parts of the world going to randomly find themselves in the same place and realize that they both speak the same constructed language? The odds are pretty darned slim. But Klingon? You go to any SF&F convention and if you speak Klingon, it's pretty much inevitable that you're going to find someone to talk to. So if nothing else, Klingon is bound to be more successful simply because speakers are much more likely to find people they can converse with... because not only does the language have a culture, but the people who want to speak it largely have a common culture as well.Fenchurchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05971568369008783768noreply@blogger.com