I was reading the Wikipedia page for Esparanto, "the most widely spoken constructed international auxiliary language," and I felt confused afterward.

Esperanto has its own flag. At first, I was puzzled about why a language would have a flag, but then I came to the conclusion that the language doesn't come from a specific country... so an identity had to be created for it. I thought about this more - a language stems from a place and the area's culture is intwined in it. Is this maybe one of the reasons why the language won't "catch on?"

How do you feel about Esperanto? Do you think it will gain popularity? Do you think that a universal language could eventually be used successfully?

Also, I want to know if anyone here has studied/speaks Esperanto. I would love to have your input!

You know scientists that speak Esperanto!? That's fascinating!

What hurts my brain regarding that---> from what I know about Esperanto, it doesn't boast a large lexicon. What I'm wondering is if there are words in Esperanto to correctly express the jargon of science. If so, then Esperanto would be a useful language for the science field. Is this the reason why the scientists use it or do they speak it for other reasons?

The main purpose of Esperanto is the communication between people, no matter their walk of life or occupation.
For my own part, I can say I am far from being a scientist... but I do speak Esperanto!
You'd be surprised as for the large quantity of literature written in E-o, from romantic novels to -yes- scientific documents. And about the lexicon, that is one of the main strengths of the language: It uses a relatively small set of roots, but with an extensive use of prefixes and affixes your vocabulary grows exponentially. But it won't stop there, because Esperanto is also (and mainly)a very friendly language for everyday communication.
Give it a try and you'll find how enriching an experience it is. Go to this very popular site (in English) for learning Esperanto. Gxis revido!

Isaac Samuel wrote:

In history,the colonists arrived at your port with their flags unfurled in their ship's masts to invade your territory.
Jingoists unfurled their flags in their own territories for patriotism. Flags are allegorical in these two situations; but it is a stretch in this situation.

I agree with bugdoctor: "As for the language having its own flag, that seems a bit much"

An icon with lettered logo should serve the purpose.

Currency is another place for national identity. That is why Eurodollars have pictures of no place in particular, in fairness to the 16 different countries that use them.

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The folly of mistaking a paradox for a discovery, a metaphor for a proof, a torrent of verbiage for a spring of capital truths, and oneself for an oracle, is inborn in us.
- Paul Valery

Bugdoctor said:

>Personally, I'd rather be conversant in a couple of other languages.

I do too. But learning Esperanto took me a few months. Learning English took a huge part of my life.

>I think that would be more beneficial in the long run.

If you are going to spend a lot of time in the concerning country, you are right. I learned English to live in USA.

I know a lady that learned French in rather short time ... with a lot of work. Then she did some of her studying in Paris, with teachers and co-students that spoke French, while living at the house of French speakers. Already passed more than 15 years from the last time she used French, even if she visited other countries.

I have spoken Esperanto in many countries, and I have spoken Esperanto with people from other countries while they were visiting USA. Some of them had studied English during many years but didn't reach a conversation level. The others didn't study English.

Enrique

I have been fascinated by Esperanto, and have developed an interest in learning it, in recent years. Unfortunately, I've never taken the time to learn, since no one else I know is an Esperanto speaker, and I've determined that I would almost never use it.

However, after reading Enrique's comments, I'm beginning to reconsider. If it really is as quick to learn as you say, Enrique, perhaps I could use Esperanto, rather than Italian, with my daughter (she understands only a few Italian phrases, because everyone else I know speaks only English with her), and with a few of my friends who have expressed an interest in learning another language for the purposes of "secret communication" while in public.

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Risa
"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife."
-- Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen

Samuel said:

>English is enjoying the status of Lingua franca
>If you think Esperanto will still flourish

They are 2 different languages. Both are very useful. I studied and learned both. It took me a couple of months since I "discovered" Esperanto until I started to speak it. I needed many, many years to reach that level in English, even after I moved to New York City.

I was practicing English many more hours that I was using Esperanto. Reading was enough practice for Esperanto. After being able to understand well "The New York Times", it took me years to learn to listen to English.

When traveling, English is very useful to help arrange more traveling, hotels, tours, even some restaurants. Esperanto works better if you want to make friends, be invited to dinner, or stay overnight at the house of local people, and being accompanied to tour their towns. always speaking at the same level.

It is very frustrating when one person speaks at the level that can be acquired by learning a foreign language, with somebody that has spoken English from birth.

Please learn a little bit more about Esperanto.
You can start at

http://esperantofre.com

Please write to me. If you click my name "Enrique", at the beginning or at the end of the page, you will find my email address.

Best wishes,

Enrique

. . . When they spoke English to me, it was
. . . because they wanted to sell me something.
. . . When they spoke Esperanto to me, it was
. . . because they wanted to be my friends.

Has Esperanto become a universal language so far?

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Love love love love co-co-nuts!, I I I I Island~~! Xo!!

Well, some people obviously have a use for Esperanto. Me for one.
As for being an international language, well it's a slow process, but one that is moving forward none-the-less.
In a recent reprint of the Unua Libro (first book), editor Gene Keyes said that when he first started the project in 2000, he did a search for Esperanto on Google and it yielded over 1 million hits. At the completion of his task in February of 2007, the same search yielded over 34 million hits. Out of curiosity, after I had read that I did the same search and it yielded over 39.2 million hits. That's up over 5 million in two months. So it's growing. Slowly (or maybe not so slowly!)
Obviously not everyone will find a use for it, and that's fine. However for those that take the time and bother to search out the other users, it's worth it. Of course searching out other uses gets easier with each passing day.
Personally I have friends all over the world. Friends I wouldn't have had with out Esperanto.

Let's answer some specific concerns that many people have raised but not bothered to research.
The language is Impractical and awkward?
The two million plus (as of 1995) people that use it says it's not Impractical. Two million was considered the functionally fluent level (IE: able to get by in the necessary elements when travelling) in 1995. Since 1995 the Internet has grown by leaps and bounds, and Esperanto right along with it.
Wikipedia hosts around 250 different languages. Esperanto ranks 15th in the most numerous articles category.
More than these languages to name a few.
16 Turkish
17 Slovak
18 Czech
http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/List_of_W…
Awkward?
Anything that is generally new to people tends to be awkward. That changes with practise. I can vouch for that personally.
Never use it? I think I answered that.
European based?
Ask the thousands of asian speakers if they'd rather learn Esperanto or English, French or one of the the other rule riddled languages (and ALL of their exceptions). The only reason that they would say any but Esperanto is because of the coverage that English has. That however is changing.
Pax Americana is coming to a close. Of course that will draw some scoffs. Naturally when you stand in a very small segment of history, you draw conclusions from that small segment. The Romans thought they would last forever too. The Nazi's were supposed to last 1000 years. Only 994 years short!
(Let's be clear on this. I view the demise of the Nazis as a good thing)
When you stand back and view history as a whole, and watch as history repeats itself, you can draw conclusions from a firmer perspective.
The real value of Esperanto lies in its desire to allow other languages to thrive right along side of it. As an AUXILIARY language, it serves as a means of communication between cultures, and allows tham to continue to grow and enrich human kind much as thay have always done.
The best observable item that says it's making progress is the fact that Esperanto (UEA) holds observer status (Class 'B') at the UN and UNESCO.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Esper…
The Iranians atempted to have Esperanto included in the League of Nations as a working language in the 20's, but the French killed that. They didn't want to loose the prestige of owning the "International tongue of diplomacy". The Americans pulled the same thing in the 50's.
Sooner or later, the $600 million plus that is spent on translation services at the UN and EU is going to cause a big problem. (Actually, it already has). Then someone is going to go looking for a solution, and they'll find it right on their door step. The question has already been raised a number of times in the EU.
Think about this. What could you do with 1.2 Billion + USD a year?
Christianity was very slow in making the progress that it did. Not without bumps either. Yet it took hold, and florished.
Hummm, similarity? Time will tell.

Research and draw your own conclusions.

Ĝis!

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jagdish tytler

I think the idea is great and the people are friendly. I only learned it becuase it was someting to do, a hobby.

I don't think it will gain in popularity, although it has a strong community. Promotion is the problem, how do you promote as viable, something that is not very useful?

The fun thing about it is once you learn it, you can talk with people from many different cultures, and this is interesting.