Is esperanto easy enough to learn along with another language?

3 Comments

1. Jagg says:

   July 23, 2010 at 10:48 pm

   This is a very personnally specific question. Some people would have no trouble, others might find themselves very confused. Above which, it doesn’t really matter which language you’re talking about since learning multiple languages can cause the same confusion regardless of which one it is. Having said all that, I would expect that learning Esperanto and another language would probably be the least confusing, since you won’t be wrestling with all those iregularities, at least as far as Esperanto is concerned.

   For me, I find myself inserting French when I speak quickly, and I don’t even speak French very well, it’s just that I’m exposed to French on a regular basis. But that’s just me.

   As with any language, Esperanto does require some work. The payoff is that you WILL experience success much quicker than with any other laguage. With 2 to 5 hours a day you can be conversing comfortably by the end of the week, easily. Personally, I would limit myself to a half-hour to 1 hour a day, but be consistent and do it every day. You will achieve the same results in a week or two.

   Here is a short and sweet lesson so that you can see for yourself how simple Esperanto is. More detailed on-line courses are available below as well as mail courses. Esperanto clubs are readily available in most areas. Correspondence is also readily available.

   Each Esperanto letter has only one sound, always. Here is a guide to some of the sounds. The stress is always on the next-to-last syllable of a word.

   A – ‘AH’ as in palm
   E – ‘EH’ as in there
   I – ‘EE’ as in three
   O – ‘OH’ as in glow
   U – ‘OO’ as in too

   c = ts (in lots); oj = oy (in boy); G = g (in go)
   kn are always pronounced separately: k-nabo

   Just to drive the point home. Letter sounds ‘NEVER’ change and ‘NEVER’ have more than one sound.

   Numbers and colours:

   0 nulo (say: noo-lo)
   1 unu (say: oo-noo)
   2 du (say: doo)
   3 tri (say: t-ri)
   4 kvar (say: k-vahr)
   5 kvin (say: k-veen)
   6 ses (say: sehs)
   7 sep (say: sehp)
   8 ok (say: ohk)
   9 naŭ (now)
   10 dek
   11 dek unu
   …
   20 dudek
   21 dudek unu
   …
   30 tridek
   31 tridek unu
   …
   100 cent (say: tsent)

   flava (flah-vah) yellow
   verda (vehr-dah) green
   blua (bloo-ah) blue
   blanka (blahn-kah) white
   nigra (nee-grah) black
   griza (gree-zah) grey
   bruna (broo-nah) brown
   ruĝa (roo-jah) red
   ("ĝ" as in "gem", "gentle")

   All nouns end in ‘O’
   All adjectives end in ‘A’
   All adverbs end in ‘E’
   All past tense verbs end in -is (say: ees)
   All present tense verbs end in -as (say: ahs)
   All future tense verbs end in -os (say: ohs)

   Example:
   La bona (adjective) knabo (noun) trinkis (past tense verb) malrapide (adverb).
   (The good boy drank slowly)

   By applying markers to the words it allows us some flexibility in word order. (Remember, Esperanto is intended as a language that can be spoken by many different groups, and they don’t all use the subject – verb – object word order. For example, German usually places the verb at the end.)

   Word construction follows a very easy system which uses a small system of prefixes and suffixes. For example

   By placing the -in- suffix before the final ‘O’, you make it feminine.
   Patro – Father
   Patrino – Mother
   Filo – Son
   Filino – Daughter
   Frato – Brother
   Fratino – Sister

   By placing the prefix Bo- in front you get the in-laws (or out-laws depending on your point of view.)

   Bopatro – Father in law
   Bopatrino – Mother in law
   Bofilo – Son in law
   Bofilino – Daughter in law
   Bofrato – Brother in law
   Bofratino – Sister in law

   By placing the -id- suffix before the final ‘O’, you make it an off-spring.

   Hundo – dog
   Hundido – puppy
   Kato – cat
   Kitido – kitten
   Koko – chicken
   Kokido – chick

   By placing the prefix Mal- in front you get the opposite.

   Bona – good
   Malbona – bad
   Seka – Dry
   Malseka – wet

   This system stays the same throughout.

   Below I’ve listed just a few sites of interest, including a Brazilian site that has a free down loadable instructional program with interactive pages; a very good program. You can sign up for tutors on this site.

   Here’s something interesting.
   There are even native speakers of Esperanto. The number is considered to be in the 2000 range. These are people who are the product of couples who have met through Esperanto and each speaks different languages. Therefore the house hold language is Esperanto.

   Search for speakers with Pasporta Servo the International Hospitality Service using Esperanto.
   http://www.tejo.org/eo/ps
   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pasporta_Servo
   With these services available you can visit many countries very cheaply, find a plethora of friends and more importantly learn about their culture and language.

   There are a wide range of cultural materials available also. I spend a good deal of my time listening to Esperanto music. I find it helps in tuning my ear to it. Also, there is no lack of original and translated written works to enjoy.
   Like the Klingon said, ‘you haven’t lived until you’ve read Shakespear in it’s original Klingon.’ (Please note tongue firmly planted in cheek). Yeah well, wait till you read him in Esperanto.

   By all means, research and draw your own conclusions.

   Ĝis!
2. litehaus22 says:

   July 23, 2010 at 10:48 pm

   I would say that if you’re going to try and learn two languages together, they should be spanish and esperanto. That’s because the model of esperanto was built out of spanish. It’s considered the most "logical" of the languages of the world.

   But I warn you, every language has all kinds of exceptions and you will end up in a quandry. That’s why I say that becoming "fluent" will take you years and years and even more to be able to say that you have either language. That’s just how it is.

   I now speak fluent spanish. But, it took me 11 years. Ready for that?? If so – go for it. But don’t expect miracles. It takes years to learn a language – really learn it.

   Rich
3. inga johanson says:

   July 24, 2010 at 7:55 am

   Kitido – kitten

   This show how easy to mix english and esperanto