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From: urban@spp2.UUCP (Mike Urban)
Newsgroups: sci.lang
Subject: Re: esperanto?
Message-ID: <974@spp2.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 14-Oct-86 11:50:15 EDT
Article-I.D.: spp2.974
Posted: Tue Oct 14 11:50:15 1986
Date-Received: Wed, 15-Oct-86 21:41:28 EDT
References: <7861BHG@PSUVMA>
Reply-To: urban@spp2.UUCP (Mike Urban)
Organization: TRW, Redondo Beach  CA
Lines: 52

In article <7861BHG@PSUVMA> BHG@PSUVMA.BITNET writes:
>...It is true that english is widespread in
>europe, but why should europeans *have* to learnour language to communicate
>with us?  a common opinion in america is that everyone should learn english
>(just as the french think it should be french, and the russsians, russian).
>this opinion shows an obviously arrogant attitude towards the europeans (on
>the part of the americans who have this opinion). esperanto is for the most
>part a neutral language--by learning it in america, we could show that we
>are not a pompous, uncaring people (as some europeansbelieve), but the
>genuinely friendly people that we are. 

Curiously, most Americans do not seem to feel ashamed that they
are unwilling/unable to learn *any* foreign language, not even taking on
the (remarkably easy) meet-half-way task of learning Esperanto.  I
can't imagine thinking this way.  When someone from, say, Finland 
asks me for directions in English, I'm profoundly ashamed that he speaks
even broken English, while all the Finnish I know is "Suomi".  Esperanto,
for me, relieves some of this embarassment.  (Yes, you too can learn
a workable foreign language in a matter of weeks...)

> when i lived in west germany a few
>years ago, no one would believe i was american--they insisted i must be
>british, as i spoke fluent german and "americans do not speak any languages
>other than english" (or "american" as they called it).  this is a notion
>that i would like to see wiped out.

"If you speak three languages, you're called trilingual.  If you speak two
languages, you're bilingual.  If you speak one language, you're American." 
Alas, no :-) here.

>esperanto is taught in many different countries, but never quite caught on
>in the us.  it is broadcast by many short-wave radio stations throughout the
>world, and there are a number of magazines and books (both translations and
>originals) in the language.

I will add two more things: as an American who does know Esperanto, I
did not truly appreciate the language until I attended my first
world Esperanto convention in Beijing last summer.  When I first heard
a conversation between a Dutch, a Chinese, and a Frenchman (and understood
it all), and considered the fact that the conversation was *NOT* in
English or ANYONE ELSE'S NATIONAL LANGUAGE, it finally dawned on me
that "my gosh, this Esperanto stuff actually works!"

Second, *.nlang readers are reminded that mail.esperanto exists (rather
inactively most of the time), and I am the maintainer of that list.
Send me a message if you want to be added to the list.
-- 

   Mike Urban
	...!trwrb!trwspp!spp2!urban 

"You're in a maze of twisty UUCP connections, all alike"