Who watched the 8 minute video by a former UN translator about international communication and Esperanto?

Hello, This answer deals with a number of points brought up by GPB. 1. Comparing the "recallability" of any language and particularly English to Esperanto is like comparing integral calculus to simple addition. Unless you are a genius, learning calculus requires real work and remembering it years later would certainly be difficult. On the other hand, simple addition comes naturally. The same goes for Esperanto. You really have to check it out before you assume similar levels of difficulty. 2. By saying that people have to go to conferences held in English, we may conclude that 94% of humanity are confronted with a dominant (foreign) language. Some people, generally the other 6%, respond by saying that a dominant language is a fact of life. Given the past several thousand years, they do have history on their side, but does that make the situation fair, equitable or desirable? I think not, particularly when a large (a few million) group of people have made a major effort to create, develop and promote an effective solution whose whole idea is to level the playing field and give everyone an equal chance, while reducing the overall workload for us all (I know many English-speaking people who have learned Esperanto very quickly). 3. Concerning the cultural question, you are right, the culture of Esperanto is similar to that of a small country and would take time to develop even under the best of conditions. I will simply say that quantifying/qualifying different cultures is most tricky. But do not forget that Esperanto provides very easy access to all cultures and it is truly gratifying during an Esperanto conference to be able to walk up to any of thousands (literally) of people from dozens of countries and start talking on an equal footing. 4. Concerning the results already achieved by the language, that would require a long discussion, but for anyone interested, there are more than enough sites in virtually all languages that present the current status of Esperanto. 5. As for the cost of teaching Esperanto, have you looked at the cost of teaching English ? And the results ? Having taught English, French and Esperanto, I can say from personal experience that people (particularly children) learn Esperanto much faster, much easier and, most important, the end result is far superior. By that, I mean that they can understand and express themselves better after 200 hours of lessons (two school years @ three hours per week) than they probably ever will in English or French. Unless of course they move out of their country. Another aspect is that training in English in school requires such effort that time is drawn from training for the mother tongue (that is the situation in France) and virtually no time is left for other languages. Given that English is the first foreign language (96% in France, mandatory in Germany) taught, we are caught in a funnel, headed toward a "just English" situation in international communication. That is neither fair nor cost effective. And loss of diversity is certainly not a good thing either. So, for what it is worth, there you have a few remarks. Look forward to hearing from you. F. Bartsch [email protected]

I think we need Esperanto as the internacional language!

He knows much about international communication and language problems - both from the viewpoint of a translator - interpreter and the psychological one. I think he is very logical and convincing.

I watched it twice already and passed the link people who I believe will understand, and maybe even share, Mr. Piron's point of view. Ghis! Mar =)

The video packs an amazing amount of relevant information into just 8 minutes, yet gets the idea across clearly. The speaker comes across as very knowledgeable and convincing. An excellent introduction to the language problem and Esperanto as a solution.

I watched it several times. It seems to be a very honest and informative presentation, worthy to be viewed by people of all ages and interests.

Great stuff. Now we need something to explain why Esperanto hasn't already become a first foreign language for the world. Is it because it's too good to be believed without seeing? Or is it, as with many good ideas, because of interventions by people with vested interests?

Hi, GPB ! I can tell two cases which seem to suggest that you're mistaken. One is an Indian whom I saw after he had ceased speaking Esperanto for 18 years. He lived in a small town somewhere in the center of India where he was the only speaker of the language, and he couldn't afford to travel. He happened to be sent to Europe and I met him in Geneva, Switzerland, where he contacted me. For the first 30 minutes he was quite shy, and found it difficult to express himself, but the more he spoke, the more the language came back and after two hours he spoke fluently. We spoke Esperanto every day for a whole week, and it was as easy for both of us as if it had been our mother tongue. The other case is a Pole I met in New York, where I was working at the time. He had participated in an Esperanto youth organization, but he had left it long ago and didn't believe in the language anymore. Somehow when we met I mentioned the language, and just for fun he asked me a question in Esperanto, telling me he had completely forgotten how to speak it. But I went on speaking Esperanto, and after maybe fifteen minutes he started being able to express most of his ideas. He was extremely surprised himself, since he had quit using the language 25 years before. After one hour or so he spoke fluently. My experience is that such a rapid return of a forgotten tongue does not happen with other languages. I guess it can be explained by the extreme regularity, consistency, exceptionlessness of Esperanto. My own difficulties in English are always due to inconsistencies. For instance I don’t know which syllable to stress in *alternative*, I say *costed* instead of *cost*, I don’t remember if *cough* rhymes with *tough*, *though*, *through* or some other ough-word, I know that the adjectives I want when writing about astronomy exist, but I need a dictionary to retrieve them, because I cannot make up *solar* from *sun* or *stellar* from *star*, just as I cannot form *dentist* from *tooth*, *disarmament* from *weapon*, or *colt* from *horse*. None of these problems exists in Esperanto. The whole structure of the language supports you, and helps you find the form you need. So I think you should check your opinion about Esperanto being lost after a period of non-use against reality. At times, what seems logical at first sight may be disproved (or is it *disproven*?) by experience.

I've seen this video before. In fact I've read much of Claude Pirons work and he really does have a handle on the linguistic problems that are faced in the world. If you really want an eye opener with regards to language problems, read his works detailing his time as a translator at the UN. This is where you really get to understand how other languages manage to grind the weak and less used languages under their heels. If you really disagree with that, I suggest you read his stuff. It's very compelling. Ĝis! PS: Igor, I owe you an apology. I meant to hit thumbs up but hit thumbs down by mistake. Please disregard.