Esperanto. Does anybody using this forgotten language?

Answer 1

A couple of years ago I saw two people on the Montreal subway, a tall blond guy who looked Nordic and a short guy with dark curly hair who looked Middle Eastern. They were speaking a language I didn't recognize at all. I couldn't resist asking them what it was, and they said Esperanto!!! and that they had learned it at university. Too bad I didn't ask them what university.

So SOMEBODY is still using Esperanto. :-)

Answer 2

"Does anybody using".....is that Esperanto? It's not English.

.Just a note:

To the guy who said it was "fictional like Klingon" It is not fictional. It is a real language designed by a Doctor around 1887 who wanted to make an easy language anyone could learn and be a universal language for the world. It is spoken as a second language by about a million people world wide , with the largest numbers being in New Zeland and The Norse Countries.

Answer 3

Esperanto is essentially the most commonly spoken built worldwide language. The title derives from D-ro Esperanto (Dr. Hopeful), the pseudonym below which L. L. Zamenhof first released the language in 1887. Zamenhof's target was once to create an handy-to-be trained and bendy language as a common moment language to foster worldwide expertise.

Answer 4

Many people have a use for Esperanto, me for one.

As for being a live international language, well it's a slow process, but one that is moving forward none-the-less. Don't believe me? Read on.

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!)
The notion that it has no nationality would in actuality make it less useful since its purpose is to be an auxiliary language. With 120 years behind it and functions all around the world on a daily basis, there really can be no claim that it has no culture.
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 users 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.
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 18th in the most numerous articles category.
More than these languages to name a few.

19 Slovak
21 Czech
33 Arabic (One of the UN official working languages)
http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/List_of_Wikipedias

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_Esperanto_Association
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 the similar amount spent at the 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!

Answer 5

see the wikipedia article about esperanto

Answer 6

It's not so much forgotten as it is ignored. It's a fictional language the same as Klingon or Vulcan.

Answer 7

How can it be forgotten if it was never used.

Answer 8

What does it even mean?

Answer 9

ses, embian umpeurto