Esperanto

Esperanto. Have you heard of it? Odds are that you haven't. Until very recently I would have said it was a form of the spanish verb esperanzar - to hope. And I would have been somewhat right...but I also would have been totally wrong.


Esperanto is a constructed international auxiliary language (in the words of Wikipedia) or, in other words, an entirely created language. The creator was a Polish man named L.L. Zamenhof, who, in the late 1800's, decided that in order to better communicate with others throughout the world, there should be a common language developed that would be less complicated that any of the powerful languages of his time (English, French, Spanish, German). You can read more about it on Wikipedia. He spent several years developing the language, and published a book in 1887 called Unua Libro. The word Esperanto in the language means 'one who hopes' - not far from the spanish esperanzar.


As a language teacher, and therefore learner, of both Spanish and English, I have witnessed first hand the difficulty in mastering these languages. For most, the difficulty lies in the irregularities. Most of us have learned some form of a second language, so I am sure you all remember the first time you were taught that there are irregular verbs, or when your English teacher told you that "the rule in English is that every rule has an exception." As a teacher I hate seeing my students go from really grasping the rules of spanish verb conjugation one day, to totally feeling inadequate the next because I have introduced "the irregular verbs". Now, I don't think everything should be easy - and as a Spanish speaker, I have, and still do receive, great satisfaction from conquering the difficult aspects of the language. English is much more complicated to learn though, and as a world language, quite honestly, it stinks.


My experience here in Korea has opened my eyes to just how hard people around the world are willing to work in order to gain something that I take for granted - the ability to communicate with others throughout the world. Those who do not speak English in today's world are, in many ways, rendered powerless despite their great potential or capacity within their own culture. Teaching English sheds light on all of the aspects of the language that I don't know that well myself, and I have had the opportunity to gain greater accuracy in my my own language. I have also gained an awareness of the sacrifices that people of other countries make to learn English, most of them unable to hold a confident conversation even after many years of study.

The idea behind Esperanto is that it has no irregularities. When you learn a rule, the rule doesn't change. Patterns stay the same. ALL nouns end in O, and to make a noun plural you add a J. Always. In reading about the language, it has been described as a great way to introduce foreign languages to children, which I would like to do at home with my Spanish students in the exploratory year. It has been implemented in some British primary schools, and has been recommended by UNESCO as a possible way for countries to overcome desperate language barriers.

Interesting. Sign me up. I have been meaning to learn another language, and unfortunately for me, Korean proved easier to get by without. I am going to try to teach myself a little bit, or maybe a lot, of Esperanto. Lernu is a website that has a free introduction and lessons. Esperanto anyone??