Those of you who have followed Kosmopolit's blog until now should have a look at
Kosmopolito.org
- the new home of the cosmopolitan with a firm background in Esperanto (this is the language used by some people who still cannot accept that English has already become what Esperanto tried to reach, not taking into account the "simplifications").
But concering the new domain (and new concept?): It seems like moving to a new country changes perspectives...
Therefore: Good luck!
Moskaus (letzte?) Warnung an Washington
8 hours ago
4 comments:
I hope you'll accept a comment from an Esperanto loyalist! There is a neglected linguistic side to the ongoing conflict in Congo.
The U.N. mission there is comprised mostly of troops from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Uruguay and South Africa. Few speak the region's languages: the French of its Belgian colonizers, the Kiswahili that is the lingua franca in east and central Africa, or the local tongues of Kinyarwanda or Lingala. (Source, A.P. report by Michelle Faul, 31 October 2008)
This tragedy has more than a linguistic dimension, of course, but it does point out yet again the need for a planned international language, one that is easy to learn and use. Such a language exists: Esperanto. It is time we took Esperanto more seriously.
If they all spoke English, we could have the same hypothetical result as proposed by you. Additionally, to sell the very rational Esperanto with a very unrational civil war is not really valid.
Actually, I just made the remark about Esperanto here in my blog because I expected such kind of comments. And I was right to expect it.
It's always surprising how some people get all upset over the fact that a few million people around the world choose to use Esperanto as a convenient, democratic means of communication.
The epithet "a language used by some people who still cannot accept English" can (and often is) applied to German, too. Or, as Dubya expressed at a news conference in Heiligendamm, when an interpreter began to translate his words into German:
"Everybody speaks English, right?"
No they don't, Herr Präsident. And why should they?
For me it is not important what language we speak. It is important that we understand each other and do not kill each other. If the German language would need to die in order to bring peace on the earth - I am the first one to abandon it (actually, these days, I speak around 4-5 languages every day to communicate with different people, and German is just one among these, and one of the least important).
Esperanto for me is just the expression of the hope of easier communication, but not the practical solution. But I don't mind people to learn the democratic, free, beautiful, easy, etc. Esperanto.
Maybe I am just too pragmatic, or maybe I am too ignorant. But I just think that English is what Esperanto wants to be. I don't say that English is better, easier, nicer, etc., I only feel that it is the most appropriate mean for a global communication.
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