4 ms·

I actually like the idea of invented auxiliary languages like Esperanto. I've spent 10% of the time on it that I did on Spanish in HS and understand probably 5x

I actually like the idea of invented auxiliary languages like Esperanto. I've spent 10% of the time on it that I did on Spanish in HS and understand probably 5x as much due to the grammar. No gendered nouns, suffixes and prefixes on words to keep extraneous vocabulary down...etc. Also, having one sound per letter and no trilling R is nice.

kmicklas 10y ago
Really the biggest reason Esperanto is easy is that it doesn't have a whole culture constantly pumping in new slang and arcane idioms. You can see a word used once or twice and be reasonably certain that you are not missing some subtle nuance or alternative meaning.
- throwaway7645 10y ago
  Well it does have a culture. Lots of conventions, original literature and music...etc, but yea even that isn't the same as a culture of millions.
  - kmicklas 10y ago
    The biggest difference isn't the raw number participating in the culture but rather that Esperantists mostly keep in mind the goals of semantic transparency and simplicity when coining new words and idioms.
fusiongyro 10y ago
Have you seen Interlingua? The idea behind it is to build a sort of simplified Romance language. It retains only features that occur in all of its control languages, so you do get some verb marking but nothing really out there grammatically. And it retains impressive word-building powers. It reads a bit like Latinized Spanish. http://www.interlingua.com/ http://www.interlingua.com/ I have found it easier to pick up than Lojban, but I haven't been able to maintain my interest.
- throwaway7645 10y ago
  I've heard of it, but haven't looked into it in detail as Esperanto seemed good enough and is the most popular of the aux languages. I've played with Lojban, but honestly think it is just too hard for a human to be good with. It and its successor have been around in some part for decades, and yet nobody can really speak it fluently (I've heard less than 10 people). I really like the idea...just not sure about the implementation.

kmicklas 10y ago

Really the biggest reason Esperanto is easy is that it doesn't have a whole culture constantly pumping in new slang and arcane idioms. You can see a word used once or twice and be reasonably certain that you are not missing some subtle nuance or alternative meaning.

throwaway7645 10y ago
Well it does have a culture. Lots of conventions, original literature and music...etc, but yea even that isn't the same as a culture of millions.
- kmicklas 10y ago
  The biggest difference isn't the raw number participating in the culture but rather that Esperantists mostly keep in mind the goals of semantic transparency and simplicity when coining new words and idioms.

fusiongyro 10y ago

Have you seen Interlingua? The idea behind it is to build a sort of simplified Romance language. It retains only features that occur in all of its control languages, so you do get some verb marking but nothing really out there grammatically. And it retains impressive word-building powers. It reads a bit like Latinized Spanish. http://www.interlingua.com/ http://www.interlingua.com/ I have found it easier to pick up than Lojban, but I haven't been able to maintain my interest.

throwaway7645 10y ago
I've heard of it, but haven't looked into it in detail as Esperanto seemed good enough and is the most popular of the aux languages. I've played with Lojban, but honestly think it is just too hard for a human to be good with. It and its successor have been around in some part for decades, and yet nobody can really speak it fluently (I've heard less than 10 people). I really like the idea...just not sure about the implementation.