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I started learning Esperanto but I abandoned due to the lack of cultural work around it. I felt like Esperanto could only bring me new, constructed culture, rat

by hk__2 7y ago

I started learning Esperanto but I abandoned due to the lack of cultural work around it. I felt like Esperanto could only bring me new, constructed culture, rather than existing one. When you learn Italian you discover the Italian history and its culture ; when you learn Spanish you learn the history of Spain and its culture ; etc. When you learn Esperanto, you learn… the history of Esperanto and that’s pretty much it. Virtually nobody learns Esperanto as a native language, meaning there’s no region in the World you can travel to and feel immersed in Esperanto culture. Also, I don’t think Esperanto would be viable as a unique global language in the long term: we don’t have the same culture everywhere in the World, we don’t all think the same way, and so some regions would eventually start creating words that are unique to them. Slang is also something that is by definition very localized. While a universal language would be awesome for international communication, I feel like we would still end up with localized languages, local dialects of Esperanto.

psychoslave 7y ago
Well, I didn't experienced this lacks. To my mind, anything that has history is also linked to a specific culture, so I don't get your point here. Esperanto does come with its own culture, grown through human communications, original works, its artifacts[1], local events and international congresses. Maybe its not enough to meet your personal definition of what a culture is, but it does suffice for mine. There are some people who count Esperanto among there native languages, but that's just a byproduct of having Esperantists that mate having Esperanto as unique common language. Most Esperantists, to my knowledge, don't seek to make Esperanto the native language of everyone. The goal is not to be an "universal" language either, but an international auxiliary language. So it's perfectly compatible with proliferation of local languages. >there’s no region in the World you can travel to and feel immersed in Esperanto culture. You mean, like Herzberg am Harz – the Esperanto Town[2]? But really, that's not the point, if you want to feel immersed, you can go at local events or international congresses. You can travel virtually anywhere in the world using Pasporto Servo[3] and stay some time with a fellow Esperantist if you want to gain acquaintance with most foreign cultures out there. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zamenhof-Esperanto_object https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zamenhof-Esperanto_object [2] http://esperanto-urbo.de/page.php?pid=80300003 http://esperanto-urbo.de/page.php?pid=80300003 [3] https://www.pasportaservo.org/ https://www.pasportaservo.org/

by hk__2 7y ago

psychoslave 7y ago

Well, I didn't experienced this lacks. To my mind, anything that has history is also linked to a specific culture, so I don't get your point here. Esperanto does come with its own culture, grown through human communications, original works, its artifacts[1], local events and international congresses. Maybe its not enough to meet your personal definition of what a culture is, but it does suffice for mine. There are some people who count Esperanto among there native languages, but that's just a byproduct of having Esperantists that mate having Esperanto as unique common language. Most Esperantists, to my knowledge, don't seek to make Esperanto the native language of everyone. The goal is not to be an "universal" language either, but an international auxiliary language. So it's perfectly compatible with proliferation of local languages. >there’s no region in the World you can travel to and feel immersed in Esperanto culture. You mean, like Herzberg am Harz – the Esperanto Town[2]? But really, that's not the point, if you want to feel immersed, you can go at local events or international congresses. You can travel virtually anywhere in the world using Pasporto Servo[3] and stay some time with a fellow Esperantist if you want to gain acquaintance with most foreign cultures out there. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zamenhof-Esperanto_object https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zamenhof-Esperanto_object [2] http://esperanto-urbo.de/page.php?pid=80300003 http://esperanto-urbo.de/page.php?pid=80300003 [3] https://www.pasportaservo.org/ https://www.pasportaservo.org/