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I have studied Toki pona for a little while in the past. It's emphasis is on minimalism and context. Especially since the Lexicon is around 130 words. It sounds

I have studied Toki pona for a little while in the past. It's emphasis is on minimalism and context. Especially since the Lexicon is around 130 words. It sounds like things can be ambiguous, but once you get a hang of it communicating is pretty easy. In my opinion this allows you to learn the grammar and how to speak relatively easily( which is also helped by the fact that there are relatively few grammar Concepts) Further there is an offshoot of the community called Toki ma, where it's emphasis is on building on the Concepts that are from Toki pona and extending them to be more of an aux lang and to be more fledged out as to be able to discuss complicated Topics. With all that said, I really would like to see some sort of version of this for other languages. From my limited language learning it seems there's a huge learning curve in the beginning that can somewhat taper off after you get a good handle on a language's grammar. For example knowing definitively three to four hundred words you must know to be able to speak basic Japanese/Spanish/French etc, cuts down on your study requirements. There are of course arguments against this, but it seems like a cool idea.

tillcarlos 5y ago
If I would have “Minimal Vietnamese” - it would be a blessing. There are so many different words for the same thing (just like in English). learning vocabulary is the most difficult thing for me.
cpeterso 5y ago
> knowing definitively three to four hundred words you must know to be able to speak basic Japanese/Spanish/French etc, cuts down on your study requirements. I’ve read about various English subsets like Basic and Simple English, but are there examples of subsets for other languages? I haven’t found a Simple Spanish. A similar idea that intrigued me was books written using only monosyllabic words. There are about 7,500 English words with only one syllable. An example rewriting of Alice in Wonderland: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice%27s_Adventures_in_Wonderland_Retold_in_Words_of_One_Syllable https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice%27s_Adventures_in_Wond... Plus a number of books by Lucy Aikin: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucy_Aikin https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucy_Aikin
- elless 5y ago
  We're working on doing this as much as we can. There are projects in Danish, Finnish, English, Mandarin, Spanish, and smaller projects in other languages happening at the moment. Someone in Denmark has already done "The Ugly Duckling" in Minimal Danish (can't find link atm, sorry).
  - cpeterso 5y ago
    Cool! Any recommendations for where I should look for more information about Spanish projects?
    - elless 5y ago
      Our main site is https://www.nsm-approach.net https://www.nsm-approach.net which we update with projects as they are done, so this would be the best place to watch. The project with the most translations (including Spanish) is the "Seven Essential Messages for the time of the Coronavirus" https://nsm-approach.net/coronavirus-minimal-spanish-updated https://nsm-approach.net/coronavirus-minimal-spanish-updated (Link to Spanish).
elless 5y ago
Yes! We think that minimal languages can be used for this. We're trying to identify now what that core 300-ish words is across as many languages as we can, and some of us are promoting it as a potential core for language learning. We also think that because NSM/minimal languages are designed for paraphrasing concepts, it is a powerful tool for language learners to be able to express themselves and complex ideas, even with a small vocabulary.

tillcarlos 5y ago

If I would have “Minimal Vietnamese” - it would be a blessing. There are so many different words for the same thing (just like in English). learning vocabulary is the most difficult thing for me.

cpeterso 5y ago

> knowing definitively three to four hundred words you must know to be able to speak basic Japanese/Spanish/French etc, cuts down on your study requirements. I’ve read about various English subsets like Basic and Simple English, but are there examples of subsets for other languages? I haven’t found a Simple Spanish. A similar idea that intrigued me was books written using only monosyllabic words. There are about 7,500 English words with only one syllable. An example rewriting of Alice in Wonderland: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice%27s_Adventures_in_Wonderland_Retold_in_Words_of_One_Syllable https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice%27s_Adventures_in_Wond... Plus a number of books by Lucy Aikin: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucy_Aikin https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucy_Aikin

elless 5y ago
We're working on doing this as much as we can. There are projects in Danish, Finnish, English, Mandarin, Spanish, and smaller projects in other languages happening at the moment. Someone in Denmark has already done "The Ugly Duckling" in Minimal Danish (can't find link atm, sorry).
- cpeterso 5y ago
  Cool! Any recommendations for where I should look for more information about Spanish projects?
  - elless 5y ago
    Our main site is https://www.nsm-approach.net https://www.nsm-approach.net which we update with projects as they are done, so this would be the best place to watch. The project with the most translations (including Spanish) is the "Seven Essential Messages for the time of the Coronavirus" https://nsm-approach.net/coronavirus-minimal-spanish-updated https://nsm-approach.net/coronavirus-minimal-spanish-updated (Link to Spanish).

elless 5y ago

Yes! We think that minimal languages can be used for this. We're trying to identify now what that core 300-ish words is across as many languages as we can, and some of us are promoting it as a potential core for language learning. We also think that because NSM/minimal languages are designed for paraphrasing concepts, it is a powerful tool for language learners to be able to express themselves and complex ideas, even with a small vocabulary.