3 ms·

I think it’ll continue to be this undying language that done people perpetually pick up. Takes 3-6 months to learn fluently, and a lifetime to find other speak

by sshine 4y ago

I think it’ll continue to be this undying language that done people perpetually pick up. Takes 3-6 months to learn fluently, and a lifetime to find other speakers. ;-) Maybe in the next 100 years, some neo hippie collective of a not insignificant size decides to make it the preferred language of their community. It’d be cool to walk into a part of a city where Esperanto is the norm, like Chinatown or the Jewish neighbourhood.

runarberg 4y ago
I think every 10th comment I make on HN is arguing against the notion that technology will fix the problem. But I think now I’m gonna do the opposite. It seems like technology is indeed well on its way of making the need of an international auxiliary language obsolete. For government functions live translation is something skilled translators can do pretty easily, and for common folks, live machine translations is getting better and more accessible. I for example read many tweets written in languages I don’t understand. And I think it is only a matter of time before other social platforms (including GitHub and HN) catches on to provide accessible translation tools so people can read and write in their native language, and have machines translate for them. As for communicating face to face, surely there could be a device (or more likely a phone app) that does that, but mostly I think people will just continue to learn an auxiliary language or two and find a common language to communicate in, only using the translation app as a backup in emergencies.
nsilvestri 4y ago
Anecdata, but I've met a whole two other Esperanto speakers (that I know of) in the wild since I began learning it a couple years ago! It's not prominent with the general population, but I do think there are certain types of people whom are more inclined to learn it.
- HarryHirsch 4y ago
  There was this Physics instructor whose scripts were in Esperanto - the guy was well liked by the students, however he was an Esperantist
- bbzealot 4y ago
  Fun fact, George Soros (the banker much targeted by conspiracy theorists) is a native Esperanto speaker, as he was raised to speak the language but his father, who was a well known Esperanto speaker
  - JetAlone 4y ago
    I didn't know that. Fascinating to hear there actually is a native speaker of it. I was aware from reading the wikipedia article that Esperanto was championed by the Ba'hai and Oomoto religious groups, among others. I had also forgotten that Theosophy promoted it as well. Plenty of different Christian groups tried using it too, even Jack Chick, famous for his maligning of D&D.
    - sshine 4y ago
      I've heard there is around 1000 native speakers in the world. I've met one such. His parents met at a conference, and only had Esperanto in common. I've been at music festivals where I met people who did not speak English, so Esperanto was our best common language.
- sshine 4y ago
  Anecdata: In recent times, to a high degree: programmers. I attended one music festival with a high presence of volunteers from the Esperanto community, and among these people, ~20% were programmers. The grammar is mostly regular. It seems like the thing a stubborn introvert likes: You can hardly use it anywhere, but it has nice properties. And unlike Lojban, Esperanto is something you can learn to fluency fast on your own on the internet.

by sshine 4y ago

runarberg 4y ago

I think every 10th comment I make on HN is arguing against the notion that technology will fix the problem. But I think now I’m gonna do the opposite. It seems like technology is indeed well on its way of making the need of an international auxiliary language obsolete. For government functions live translation is something skilled translators can do pretty easily, and for common folks, live machine translations is getting better and more accessible. I for example read many tweets written in languages I don’t understand. And I think it is only a matter of time before other social platforms (including GitHub and HN) catches on to provide accessible translation tools so people can read and write in their native language, and have machines translate for them. As for communicating face to face, surely there could be a device (or more likely a phone app) that does that, but mostly I think people will just continue to learn an auxiliary language or two and find a common language to communicate in, only using the translation app as a backup in emergencies.

nsilvestri 4y ago

Anecdata, but I've met a whole two other Esperanto speakers (that I know of) in the wild since I began learning it a couple years ago! It's not prominent with the general population, but I do think there are certain types of people whom are more inclined to learn it.

HarryHirsch 4y ago
There was this Physics instructor whose scripts were in Esperanto - the guy was well liked by the students, however he was an Esperantist
bbzealot 4y ago
Fun fact, George Soros (the banker much targeted by conspiracy theorists) is a native Esperanto speaker, as he was raised to speak the language but his father, who was a well known Esperanto speaker
- JetAlone 4y ago
  I didn't know that. Fascinating to hear there actually is a native speaker of it. I was aware from reading the wikipedia article that Esperanto was championed by the Ba'hai and Oomoto religious groups, among others. I had also forgotten that Theosophy promoted it as well. Plenty of different Christian groups tried using it too, even Jack Chick, famous for his maligning of D&D.
  - sshine 4y ago
    I've heard there is around 1000 native speakers in the world. I've met one such. His parents met at a conference, and only had Esperanto in common. I've been at music festivals where I met people who did not speak English, so Esperanto was our best common language.
sshine 4y ago
Anecdata: In recent times, to a high degree: programmers. I attended one music festival with a high presence of volunteers from the Esperanto community, and among these people, ~20% were programmers. The grammar is mostly regular. It seems like the thing a stubborn introvert likes: You can hardly use it anywhere, but it has nice properties. And unlike Lojban, Esperanto is something you can learn to fluency fast on your own on the internet.