Post: #1

I've been reading Benny Lewis' site fluentin3months.com for some tips and inspiration, this post about Esperanto is pretty interesting. Even though he sometimes comes across as a white knight in other posts his knowledge about language learning is useful.

He's done some Ted talks and has a pretty popular book out right now (not worth buying IMO since he basically just repeats what's on his site)
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Whenever I meet new people and try to help them with their language learning missions, when they hear that I have already learned to speak a few languages and ask me to list them, the one that always gets their attention the most is Esperanto.

Most people have never even heard of it, but occasionally they say that they thought it was dead and that maybe I learned it as an alternative to Klingon or Na’vi just for the hell of it, since “nobody actually speaks it”.

Well, today I am going to make a suggestion that I included as one of many other language hacks in the Language Hacking Guide, and it has nothing to do with saving the world, or peace and love between all races with a universal language. I don’t learn Esperanto to aim for a better world some day – to me it has very practical uses right now to me and to many learners.
Even if it had no speakers, it would still be very useful

In fact, let’s pretend that nobody actually speaks Esperanto.

In this hypothetical universe, there is just material online to learn it and one guy on Skype in Yemen who is willing to chat to you in it. Even in this situation, I still say that if you aren’t speaking your target language yet (Spanish, Japanese, Russian or whatever it may be), then devoting two weeks to Esperanto can get you months ahead in that language.

If you already speak several languages then this particular language hack will be lost on you, but for those of you still behind the “barrier” of actually conversing, this may be just what the doctor ordered!

One big criticism I have for many traditional learning systems is the obsession with studying (a.k.a. input if you like thinking of humans as the same as robots) because they see a language as nothing more than pure information and totally ignore the social aspect of it. You need to get over the barrier of feeling embarrassed, and simply not used to a foreign language. This is the strangest part of learning any language.
“Skip” the hardest first foreign language bit

Why should you learn Esperanto? Because it’s easy.

I don’t actually like using the word “hard” with languages – I think it’s counterproductive to randomly assign negativity, which will do absolutely nothing to actually help you learn a language. But anyway, if you are curious (I do get asked this a lit) the “hardest” language I ever learned and ever will learn was… Spanish. Yep – no matter what language you suggest in the world, Spanish will always have been the hardest one for me.

Not because of the subjunctive, or tables of conjugations or any of the other things that pessimists drool over when they get ready to compile a list of reasons to discourage people. It’s because it was the first foreign language that I ever tried to speak. It doesn’t matter about the grammar and vocabulary so much when you just are not used to any foreign language coming out of your mouth. This barrier is a tough nut to crack and extra work of needing to worry about conjugations, cases, word genders etc. are generally going to add to this pressure.

The reason I’m suggesting Esperanto for 2 weeks is because it is very easy (no word genders, no conjugation, perfectly phonetic, no random rule exceptions, easy consistent vocabulary). If you are truly devoted and have a lot less to randomly whine about, then in just a couple of weeks you can focus entirely on communication with way less study. You will recognise thousands of words already since most of the vocabulary is based on European languages like French, but there is some English in there too! For example, Yes is pronounced exactly the same (spelled as “jes”).

If you are fully devoted for two weeks, and in the second week do genuinely try to speak it in a chatroom or on Skype, you will be forced to use what you have learned, but you won’t have to think too hard to do it. If you are dedicated enough (and use some hacks to make sure you are speaking quicker) you could do this in a very short time. You will get over this speaking barrier and be communicating in a foreign language! You would need more than 2 weeks to speak fluently, but you can indeed speak it and get by in this time.

And then something amazing happens – that target language, the one you really want to speak (for moving to France, trying to rediscover your Chinese roots etc.) suddenly becomes your second foreign language! You already “speak” one, so you have gained this confidence that seemed so unobtainable before, and now you will have that extra edge where you actually want it.
The polyglot edge

It won’t surprise you to hear that the more languages you learn, the easier it is to learn the next one. If both me and a monoglot decide to take on language x at the same time, I’ll very likely learn it quicker than he will. This isn’t because I’m smarter, or because of mysterious reconfigurations within my brain. It’s because of techniques, familiarity and confidence. As far as I’m concerned these 3 aspects are the only things that separate me from people still speaking just one language as far as taking on a new language is concerned.

There are plenty of techniques, and familiarity plays a big part too, but the confidence to actually speak will hold you back if you don’t have it, even if you know a language inside out. If you can use Esperanto to hack your way towards this confidence quicker, then you will have it for your “second” foreign language; the priority language you definitely want to speak. You will know that you can communicate in a foreign language. You’ll have the polyglot edge.

This isn’t just my opinion. Several studies have shown that learning Esperanto first will give you that edge. For example, students learned Esperanto for six months and then French for a year and a half. Another control group studied just French for two years – so they had several months more studies in that language. And yet the first group that got “side-tracked” to learn Esperanto had significantly better command of French.

They needed to do it over the long term since this would have been done using the academic approach. As a language hacker, you would only need two weeks (maybe more if you can’t be very committed).

This post isn’t to convince the world that we all need a universal language. The point is that learning a language that is easy will get you miles ahead. Your actual target language will likely have some tricky things to learn that you will have to master if you are to speak it confidently. But simple confidence in itself won’t come to you unless you start speaking a language. It’s a vicious circle.

One way I get out of this circle myself is to speak as often as possible as early as possible. But it’s easy for me to say this because I have done it already before. Once you do it once, every time after that becomes so much easier.

So why not make the “first” time you do it all about communication with almost no technical grammar etc. to worry about so you can get over this barrier once and for all?
Oh yeah, the language itself is cool

Esperanto fits the bill because it was designed to be easy and material to learn it is very easy to come across. As well as this there are a lot of speakers who will be happy to help you, both online and in lots of places in person.

As I said at the start, even if there was just one guy to talk to and the material available to study, it would still work for the purposes described here. What is actually true is that there are millions of Esperanto speakers all over the world. I’ve met up with them many times and had lots of fun (click the last link to see me trying out my pathetic skills as an actor in the language).

I’m not looking for an ideal utopian society when I go to these week-long events where everything (karaokes, dinner menus, games, tours…) is in Esperanto. I go to find people I get along with really well, since there are a surprisingly large number of other polyglots, travellers, vegetarians, Linux users, non-drinkers and many open-minded people there.

There are lots of large events all around the world, or you can just find some speakers in your city to practise with, although you can already do a lot online. The Internet has plenty of Esperanto content; the Esperanto Wikipedia has more than 130,000 entries (more than Arabic). You can find an active forum and a fantastic free learning resource (with a great language learning course, a dictionary, a chat room etc.) on Lernu.net (the entire website is available in several languages).

The language sounds pleasant to listen to and has lots of easy to recognise words similar to English, French/Spanish/Italian and German. In fact, the content (not just the confidence) of Esperanto will help you in learning a lot of European languages! When I tried to learn German in school, the Accusative seemed very complicated. Even the name sounds like you are blaming someone. The accusative exists in Esperanto (it’s one of the very few bits of grammar, there only so you can have any word order you like), but its use is a lot clearer. Getting used to it there meant that it wasn’t so weird to add an -n in German either.

When I tried to learn Czech, the writing system of having “hats” on a letter like s and c didn’t seem strange at all, since Esperanto does this to make the language phonetic (s = s but ŝ = sh for example).

Even if you are learning a non-European language, the confidence you would gain in being able to communicate would bring you miles ahead. As I said, this lack of confidence in speaking a language is one of the main reasons people simply don’t.

If you can start communicating basically in one language for the investment of just a few weeks, then you wouldn’t have to wait the months you would have to otherwise with your target language. I think Esperanto is worth checking out beyond that, but even if all you are interested in is reaching spoken confidence in your actual target language – this small investment could make a big difference.

I doubt there are many people on here that have studied or are fluent in Esperanto but if that experiment was accurate it would seem like a logical language to start with, even if it isn't that useful to pick up girls.

http://www.fluentin3months.com/2-weeks-of-esperanto/

Post: #2

Why would anyone go out of their way to learn a language that has so little real world use?

Post: #3

Esperanto is just another idea that sounds great in theory…

TBH I haven't heard a single person mention it in about 20 years…and it was 20 years out of date then!

Post: #4

(07-10-2014 08:26 AM)CrashBangWallop Wrote:  Esperanto is just another idea that sounds great in theory…

TBH I haven't heard a single person mention it in about 20 years…and it was 20 years out of date then!

I see a reference to it roughly once a year. It apparently was a "big thing" in alternative community movements, both in the US and Europe, for several decades. I suspect it was a way to use a "neutral" language, and they didn't want to use Latin.

Post: #5

That's the thing how can any language be truly neutral? When I went to YouTube and heard it spoken it still sounds Latin-derived. I feel like I'm hearing an unknown Romance language and it is definitely European.

I feel like a neutral language would have to have a brand new script that incorporates the best aspect of all writing systems. It would also not sound like something that comes from Western Europe.

Post: #6

(07-10-2014 02:09 AM)speakeasy Wrote:  Why would anyone go out of their way to learn a language that has so little real world use?

"This isn’t just my opinion. Several studies have shown that learning Esperanto first will give you that edge. For example, students learned Esperanto for six months and then French for a year and a half. Another control group studied just French for two years – so they had several months more studies in that language. And yet the first group that got “side-tracked” to learn Esperanto had significantly better command of French."

Post: #7

(07-10-2014 02:09 AM)speakeasy Wrote:  Why would anyone go out of their way to learn a language that has so little real world use?

A language you can learn in weeks that makes every subsequent language easier to learn?

Yeah, sign me up.

Post: #8

What is the reason that it is easier to learn languages after Esperanto? Is it because you have trained your mind to think in a new way, or is it because you have a better understanding of the construct of language?

If the second is true, it may be better to have a further explanation of language in your native tongue (i.e. this is a direct object and here is why it is a direct object... this is a modal axillary verb and here is why and what it does, etc...).

Post: #9

Most of the studies are done with children though.

I think it would be interesting to see an adult learner study where one group does Esperanto for a year and then say German for two years and compare it to a German for three years group.

Post: #10

I just don't believe that if it was really that easy it would be common knowledge and a well used method of learning other languages.

As I said earlier, haven't heard the name for many years here in the UK. Not that we are famous for our desire to learn languages!

Post: #11

If you want to learn a dead language that will actually help your ability with your native tongue and make other languages easier, learn something like Latin, ancient Greek, or Sanskrit.

Esperanto really is like learning Klingon. Only do it if you're a bored nerd who needs to fill his time. Latin and Greek have obvious uses in fields like medicine and law. Esperanto has absolutely no such utility.

(07-10-2014 12:07 PM)Sidney Crosby Wrote:  

(07-10-2014 02:09 AM)speakeasy Wrote:  Why would anyone go out of their way to learn a language that has so little real world use?

"This isn’t just my opinion. Several studies have shown that learning Esperanto first will give you that edge. For example, students learned Esperanto for six months and then French for a year and a half. Another control group studied just French for two years – so they had several months more studies in that language. And yet the first group that got “side-tracked” to learn Esperanto had significantly better command of French."

Somehow I doubt this. I've had several semesters of Latin while I was in school, and while it does help me pick up a language like Spanish or French more easily, I think taking a detour into a language that is ultimately useless won't help you more than learning the language directly.

Post: #12

(07-10-2014 07:38 PM)CrashBangWallop Wrote:  I just don't believe that if it was really that easy it would be common knowledge and a well used method of learning other languages.

As I said earlier, haven't heard the name for many years here in the UK. Not that we are famous for our desire to learn languages!

(07-10-2014 09:41 PM)Vitriol Wrote:  If you want to learn a dead language that will actually help your ability with your native tongue and make other languages easier, learn something like Latin, ancient Greek, or Sanskrit.

Esperanto really is like learning Klingon. Only do it if you're a bored nerd who needs to fill his time. Latin and Greek have obvious uses in fields like medicine and law. Esperanto has absolutely no such utility.

Somehow I doubt this. I've had several semesters of Latin while I was in school, and while it does help me pick up a language like Spanish or French more easily, I think taking a detour into a language that is ultimately useless won't help you more than learning the language directly.

Except it seems to me if the whole deal is a confidence and familiarity angle when it comes to language learning, i.e. you get the idea of learning a language, then someone could easily pick another language they want to learn, learn that first for a little bit and then pick up their intended language.

Post: #13

Benny Lewis is a dick.

His site is full of bullshit advice that exists solely for the purpose of selling his books.

Even the site's name "Fluent in 3 months" is spammy.

Not recommended.

Post: #14

(07-10-2014 10:13 PM)dreambig Wrote:  Benny Lewis is a dick.

His site is full of bullshit advice that exists solely for the purpose of selling his books.

Even the site's name "Fluent in 3 months" is spammy.

Not recommended.

Never heard of Benny Lewis or have read his site, but yeah I can see that he wants to sell his "Fluent in 3 months" book. Which the title is clearly marketing BS.

Post: #15

The title is kind of an exaggeration, BUT he considers fluent being able to have basic conversations with a few mistakes.. not near native level. Which to me doesn't seem too unrealistic if you can study efficiently for 1-2 hours per day as well as actually practicing the language with someone.

Even after a few weeks of pimsleur and something like duolingo you should have a decent base.

Post: #16

Mi ne komprenas ke malgraŭ la fakto ke ĝenerale, oni povas lerni Esperanton facile, ke iuj homoj diras ke ne estas lingvo utila.

Post: #17

When people ask me what languages I speak, I never mention Esperanto.

To me, Esperanto is like an old whore that you somehow keep coming back to.

She didn't look like much at first, but somehow you ended up talking to her, and that led to you know what, and surprisingly, it actually felt really good, but then you forgot about her for a while, until something subconsciously drew you back to her. Eventually, you become a regular customer and of course you don't tell anybody about it, because nobody would understand why. But there is just something about her that keeps you coming, some je ne sais quoi, and to be honest, it is between you and her... it is really nobody else's business.

So, I had never planned on learning Esperanto. But it reached critical mass in my head way faster than I thought- the window just kind of opened for me by accident and now I can't delete it anymore. Now I am stuck with knowing this language and have to keep sneaking back to it to learn more.