Esperanto up north
An interesting story in the Yorkshire Post, about the National Conference taking place in Scarborough:
JUST like Latin, Esperanto is the supposedly dead language that won’t lie down. Hitler and Stalin tried to ban it. The internet helped to save it. Now it could be on the way to a school near you…
Esperanto was developed in the late 1870s and early 1880s in Warsaw, Poland, by Dr Ludovic Lazarus Zamenhof, who dreamed of a common language that could unite the world.
That was before two world wars and the years between, when many speakers died in Stalin’s purges and it was officially banned in Nazi Germany.Since it selects the easiest parts of every language, Esperanto can be learned four or even 20 times faster than other tongues.
At present only a handful of schools teach Esperanto officially outside China, Hungary, and Bulgaria, leaving the majority to pick it up through books or correspondence courses. But now studies have confirmed children who learn Esperanto can then master another language faster and better. Pupils who spent a year learning Esperanto and then did three years of French did better those who studied French for four years.
It’s an interesting thought, and I can certainly see the merit. Since concentrating on learning it myself, I’ve certainly found my French improving greatly. It also sounds very nice; it’s a shame so few people speak it.
If you liked that post, then try these...
Step by Step in Esperanto on May 28th, 2006
Globish on December 22nd, 2006
Cxi semajnfino / cette weekend on January 22nd, 2006
Alphabet Soup on December 2nd, 2006
Spaz on May 23rd, 2006