Reddit reviews Esperanto (Teach Yourself) (Revised: 3rd Edition)

When I was a teenager, I was aware that English was not the international language, despite everyone saying it was. I decided that it would make more sense to simplify English. Internet searches on the subject revealed Basic English, which was a failure, and then to Esperanto, which was reportedly not.

So one afternoon I spent a few hours with the Fundamento of Esperanto and Teach Yourself Esperanto (which is out of print, but is still the best language textbook I've seen). And that was about it. I was reading Esperanto.

There was still a lot more to learn, but I was reading it. The agglutinative nature meant that I only had to have a little vocabulary (mostly acquired that same afternoon) to start. The grammar was simple enough that even if I encountered a complicated text, all I had to do was look back to my learning materials.

Once you make it that far, you are officially a crazy person as far a the world is concerned.

"There are at least hundreds of thousands of people who speak it, maybe millions!"
"Where are they?"
"All over the world!"
"I've never seen them."
"I'm one of them."
"Yeah, but who are you going to speak it to?"
"Anyone else in the world who speaks it."
"Sounds useless if no country speaks it."
"That is missing the purpose of an international auxiliary language. It is easy enough that anybody can learn it in practically no time at all."
"If it was that easy, everyone would learn it."
"I DID, BUT YOU WON'T."
"Well, if everyone isn't speaking it, there's no point."

Over and over and over. People either don't know about it or think that no one speaks it at all. Then they treat you like you're talking about your imaginary friends. Then when you explain that it really is what everyone is looking for and they refuse to try. Because the truth is that not only are they not interested, but they will look for any excuse to perpetuate their disinterest. And others are such bigots for their own language (I'm looking at you, English and French speakers) that they just can't stand the idea of their own language not being the standard.

All modern Esperanto speakers have this experience, and in many ways it has affected the Esperanto culture. It was different in the old days. Esperanto was a grand new idea. There were people from all walks of life who picked it up, and it grew like wildfire. Then Nazis said it was a Jewish thing, the US said it was a communist thing, and the communists didn't even need an excuse. The momentum was lost, and let us not forget, people were killed for it.

Now, though there are many Esperanto speakers, the body of Esperanto speakers is different. Before it was a great blending of idealistic intellectuals, writing poetry and translating Tolstoy. Now it is mostly hippies. Lots and lots of hippies, and now the movement is seeing more and more attention from language-dabblers.

And, you know, hippies aren't all that bad. Nor are language dabblers. They are great allies in the movement, and the change is as much a reflection of global culture as Esperanto culture. But the difference is very notable.

As for me, my studies have been limited to dictionary lookups and occasional browsing of grammar guides since then. I had to give up Esperanto for a while because its vocabulary was similar enough to Spanish at times for me to mix them up at times. Even so, those few hours of study and dabbling bit of practice have left me able to understand Esperanto about as well as I understand Spanish (which I'm not perfectly fluent in, but I am competent enough to converse and exist in Latin America entirely without English.) I think that's a pretty amazing testament to Esperanto. I just wish that there were more people using it across the world so I would have more that I could do with it.

I studied Esperanto before coming to Pitt and was disappointed that there are no clubs in the area (I looked).

It's been a very long time since I've studied Esperanto, but "Ja mi povas paroli gxin, aux, almenaux, mi povos paroli gxin denove"

I won't be here this summer, but if I'm here next year we should see about getting together and practicing. My book of choice, that I still love quite strongly is this one http://www.amazon.com/Esperanto-Teach-Yourself-Revised-Edition/dp/0844237639. You can find the most recent edition's pdf online somewhere <.<

I imagine you're a freshman?

If you're interested, you should PM me your facebook or pitt e-mail :p

I third this. It's probably the best single book. http://www.amazon.com/Esperanto-Teach-Yourself-Revised-3rd/dp/0844237639/ref=la_B001KI9TGC_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1416982334&sr=1-1


It's out of print, so prices are high, but there is a PDF floating around the internet than you can google for.

Also, go to Memrise.com and sign up for "Speak Esperanto Like a Native 1" course. Memrise is a godsend for language learners.

Good question. I've never learned the language itself, only learned some about it. But there are plenty of websites about Esperanto to help you on your way. A quick google gave me this book as a good self learner: Book

​

Enjoy and have a good one!

lernu is fantastic, and the canonical book is TIY Esperanto (I wouldn't get it from Amazon, since their cheapest is $40 for used, I just linked so you can find the ISBN and whatnot).

Consider a meetup group (that one's in the Bay Area), having actual people to speak with is a huge plus.