NationStates Jolt Archive

International Language Act

Recognizing that humans have different languages and international communication, commerce, and politics are difficult due to costly translation, we the United Nations declare the need for an international second language that protects language diversity and increases the ability for other nations to understand each other. This language is called Esperanto.

1) Esperanto was invented in 1887 by Ludwig Lazarus Zamenhof who grew up in an environment where people of different languages were in constant conflict with one another. He realized the need for an international lingua franca.

2) Esperanto protects language diversity.

3) Esperanto is four times easier to learn than Spanish, free of the irregularities of English, Esperanto doesn't have any confusing conjugations and is entirely phonetic.

4) Esperanto already is spoken by over 2 million worldwide and is the only language that deserves the title of "la internacia lingvo".

I already speak English and Spanish (inside and outside of NS).
There is no need for an international language.
I am personally against globalization.

Is this "Esperanto real"?
- Cefwyn

Yes, Esperanto is a real world language and is recognized as one by the real life United Nations. It is not globalization as it protects language diversity, it however allows people from other countries to understand each other with an equal, universal language.

What about civilians who speak Mandarin (Chinese) or Arabic....?
Spanish is not the second most spoken language; it is third.

It would also take ten more years for this language to be implemented as adults are relatively simple-minded and if you have not learned your second or third language by the time you are twenty, you will not learn anymore.

International languages have their downsides...is there a translation for every word in every language?
- Cefwyn

The proposal is ridiculous. NOBODY SPEAKS ESPERANTO.
As a matter of fact: it is COMPLETLY ARTIFICAL, drawn in an ivory tower by some world-distant proffessors who don´t have anything else to do.

The lingua franca of the world is English.
We would support the recognition of other languages as working languages of the UN. However: in order to reach that an expensive translation service would be needed. I don´t know whether nation states can afford to arrange that.
Other main world languages are Spanish, French, Chinese (Mandarin), Arabic, Russian, Portugese, Japanese and German.

Sincerely yours

Marc Smith, president of Kybernetia

International Language Act

Recognizing that humans have different languages and international communication, commerce, and politics are difficult due to costly translation, we the United Nations declare the need for an international second language that protects language diversity and increases the ability for other nations to understand each other. This language is called Esperanto.

1) Esperanto was invented in 1887 by Ludwig Lazarus Zamenhof who grew up in an environment where people of different languages were in constant conflict with one another. He realized the need for an international lingua franca.

2) Esperanto protects language diversity.

3) Esperanto is four times easier to learn than Spanish, free of the irregularities of English, Esperanto doesn't have any confusing conjugations and is entirely phonetic.

4) Esperanto already is spoken by over 2 million worldwide and is the only language that deserves the title of "la internacia lingvo".


As NATION STATES proves, we already have a global language, which is English. I do not see the need for the whole world to suddenly start learning another language; If nations recognise the need for global communication, history proves the problem solves itself; They learn English.
Esperanto is not a solution, it creates a major problem.

the DSH see English as the already adopted international language - I'm yet to see anyone on NS use Esperanto.

I agree with most of the previous speakers in that this proposal is just not acceptable.
But I do like to state that I have not heard any good arguments. The REAL reason why we should not consider Esperanto Lingua Franca is that on earth there is no country where Esperanto is spoken natively.

However, I do empathize with the feeling that other languages than English should be considered as global language. Native English speakers tend to think that their language is spoken globally. But if you have ever been to France you should know differently (or Italy for that matter, and that's just Europe).

On the other hand, if the issue at hand is about a "Global Language" to be used in the UN, English is probably the most obvious choice. NOT because English is THE global language, and also not because NS has proved that it is (look at this post, probably filled with mistakes), but because within the UN the language spoken by most nations (not people) natively is English.
If, after a poll or other research, it turns out that, for instance, most nations speak Indonesian, I plead for Indonesian to be the language used by the UN. I have even heard that it isn't that hard to learn.

Sincerely

Yamazato Kamichi

The REAL reason why we should not consider Esperanto Lingua Franca is that on earth there is no country where Esperanto is spoken natively.

I suspect that would possibly be one of the reasons why supporters of esperanto would campaign for it....rather than being a negative.

In other words, why let anyone be fluent in any existing language when we can all try to cope with a fictional one?

In other words, why let anyone be fluent in any existing language when we can all try to cope with a fictional one?
1.this would indeed level the playing field in that context

2.an international language is a desireable concept

3.experanto is a less then ideal candidate as it is based entirely
in 'romance' and to a lesser degree other european ('germanic')
languages.

a more even handed approach must be equaly accessable to all other linguistic groups as well, from nihongo to celtic to urdu and hindi and even swahili et c. et c.

=^^=
.../\...

In my opinion i would say that as the most popular language around the world, english should be seen as the global language. Yes english is a very diffcult language to learn and understand but on the up side when spoken it can be very clear and easy to understand (depending on the speaker). When you listen to other languages through-out the world you need to have a high level of intelligence to be able to seperate words from each other. English does not ahve this problem.

Esperanto is not the answer as it still has the same problems as most languages, mainly it being seen as complicated to learn.

The only reason why English is the international language "at the moment" is the economical power (or weakness) of the USA. The are buying much more than they produce and therefore a lot of countries see them as there clients and use English to satisfy their client. Not so long ago the international diplomatic language was French. Even the language at the courts of Prusia (Germany) and England was French. English was considered as the language of the peasants. Why do you think that there are so many similarities between French and English. Because the English language adopted them from French and not the other way around.

At the end (if the US doesn't consume differently) the trade balance of the US will be so inbalanced that they have a lot of trouble the pay there international deficit. The economy would crash and another nation (or nations) will take over the economic power of the US and perhaps another language will arise out of the dust. English as the international language is only temporarily. So think about that when any English native speaker refuses to learn another language.

In other words, why let anyone be fluent in any existing language when we can all try to cope with a fictional one?

How long will it take before an whole range of dialects will arise? Language is a living thing with cultural influences not a scientific fixed system of gramar

The only reason why English is the international language "at the moment" is the economical power (or weakness) of the USA.
OOC: Nope, English is the language that Max writes in so English is the language his world uses.

IC: If Esperanto was really the best language then we wouldn't need to force it's use.

Giordano,
UN representative,
The Black New World
Meet The Reps (http://www.nationstates.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=132588) ~ What can the UN do and what can it do for me?
(http://www.nationstates.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=151465&highlight=)

Personally I prefer German :) But its not the most spoken language, so I'll have to adopt to whatever it is.. and thankfully it is not English, so I'll be able to speak 3languages one day: German, English and whatever else is the most spoken language (probably Chinese or something).

Esperanto will never become globally popular, due to it's Eurocentric design. It's highly biased towards the phonemes used in European languages, making it much more difficult for non-Europeans to learn. How would you like it if the Chinese proposed an new international language that relied heavily on tones and Eastern phonemes? (It's great fun trying to teach a European how to pronounce something as simple as the Mandarin equivalent of 'hello', and that's only two syllables).

"I speak Esperanto like a native."

I think this is unworkable, as many will be unable to learn it. Also it will put many interpreters out of a job. Will no one think of them ?

In my opinion i would say that as the most popular language around the world, english should be seen as the global language.

Madarin is the most-spoken language in the world, and will become more popular as China opens up.

When you listen to other languages through-out the world you need to have a high level of intelligence to be able to seperate words from each other. English does not ahve this problem.

That is complete nonsense, as any researcher in speech recognition will tell you. As a stress-timed language, it is much harder to make out seperate phonemes in English (as opposed to those in syllable-timed languages).