Has anyone here ever tried learning Esperanto to help in their language studies?

[leland.kirk]

I wasn't sure if this belonged here or in 'off topic', but I came across a few things about Esperanto that I thought was interesting. It's apparently quick and simple to learn, and can have the (albeit anecdotal) effect of 'springboarding' your study of languages by increasing confidence and helping you learn 'how to learn' other languages.
It's a constructed language from the 1880s, initially intended for people to use when they come from two different nations who don't share a language.

Here's a TEDx Talk about it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gSAkUOElsg

A Wikipedia page on the springboarding aspect:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaedeut..._Esperanto

A Freakanomics episode about it:
http://freakonomics.com/podcast/why-lear...l-feature/

A Duolingo course:
https://www.duolingo.com/course/eo/en/Le...nto-Online



Let me know what you guys think!

[rachel83az]

Yes, I have tried. It may work for some people, but I'm not sure it works for everyone all of the time. My main problem with learning languages is remembering the vocabulary and that's not really something that studying Esperanto helps with, IMO.

[Ideas]

I've struggled with learning Spanish, and thought Esperanto sounded great. I would love to know Esperanto.

I took a few lessons and Esperanto seems easier, but I feel like my current level of knowledge of Spanish gets in the way because of the similarities. I feel like it would be great for someone who didn't already know part of a language.

I'd still like to know both someday, but I won't have time for a while.

[clep3705]

This reminds me of the argument that learning Latin helps you to learn other languages. Notice that fewer and fewer schools offer Latin. Learning Latin isn't going to help you learn Asian or African languages. If you learn Latin before learning a western European language, the knowledge of Latin will help. But it is more efficient in terms of total time and effort to skip Latin and learn the other language directly.

Learn Esperanto to learn Esperanto, not to learn something else.

[rachel83az]

Knowing a second language, any other language, CAN help you to learn a third language. In that way, Esperanto can help you to learn Japanese. But you won't get quite the same boost out of learning Japanese as you would, say, French or Spanish.

If you already know the basics of another language, Esperanto probably isn't going to help you as much.

[leland.kirk]

This reminds me of the argument that learning Latin helps you to learn other languages. Notice that fewer and fewer schools offer Latin. Learning Latin isn't going to help you learn Asian or African languages. If you learn Latin before learning a western European language, the knowledge of Latin will help. But it is more efficient in terms of total time and effort to skip Latin and learn the other language directly.

Learn Esperanto to learn Esperanto, not to learn something else.

Not that I entirely disagree, but Esperanto can be learned very quickly compared to other languages, which I assume is what the basis of the springboard argument is. In a study, students that spent a year studying Esperanto and three years studying French were more proficient in French than students who studied no Esperanto and studied four years of French.

Edit: Esperanto can be learned in as little as a few months, depending on time devoted. Latin on the other hand would at least take a year or two

[Ideas]

Not that I entirely disagree, but Esperanto can be learned very quickly compared to other languages, which I assume is what the basis of the springboard argument is. In a study, students that spent a year studying Esperanto and three years studying French were more proficient than students who studied no Esperanto and studied four years of French.

I'd be curious for my situation. I've studied Spanish on and off, but let's say it's 1 year of Spanish. I'm not sure if I would be better off studying Esperanto for a year and Spanish for 2 years, in terms of Spanish skills. (I think I'd be better off studying Spanish for 3 years.) But at least I'd know Esperanto.

[leland.kirk]

I'd be curious for my situation. I've studied Spanish on and off, but let's say it's 1 year of Spanish. I'm not sure if I would be better off studying Esperanto for a year and Spanish for 2 years, in terms of Spanish skills. (I think I'd be better off studying Spanish for 3 years.) But at least I'd know Esperanto.

I'd be even more curious for the argument of learning them alongside each other, but I'm sure this would feel a lot slower.

A debate for the usefulness of Esperanto in general could also be made, I'm sure. It's growing, but with only two million speakers, that's uh 0.028% of the world population?

[rachel83az]

Not that I entirely disagree, but Esperanto can be learned very quickly compared to other languages, which I assume is what the basis of the springboard argument is. In a study, students that spent a year studying Esperanto and three years studying French were more proficient than students who studied no Esperanto and studied four years of French.

I'd be curious for my situation. I've studied Spanish on and off, but let's say it's 1 year of Spanish. I'm not sure if I would be better off studying Esperanto for a year and Spanish for 2 years, in terms of Spanish skills. (I think I'd be better off studying Spanish for 3 years.) But at least I'd know Esperanto.

If you kept with it, learning Esperanto can be a great advantage. But it's slightly harder to study and keep interested in, IMO, because it's not like there are many Esperanto resources. You can watch movies & TV shows in Spanish, you can read newspapers and books in Spanish, but you can't really find these things in Esperanto.

[dfrecore]

Not that I entirely disagree, but Esperanto can be learned very quickly compared to other languages, which I assume is what the basis of the springboard argument is. In a study, students that spent a year studying Esperanto and three years studying French were more proficient than students who studied no Esperanto and studied four years of French.

I'd be curious for my situation. I've studied Spanish on and off, but let's say it's 1 year of Spanish. I'm not sure if I would be better off studying Esperanto for a year and Spanish for 2 years, in terms of Spanish skills. (I think I'd be better off studying Spanish for 3 years.) But at least I'd know Esperanto.

If you kept with it, learning Esperanto can be a great advantage. But it's slightly harder to study and keep interested in, IMO, because it's not like there are many Esperanto resources. You can watch movies & TV shows in Spanish, you can read newspapers and books in Spanish, but you can't really find these things in Esperanto.

Let's not forget that depending on where you live, you might also hear, read, and have the opportunity to speak Spanish on a daily basis.  I live in the San Diego area, I hear Spanish every single day that I leave the house.  All of our school forms have English on the front and Spanish on the back.  I don't even know what Esperanto is.