I admit, I have a weird attraction to Esperanto. We met properly a couple of months back, but we’ve flirted for years. And now I’m addicted. So instead of estranging my friends and family by subjecting them to more tales of the wonderful language, I’ve decided to pollute the interwebs with my rantings.
So for the unfortunate uninitiated, Esperanto is a constructed language. It is a gorgeous and strange but familiar language. It has a vocabulary with its roots in european languages, and a mostly familiar grammar but with some significant (and interesting) quirks. It is entirely regular, rules have no exceptions. It is an easy language to learn, but yet so expressive, due to some nifty features of the language.
However, the aim of this blog, at least to start with, is not going to be a introduction to Esperanto, nor a tutorial. I just want to discuss those aspects of the language that tickle me, and make me want to learn more. So here’s a last note on learning Esperanto before I continue.
The best guide I’ve found for actually sitting down and learning the language is:”A complete grammar of Esperanto” by Ivy Kellerman. You can read for free here, or buy on Amazon or something. It’s not a set of grammar rules. It teaches you vocabulary and provides exercises, as a part of a way of introducing the grammatical concepts in a digestible way.The best website for discussions of aspects of Esperanto, a dictionary, exercises, and courses is lernu.net
Lastly, if I get any fact, linguistic or otherwise, about Esperanto wrong, if there’s someone who knows the right answer, let me know! Get reading!
January 10, 2013 at 16:28
Gratulon al bona blogo! Kaj dankon, ke vi mencias PMEG-on en preskaŭ ĉiu frazo.
Se vi ŝatus kontribui per proponoj kaj kritiko por la aperonta nova versio de PMEG, mi petas skribi al mi: “bertilow@gmail.com”.
January 10, 2013 at 17:57
Koran dankon
La PMEG helpas min multe, do mi ŝatas certigi, ke ĝi ankaǔ helpas aliajn! Ĝi estas nekredeble klara kaj helpema.
Kiam mi elpensos proponon aǔ kritiko, mi estos feliĉa skribi al vi! Dankon!
December 5, 2012 at 19:51
I heard someone mention Esperanto in passing, so I looked it up and I think its a great idea. I might try to learn it if I have time (though languages aren’t my strong point). I’ve heard its supposed to be really easy to learn, is it? Good blog too.
December 6, 2012 at 14:14
Welcome to the blog! Glad you like it! Feel free to ask all the questions you like!
Well, learning to speak in any other language has its challenges. But 30mins of Esperanto a day will get you light years further than you’d be in any other language in that time!
Certainly, reading Esperanto will come very easily. Because you can learn so much in such a short time. E.g. all nouns end in “o”, make them plural by adding “j”. No exceptions!
February 22, 2012 at 21:09
Posting the link helps:
http://www.arionshome.com/esperanto
February 26, 2012 at 15:26
No worries, I found it by clicking on ya name!
February 22, 2012 at 21:08
I have accumulated a lot of Esperanto links on my BLog that you may find of significant use.
February 23, 2012 at 21:47
Bonege! Koran dankon!
I’ve bookmarked it!
September 16, 2011 at 13:43
It’s very odd that I found your blog yesterday and ended up reading all your posts with badgers in them.
Odd because of yesterday’s headline — “Gordon Ramsay’s dwarf porn double Percy Foster dies in badger den”
I do find it interesting how you like the j and the way it’s used in Esperanto. That’s actually been a bit of a sticking point for me, aesthetically speaking, with how the words look when spelled out. I’m slowly getting accustomed and comfortable with the j and its use in Esperanto, but it’s taken some time.
September 16, 2011 at 14:34
Haha very odd!
I’ve noticed a lot of people having bad feelings about the “j”! It’s possibly what spurred me on to write a post about how much I actually like it!
I think it stems from the fact that I enjoy handwriting, I love getting a fancy pen and a fancy journal, and just writing. And there’s something very pretty about a word ending in a nice ornate “j”. And while I do like “y”s too, there’s something quirky and interesting about the “j” (perhaps because being English I see “y”s all the time!
I’m glad you stuck with Esperanto and are getting used to the “j”s!
August 10, 2011 at 05:31
I’ve only just discovered Esperanto (and my curiousity led me here!); I’m pretty sure I’ve fallen in love. I’m glad I found your blog!
August 10, 2011 at 08:57
Always great to see another person finding Esperanto!
Thanks! I hope you enjoy the blog!
August 8, 2011 at 03:08
I sympathize with the strange attraction to Esperanto. It just sorta…pulls you in, doesn’t it? I’ve been studying for two months, so I appreciate the tips on grammar! *donas vi un melon*
August 8, 2011 at 18:34
It certainly does! Always nice to see another person learning.
Hehe I still haven’t gotten out of the habit of imagining the fruit instead of a badger when I see “melo” in the accusative!
(Sneaky helpful sidenote: if you intend to give me 1 badger, then you’d be better to say “donas al vi”. Also, if you just wanna say “a badger” (instead of 1 badger) then you can can just say “donas al vi melon”)
Unless you meant to say “You give 1 badger”!
I hope you continue to find my blog useful!
August 10, 2011 at 16:08
Dankon! That’s actually really helpful – I’ve been trying to figure out how to say ‘a’ something, and ‘un’ wasn’t feeling right
If you’re curious I’ve been translating my own blog into Esperanto, although just to warn you the grammar is pretty terrible! http://juspacosxipoprojekto.wordpress.com/
August 10, 2011 at 22:02
Ne dankinde
Reading Esperanto is always useful! I may indeed have a gander. If you’d like I could always point out any glaring grammatical mishaps if I do have a read!
August 11, 2011 at 07:11
Thank you! That would be wonderful! It might take me some time to correct it though…
October 19, 2011 at 16:09
By the way, “un” isn’t even a word. It’s “unu”. And Esperanto has no indefinite article like “a” or “an”.
June 7, 2011 at 20:07
Thanks! I’m glad you are!
Thanks for the link!
June 7, 2011 at 14:08
I’m enjoying your blog, very interesting. BTW one of our members kindly re-typeset Kellerman’s book here:
http://esperanto-edmonton.wikidot.com/kellerman-answerkey
Vaughn