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From: neal@druny.UUCP (Neal D. McBurnett)
Newsgroups: net.nlang,net.travel
Subject: Re: Esperanto as a practical aid to the language barrier for travelers
Message-ID: <44@druny.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 18-Nov-85 01:58:51 EST
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Posted: Mon Nov 18 01:58:51 1985
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Will writes:
> What about using Esperanto in a strictly practical and real-world
> situation?  You are standing on a street corner in a foreign city....
Yes, this is a situation that Esperanto does not help much with.  On the
other hand, assuming that I have a map (a truly international language:
I ALWAYS take pains to acquire good maps), directions can be dealt with.
They continue to be a hassle, but the real problem from my perspective is the
difficulty of having "siginificant" conversations with people, and
Esperanto does help with that.  Yes, I have to plan a little more, but
in most cities I will be just a phone call away from an interesting
esperantist.

I would also agree that Englsh speakers are more likely to be found in most
cities than Esperantists, but
	1) Either they are from an English-speaking country, and thus
		won't necessarily lend the cultural variety to my travel
		that I search, or their English is likely to be sufficiently
		worse than mine that our conversation will be strained.
	2) I don't have an address book for them.
	3) They are less likely to be interested in meeting me than
		esperantists almost invariably are.
In particular, Bulgaria is my next goal, and Esperanto is frequently
taught there, while English is rare.  I have friends who have suggested
that Esperanto is in fact more widely known than English: I'll see.

Learning Esperanto also helps me to pronounce other languages better.  In
particular it teaches me a rolled "r", and how to avoid those insidious
diphthongs in English vowels.  I always shudder when I remember the story
I heard in Japan about a lady who didn't understand why the stupid man at
the train station didn't know where "cay-yow-tow" (Kyoto) was.

You're right that Esperanto suffers from a lack of recognition, especially
in this insulated country.  I have found, though, that it really is a
huge movement, both broad and deep.  The problem is, the world is a huge
place, in which many significant movements can be lost.

-Neal McBurnett, ihnp4!druny!neal	"Send for the free postal lesson today!"