Esperanto Day 1

Saluton,

For some reason I’ve recently become interested in Esperanto, the international language devised by L.L. Zamenhof in the late 1800s.  It’s really quite fascinating. I’m finding the vocabulary very manageable and enjoy the regularity of the grammar.  It’s a fun language because a new learner can easily make up new sentences without much effort.  For an example of the grammar, “Homo” means “human.”  It comes from the root for human “hom” and the particle for nouns -o.  If I wanted to make human an adjective, I just add an -a instead of an -o, making it "homa." Any Esperanto user would understand the grammar, though I need more exposure to understand common usage.

Beyond the regularity, I’m finding the teaching materials I’m using helpful.  While I’ve resisted trying Duolinguo for dogmatic reasons, my first 20 minutes with the software was very pleasurable.  It didn’t take too much work to figure out, and I was making sentences in Esperanto in no time.  I also like how the software forces the user out of his or her comfort zone by testing words that are not known already, but can be figured out through a bit of logic.  This helped reinforce their meaning early on.  I’m looking forward to using the software in the weeks ahead.  I do need to be careful though, it feels very addictive.  I can see how one could become a smart phone zombie using this program.

Cerego’s Esperanto decks are pretty fun as well.  Though not as addictive, I’m finding Cerego to be a great learning tool.  The spaced repetition software is great, and I can see how it will help me get the basics nailed down effectively. I’m hoping to spend 15 min on Cerego and 15 min on Duolinguo a few days each week.  I’d like to see how far that takes me.

The only thing I’m really now is output.  I want to write in the language to practice.  I also want a native speaker to practice with.  I know at least I can practice with speed writes. With a little bit of effort, I know I can produce quite a bit with the smatterings I already have.

I also hope to continue journaling to serve as a record for this language journey.

Dankon,

Daniel