Theory and Practice

A few weeks ago, I first heard that Esperanto is one of the easiest languages to learn and that knowing it makes learning any other language easier. Upon hearing this, I was instantly inthralled. I wanted to know more about this language. I read wikipedia articles, watched Youtube videos, read academic research, and even read a book about the history of Esperanto.  Something about this seemed magical.

That said, I kept having this weird feeling in my gut.  I was bothered by the amount of time I sent reading about this language.  I was bothered by how my thoughts during meditation all came back to esperanto, it’s history, it’s placing in the world, and on the history and development of western languages. I couldn’t mentally justify the amount of attention I was giving to this niche field of study. Furthermore, I had a strange feeling that there was something alien and not right about a made up language, like it defied some sacred, time-honored standard for communication.

Then, yesterday, I set my thoughts and pre-occupations aside and gave myself a schedule.  Everyday now, I learn Esperanto on Cerego for 15 minutes, and then use Duolingo for 15 minutes.  After that 30 minute allotment of time, I stop.

I’m on day three now, according to Duolingo, and so far so good.  A lot of the obsessive thoughts have died down.  I am starting to genuinely enjoy using this language.  I like thinking in Esperanto as an exercise. I like noticing roots from familiar smatterings of Latin, French, or Spanish.  Also, this weird feeling that the language is something alien and meant to be avoided has gone away.

By limiting the time I spend learning and cutting back on theoretical readings, I’ve given myself a space to genuinely enjoy this language.

This experience has also helped with my understanding of teaching English.  As a teacher, I often find myself wanting to share knowledge with students, and explain a lot of things. But, as I’ve found with Esperanto, the real improvement and understanding happens through doing - using the language rather than looking at theories.  I need to think of ways to make my students engage in meaningful activities, without lengthy explanations or speeches.  Walking the walk is the only way to actually learn a language and have fun doing it.

(On that note, I still need to find some communicative activities to add into my study routine. Maybe I’ll do a speed write for tomorrow.)