Is Learning Esperanto Worth It?

Benny talks about the reasons he learned Esperanto and why it's so useful, despite it not being an official language in any country. The international Esperanto community is one that Benny loves being a part of, not least because they know how to throw a good party! And learning this as one of your first languages has been shown to have significant benefits for learning subsequent languages, giving you momentum, confidence, and skills that are highly transferable.
To ask Benny a question, leave a comment on Instagram (@languagehacking) or Twitter (@fi3m), or you can email [e-mail]

[@kimerswell7643]

Learnt Esperanto when I was thirty - 37 years ago. One major benefit was that it taught me as a native English speaker basic grammar that has been helpful in learning additional languages as I never learnt at school ....Went on to learn Italian, Welsh and now French.

[@fi3m]

Glad it helped you with your other languages. Thank you for sharing your experience with the language.

[@bernardkung7306]

Heck... learning Esperanto helped me to a deeper understanding of _English_ grammar -- and I'm a native speaker, who had already had a fair bit of formal instruction in French, and some German too.

[@jaerivus]

@@bernardkung7306 Same experience here, as a native English speaker. I love it. :)

[@fitzburg63]

@@bernardkung7306 Deutsch ist sehr leicht.

[@chadm2842]

Great info, thanks for creating! Quick question though, you learned Esperanto when you were "thirty - 37 years ago." So that makes you 67?? Dude, you're looking good... lol

[@stefang5639]

Esperanto gives you access to a small 130 years old global subculture full of interesting and weird people and artifacts. It is not for everyone, but for me, it is a very nice place to be. A good KZbin channel for English-speaking folks interested in it is "Exploring Esperanto".

[@fi3m]

Thanks for sharing your experience and resource for Esperanto learners.

[@Kanguruo]

Very good video. There are so many people who think that learning Esperanto is useless as there aren't millions and millions of people speaking it, but there are certainly enough Esperanto speakers to keep you busy communicating with them. I am very happy that I was able to learn Esperanto as a child and I use it every day.

[@fi3m]

Glad you enjoyed the video. Thank you for sharing your experience with Esperanto.

[@bernardkung7306]

Well, by that logic, it's _obviously_ useless to learn Latvian, Estonian, Basque, Gaelic (either sort), Welsh, Occitan, Frisian, Romansh, etc, as those are all languages with fewer than 2 million speakers, even though native to and spoken in Europe, many even officially recognized. Even Slovene and Galician are on the order of perhaps 2.5 million each, and some of these languages are counted in the 10's of thousands. Leaving Europe, there are of course far, far more of such "minor" languages all around the globe -- and few people would apply the "useless"label to those either -- or at least not nearly as blithely and unthinkingly as they apply it to Esperanto.

[@alanguages]

@@bernardkung7306 I have heard the not many speakers label applied to Esperanto the most. When I ask about the other natural languages, that have even less speakers, than Esperanto, the response is usually to avoid the conversation. There are others who also claim it is best to learn a minority endangered language, instead of Esperanto, because Esperanto is just trying to replace other languages. Which obviously is not the case, then I have asked, what endangered language they have and are currently learning. Let's say the answer is Zero. I have also heard the argument, Esperanto is too European and should not be a world language, but the same person promotes English being the world language.

[@samideano161_official]

Thank you for promoting. This will help spread Esperanto more.

[@fi3m]

Thank you for watching.

[@rauljosegarcia]

There's also value in learning SOME Esperanto. The thought of learning any language to "fluency" is daunting, and by this standard many (most?) languages are not worth the effort for those without a professional/business/family need. However, a few months of study (say... 3? ;) could be valuable in order to learn about language learning as suggested in this video.

[@fi3m]

Absolutely

[@johnboyce8279]

"Even if there were only one other speaker etc." Excellent point!

[@KolektodeHerkso]

Esperanto multe helpis min kompreni gramatikon, ĉar ĝi, en facila kaj simpla maneiro, postulas ĉi tion, per kiu mi lernis kiel funkcias la "pecoj" de ĝi. Kaj sendube ĉi tio sekve rapidigis mian lernadon en aliaj lingvoj.

[@sergiopaulo4221]

Ho Ni havas Esperantparolanton či tie👽

[@thedarkenigma3834]

Ankaŭ mi. 💚

[@beenice1555]

Estoy aprendido el español y también hablo francés, y pienso que el Esperanto es un idioma hermoso y me gustaría aprenderlo en el futuro 💚 A mi me parece muy simple y puedo entenderlo sin haberlo estudiado.

[@lukasrba1]

On saturday I was in Bialystok, birthplace of doktoro Esperanto. There I bought and read his book International language (in polish). And today I kinda even understand to the language. Although I as Czech who now speaks 4 languages fluently, while know of some more laguages, I don´t need to learn the language to learn the basics, but I started. It has cool idea, easy grammar and vocab, and I heard it connects people with passion for languages.

[@Jontyfarmer]

Hey Benny, thanks for all the amazing work you do. You got me into language learning. It’s become a lifelong love affair

[@fi3m]

Thanks for the kind words! I hope you have many wonderful experiences thanks to your language learning!

[@karlturner9038]

Well, everyone makes his\her own decision, if it's worth lerning or not. But for me I decided that yes, that's certainly worth doing it :D Maybe that's because I love languages in general. Once last year I had added this just for fun on Duolingo out of curiousity and for the sake of some extra scores :D But then slowly but surely I got into it and still becoming even more enthusiastic. For me it also quite curious for the fact, that yes, it is an artificially made and nowadays useless language, but at the same time it has survived since 19 century unlike other constructed languages, which didn't. At least, for me it is a good sign, therefore it's worth something. It is an interesting linguistic and cultural phenomenon, and if it brings so many pleasure to you, so why not? Yes, it is helpful to internalize some basic vocabulary of new language (like French, in particular, e.g.) as well as to see anew already known languages. It also help to understand other languages' syntax and to learn using different calques, which your mother tongue does not comprise, that's an important part, I think.

[@fi3m]

Glad to hear that Esperanto turned out to be a good choice for you.

[@eljuano28]

Saluton, Karl! (Kaj Saluton, Beni!) Mi ankaŭ alvenis mem en Esperantan komunumon pro kuriozo pli ol alia poento. Iu proponis ĝin al mi el la ideo ke ĝi estis ia vojo ĝis mondpaco, kaj mi fakte tuj kritikis ĝin kiel ke ĝi emas kiel ideolista konspiro. 😆 Mi divenas ke mi estis duone ĝusta. Kion mi trovis anstataŭe estas ke la komunumo estas aro de bonaj, malfermitmensaj homoj kiuj kunspezas iliajn vidpunktojn sen juĝeco, (pli malpli.) Nune, mi iĝintas esperantisto entute. Mi neniam vidus min mem ĉi tie post mia unua malprava kompreno, sed ĝi plaĉas min ke la komunumo ŝanĝis mian menson. Now I can read at a basic level in Latin, Nederlands, Romanian, Italian, Portuguese, and understand some words in Ukrainian, Russian, a very few words in traditional Mandarin, I can listen to newscasts in Brazilian Portuguese or in Spanish and I can speak English like an American, ('cause, y'know; birth.) I've got a long way to go, but I'll say this: Esperanto first and foremost is a language and community which is living and useful to cross global communication and cultural barriers, but it's also a magnificent tool for dislodging preconceived notions that learning languages is impossible for some people. That was me. Not anymore. Ĝis!

[@juanalbertocruzhernandez5207]

El Esperanto es más fácil si hablas una lengua romance. Recolecta un poco de otras lenguas, por ejemplo, me dí cuenta que tenía algunas palabras del inglés. Es recomendable aprenderlo.

[@fitzburg63]

Your language looks much like Latin. Esperanto is the language on its own, it has its unique grammar like no other language. It is much easier than English.

[@thedarkenigma3834]

@@fitzburg63 Yes, the original commenter is speaking Spanish which is a Romance language.

[@thetightwadhomesteader3089]

Gracias por tu comentario! I stopped by because I'm reading spanish comments on KZbin to get practice. I'm getting good at reading spanish, but all my other skills are trash in spanish. On the side I started playing with italiano (love how they speak) I found I could kind of read a little of it, im just learning to read it for later/make my spanish better!? I'm actually going to do the same in espanranto, I can kind of understand a few of words in it without studying.

[@beenice1555]

Si yo lo creo también; hablo francés y estoy aprendido español, y a mi me parece que el Esperanto es muy fácil y puedo entenderlo sin haberlo estudiado 😊

[@majkus]

One can quibble with the use of 'artificial language' as a description of Esperanto, because it is contrasted with 'natural language', a term of art in fields like artificial intelligence. A solution to natural-language comprehension by an A.I. applies just as well to Esperanto as to other languages; and there are attested native speakers of the language. It may be that a term like 'synthetic language' or 'constructed language' may be more specific and informative.

[@fi3m]

Thank you for sharing your thoughts on this!

[@amadeosendiulo2137]

Yes, constructed language, or conlang for short, is now a common sence. Also as Esperanto is an alive language that changes now, maybe is not entirely constructed now. It has some features that kinda evolved. But of course the contrast with natural languages still exists.

[@H3cJP]

the thing that helped me most while learning english is something i just cannot use for esperanto and thats a problem basically, just listening to it first with subtitles in my native language (spanish) then, subtitles in english then, no subtitles at all or only for the videos with pronunciation i strugle with (bri' ish, they are just removing fucking letters from the words) and now, i strugle writing but im perfectly fine listening to and reading in english

[@thegrinchCAPO]

I wanna learn as much as I can thanks for the videos maybe should do some with you speaking it

[@fi3m]

Thank you for the suggestion. All the best to you with your learning.

[@dieterrooke]

Chu ni renkontighos dum UK en Montrealo?

[@afafaakaka562]

I started learning it in 80s 😆 Do people really use it?!

[@Kanguruo]

Yes, certainly. There will be a big conference in Canada soon with hundreds of participants.

[@fi3m]

There are definitely communities and events where Esperanto is used. This article may help: esperanto.lingolia.com/en/background/where-to-speak

[@luisbravo5452]

There's even a discord server with +1200 active members

[@NekonataVirino]

Yes - they really do. I personally have about 50 Esperanto speaking friends and acquaintances around the world and I engage in and about esperanto pretty much every day

[@fitzburg63]

I certainly do use it... from time to time at least.

[@beyondthebasicsinpolish]

I love the 80s backdrop. How do you get it?

[@amadeosendiulo2137]

2:53 Plus la franca kaj Esperanto estas iom similaj kaj multaj esperantaj vortoj devenas el la franca. Plus, French and Esperanto are quite similar and lots of Esperanto words come from French.

[@nannimanfrin8420]

Saluton kara amiko! Chu vi memoras min? Mi estas Jano. Bone fartu chiame. Ghis

[@thevero1042]

How to find the Esperanto community

[@fi3m]

Depends on where you live. Search for Esperanto and your city and country name on Facebook and you should see some groups and can ask there what events they organize. International events to search for include JES, IJK and IK (if Googling, make sure to add "Esperanto" into the search instead of just those acronyms). Best of luck!

[@valentin.cuber.polyglot]

Thanks

[@YuriRadavchuk]

For Slavic ppl, the easiest language in the world is Interslavic

[@shellfish7660]

Ну не знаю, славянские языки довольно сложные (уж поверьте моему опыту), да и межславянский язык ставил себе немного другие цели - в отличие от эсперанто он создавался не как самый простой для изучения, а как самый близкий ко всем славянским языкам, чтобы носитель любого славянского языка смог понимать его без подготовки (я и правда могу - ощущается как чудо). Поэтому он скорее всего утащил много синтаксического сахара из национальных языков, и учить его навряд ли очень приятно.

Дља словјанскых људиј, имајеш правду, але меджусловјанскы језык не јест меджународны помочны језык, јербо он достава жрла толико из словјанскых језыков и староцирковнословјанского и јест то запројектовано, да бы улегсити родных говоритељев словјанскых језыков и за специфичну, географичну мєстност (Словјанство), затому меджусловјанскы језык падаје под категоријеју зоналных помочных језыков.

[@omp199]

Saluton!

[@luisbravo5452]

Saluton uwu

[@jomataberaz6795]

Kiel vi fartas

[@amadeosendiulo2137]

@@luisbravo5452 Salutegon OvO

[@next629]

Салют

[@beenice1555]

Saluton!

[@DelightfullyDoe]

I've just started learning Spanish for a trip I'm taking to Mexico in January. Would doing 2 weeks of Esperanto now help or hinder me given my timeline? I'm native English and have French as a second language but it was learned as a child at home so this is my first attempt at learning a new language as an adult.

[@John-ei1uh]

Learning two languages at the same time doesn’t affect me too much but does talk twice as long to learn both, u should only be learning Spanish

[@fi3m]

With the trip so close, I would say focusing on Spanish would probably give you the bigger advantage. Focusing on the vocabulary and language you'll need while there (brainstorm what scenarios you'll likely use Spanish in), and then prepare for the trip based on that. - Shannon, Fluent in 3 Months Coach

[@MrMirville]

Would you pronounce Espairahn'toh not Espurontow?

[@fi3m]

As it's written. Not sure where your spellings are coming from.

[@Rafalstratford]

👍👍👍👍👍👍👍

[@redhead6415]

Bahasa is easier than esperanto

[@karenkordes2210]

Quite true. I'm an American ESL teacher. I taught English in Kota Bharu , Malasia. i was very surprised how fast I learned Bahasa Malay. Great food in Malasia by the way!

[@mikoajbadzielewski3396]

Esperantou;)

[@fitzburg63]

?

[@amadeosendiulo2137]

@@fitzburg63 Mikołaj probably points out the American pronunciation of Esperanto. Being honest, lots of American esperantists pronounce the o like that even speaking in Esperanto.

[@amadeosendiulo2137]

Czy chodzi o amerykański akcent?

[@fi3m]

This video is in English, so I pronounce it as I should in English.

[@yobmas722]

Spanish is easier than Esperanto

[@AyeBJ]

Cap

[@kieronhoswell2722]

Which bits? Verb conjugations? The subjunctive? Grammatical gender? The tenses? The speed its spoken at? I've tried to learn Spanish and I've actually learned Esperanto. In my experience Esperanto is 3-4 times easier.

[@fredpourlesintimes]

The only advantage of learning esperanto is to have a first taste of what foreign languages are. It's good for understanding some basics, but after reaching a certain point of enthousiam and knowledge, it get boring. Esperanto is a closed environment. It is not connected to any reality. A beautiful ideal, but with no roots in real. It's really hard to find people to speak with, by speech. The most part of the time, there are some writting, some interactions on social network ; even some events in the real life, but nothing wide and prosperous.

[@fitzburg63]

Hey, "only man". Are you a god or something?

[@fredpourlesintimes]

@@fitzburg63 I'm god.

[@amadeosendiulo2137]

I've just was in an only Esperanto convenient via Zoom for few hours.

[@eljuano28]

Opinions vary.

[@Abalone710]

hi. 1. The only advantage of learning esperanto is to have a first taste of what foreign languages are. It's good for understanding some basics, but after reaching a certain point of enthousiam and knowledge, it get boring. Esperanto is a closed environment. Although Esperanto is not the native language of most people, there is a global community of Esperanto speakers, that is, people who speak Esperanto as a second language. This community includes people of all ages, professions, and countries. Esperanto is therefore actually an open language that is used by people from all over the world. 2. after reaching a certain point of enthousiam and knowledge, it get boring It is true that any language can become monotonous or boring if it is used exclusively and if no effort is made to discover new words, new expressions, and new ways of expressing oneself. However, Esperanto, like any other language, can be used creatively and interestingly if one takes the time to immerse oneself in the culture and community of its speakers. In addition, Esperanto is a living language that is spoken by millions of people worldwide, which means that there are always new things to discover and learn. In short, Esperanto will not necessarily become boring if one strives to use it in a lively and active way. 3. It is not connected to any reality Today, it is spoken by millions of people worldwide and is used in many contexts, including literature, translation, and international conferences. Although Esperanto is not connected to any specific cultural or linguistic reality, it has a concrete reality as a living language used by many people around the world. 4. A beautiful ideal, but with no roots in real Although Esperanto is not a language that has historical roots in a specific group of people, it is spoken by millions of people around the world and has its own culture and community. Many Esperanto speakers consider Esperanto to be a living and evolving language, with its own literature, music, and other forms of cultural expression. 5. It's really hard to find people to speak with, by speech. There are many places where you can speak Esperanto, including: Online communities and forums on the internet. Local groups of Esperanto speakers in your area. Events organized by Esperanto associations, such as national or international meetings. Summer camps for Esperanto speakers. 6. but nothing wide and prosperous Any new or little-known thing takes time to thrive. Sometimes, even, this thing can grow very quickly, faster than one might expect.