International Language Created by Chinese

kulturo · Post by **kulturo** » Sun Sep 21, 2003 6:29 am

International Language Created by Chinese

by David Curtis

It was in December 2002, in England, having campaigned for Esperanto for almost thirty years, that I first read, on Internet, that Mondlango had been launched in China. Its two main features strongly attracted me: it was based upon English and Esperanto; and it had no diacritical marks. English is obviously the most popular international language, but it is very difficult to learn. Esperanto is relatively easy to learn, but is largely ignored by the international community. Esperanto is hampered by its diacritical marks, whereas English has none and is therefore easily typed for e-mail.

I was also attracted by another factor. China has the world's biggest population, and Esperanto-enthusiasts have always yearned for the development of Esperanto to reach the stage of critical mass, whereby a situation suddenly changes because of pressure. The teaching of English in China is a very expensive drain upon the resources of the Chinese government to improve the lives of its citizens: yet there seemed, until last year, no alternative. I was the only member from Britain at the First Asian Esperanto Congress, held in August, 1996, in Shanghai. Because of the many discussions I had there with Asians from many different countries, I learned that there was a great desire to be free from linguistic imperialism in the form of the necessity to learn English. As Esperanto-speakers, my fellow-members of the Congress and I hoped that the Zamenhof's aim, of providing the world with a neutral second language, would soon be achieved.

Since that Congress, "El Popola Cxinio", the world's most popular Esperanto magazine, has ceased publication, and Monato is in difficulties. Whatever popularity Esperanto has enjoyed is now on the wane. In Europe, even the looming problem of communication between the 25 countries of the European Union does not offer Esperanto-speakers any hope. In a personal letter to me, published in "Heroldo" last December, Neil Kinnock, the European Commissioner responsible for language-diversity, declined to accept that Esperanto should be taught in the schools of member-states. To me, such teaching would obviously solve the problem of communication, but there is no likelihood of it happening.

So, when I read that Mondlango had been launched in China, I could see that there was a real possibility of reaching Zamenhof's great goal, though not entirely because of his admirable invention. The power of American wealth and the former British Empire could be overcome if huge numbers of Chinese learned the new language and insisted upon using it internationally.

Loomis · Post by **Loomis** » Sun Sep 21, 2003 3:57 pm

Welcome the the forum, kulturo

That seems to be an interesting study, but I must warn you:

The last time we discussed 'international languages' here, things got ugly.

(More so than usual).

Thanks again, and cheers!

BasilOfBakerStreet427 · Mon Sep 22, 2003 4:08 pm

What the heck?!

G'Day!

Choco Bear · Post by **Choco Bear** » Mon Sep 22, 2003 4:14 pm

Loomis wrote:Welcome the the forum, kulturo

That seems to be an interesting study, but I must warn you:

The last time we discussed 'international languages' here, things got ugly.

(More so than usual).

Thanks again, and cheers!

last time? when was last time

Loomis · Post by **Loomis** » Mon Sep 22, 2003 4:37 pm

Don't want to dredge up the past (ok, I do a little) but THIS was the last time:
http://www.ultimatedisney.com/forum/vie ... php?t=1024

2099net · Post by **2099net** » Mon Sep 22, 2003 5:27 pm

Any international language won't work. Sorry, but it's a fact. Esperanto was a spectacular failure that crashed and burned as Rome fiddled (or something like that).

We don't really need one - we basically have a few international languages now. English (or as some would prefer American with it's alternative spellings) of course, as well as Spanish, French, Japanese and Chinese. Countries with other languages as their first language often teach their children one of the four previously mentioned languages - the language choosen based on their location on the globe.

Who wants an International language anyway? It's like having an international currencey system. Imagine how dull European politics would be should all the member countries speak in the same language, or all the countries had the same currency? We need lots of languages so that there can be the odd verbal misunderstanding (often with hilarious concequences!) to liven things up, and we need lots of different currencies just so other countries can feel superior to others (Germany think they are superior to the British because they have the Euro. Britain thinks they are superior to the Germans because they have the British Pound). Often this too can lead to hilarious concequences, such as the British Convervative party loosing votes spectacularly based on a lame 'Keep the Pound' campaign, or a never ending stream of lame anti-Europe headlines in the Daily Mail. Oh how we all laugh!

Europe is like an episode of Three's Company you know, the one where Jack misunderstood an overheard conversation between Janet and Chrissy and then took some bad advice from Stanley, while trying to arrange a surprise party. You know, the one that resulted in hilarious concequences? Why would we want to stop that from happening?

Post by **Luke** » Mon Sep 22, 2003 7:16 pm

If my instinct is correct, kulturo will never return. Notice how the topic has NOTHING to do with anything else. My bet is it's copy-and-paste from some other board. Hope I'm wrong.

kulturo · Post by **kulturo** » Sat Aug 21, 2004 8:01 am

Luke wrote:If my instinct is correct, kulturo will never return. Notice how the topic has NOTHING to do with anything else. My bet is it's copy-and-paste from some other board. Hope I'm wrong.

Yes, you were wrong.

deathie mouse · Post by **deathie mouse** » Sat Aug 21, 2004 3:00 pm

deathie whips out his very c0mplex calculator and...

2099net wrote:We don't really need one - we basically have a few international languages now. English (or as some would prefer American with it's alternative spellings) of course, as well as Spanish, French, Japanese and Chinese. Countries with other languages as their first language often teach their children one of the four previously mentioned languages

mmmm... *counts his fingers errr.. i mean punch numbers and strange mathematical algorithms *cough

1- English
2- Spanish
3- French
4- Japanese
5- Chnese

Four? Mmm maybe 2099net mentioned 4 cus French is on the wane.

*Hides from the French
(remember monsieurs I have a lightsabre)

But seriously, I agree with 2099net, I think that if there are a thousand million Chinese wouldn't it be easier that they learned one of the languages other people know, or others tried to learn chinese, than make all learn yet another (and artificially made) third language?

and all humour aside, diversity makes life better, I think

But who knows what'll happen by Foundation's time or when Mua'dib becomes Emperor...

_____________________________
deathie can survive in 3.5 languages. If he knew Chinese (M & C) too, he could (dare he say it) rule the world! Probaly not since i'm just a mouse. the lightsabre helps

sCArs · Post by **sCArs** » Sun Aug 22, 2004 12:14 pm

Loomis wrote:Don't want to dredge up the past (ok, I do a little) but THIS was the last time:
http://www.ultimatedisney.com/forum/vie ... php?t=1024

Wow! It DID get out of hand!

Entertaining!

GO AUSSIES!!! WOOHOO!!! WHEE!!!

::takes a chill pill::

ahhh.....

Post by **Luke** » Sun Aug 22, 2004 12:23 pm

kulturo wrote:
Luke wrote:If my instinct is correct, kulturo will never return. Notice how the topic has NOTHING to do with anything else. My bet is it's copy-and-paste from some other board. Hope I'm wrong.
Yes, you were wrong.

Wow, you showed me! And in just under 11 months. Welcome back!

Look forward to your future contributions to the forum!

kulturo · Post by **kulturo** » Sun Aug 22, 2004 10:47 pm

I have had interest in languages all of my life. In college I have studied both Japanese and Chinese. I also studied a little Spanish in high school. It certainly would be a wonderful thing if there were an international language that was easy to learn and use. English does seem to be the dominant international language now. I also agree that English, in its present form, is not an ideal international language. The spelling of English is an atrocity and the grammar is too difficult I believe. In Japanese schools English is taught to students starting at an early age, yet when I lived in Japan it appeared to me that even after years of study, many Japanese still had a great difficulty with English grammar.

sCArs · Post by **sCArs** » Mon Aug 23, 2004 7:04 am

I love learning new languages, I'm learning Russian at the moment, I tried to learn Esperanto, but I couldn't get the hang of it

kulturo · Post by **kulturo** » Fri Sep 03, 2004 7:49 am

sCArs wrote:I love learning new languages, I'm learning Russian at the moment, I tried to learn Esperanto, but I couldn't get the hang of it

Then if you tried to learn Mondlango, you'll find it's much easier.

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International Language Created by Chinese

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