Esperanto

[Grog]

***** I believe the true, top benefit of 2nd/foreign language is not fluency, but heightened awareness and hopefully, sensitivity by the learner of another culture and how the world can be perceived differently through the lens of another linguistic structure/words.

+1 on that. It's also such an eye-opening experience to be standing on one's own in a foreign country where nobody speaks your language. But an experience I try to avoid by learning the basics of other languages before travelling!!

Esperanto is meant to be quick to learn for speakers of most languages. I really think that the Engineers Without Borders idea that Kat described is great. It allows the foreign engineers and local people to be sort of on an equal standing, linguistically, and to work together without an interpreter (interpreters are costly and not always inaccurate or qualified). I am quite sure literacy is not an issue here, in most places anyway.

I should add that in Canada it is NOT mandatory to learn a second language in most provinces, and that even where it is the level of instruction is dismal in most places. Mostly, it's creating a sea of people who think they know a language... Which is not necessarily much better than not knowing any at all. [I had written a long rant on second-language teaching in Canada but I'll spare you all!!]

[tulip]

You guys are ruining my Canada Is Awesome stance!

[Melalvai]

My husband and I dabbled in it a few years ago. It is popular among con-langers (people who create their own language, a harmless if somewhat eccentric hobby, J.R.R. Tolkein is a famous con-langer, technically speaking so was Zamenhof, the creator of Esperanto). Although we only dabbled in it for a couple years, we could hold entire (stilted) conversations, and read (slowly) stories and articles. I was more fluent in Esperanto than I had been in Spanish after 4 years of high school Spanish. It is so easy to learn that with slightly more application we could easily have been more fluent.

It was fun, and something I'd do again if he were still interested. I guess on my own I don't have any motivation to bother. I do wish more organizations would pick it up, because it would solve a lot of problems since it is so easy to learn and culturally neutral (mostly). Engineers, air traffic control... There's even an esperanto scientific journal, that I would like to publish in some day.

[shootingstar]

+I should add that in Canada it is NOT mandatory to learn a second language in most provinces, and that even where it is the level of instruction is dismal in most places. Mostly, it's creating a sea of people who think they know a language... Which is not necessarily much better than not knowing any at all. [I had written a long rant on second-language teaching in Canada but I'll spare you all!!]

This might make you nauseous Grog: one of my Canadian cousins...who was a primary public school teacher in Ontario for about 35 years before she retired recently, taught French to her students. :

I do admit, it felt a whole lot better for myself, visiting Paris for a few days vs. getting by myself in Athens for a few hrs. Because of the foreign Greek script it was...like getting lost in a Chinese city/section.

Makes me wonder how much information on the Internet about cycling is in other non-English languages. Or is the greatest volume and diversity of Internet topics on cycling written in English?