Newsgroups: uk.politics,alt.politics.ec,sci.lang,talk.politics.european-union
Path: cantaloupe.srv.cs.cmu.edu!das-news2.harvard.edu!news2.near.net!news.mathworks.com!usenet.eel.ufl.edu!noc.netcom.net!news.sprintlink.net!howland.reston.ans.net!math.ohio-state.edu!news.cyberstore.ca!vanbc.wimsey.com!unixg.ubc.ca!news.bc.net!rover.ucs.ualberta.ca!tribune.usask.ca!canopus.cc.umanitoba.ca!newsflash.concordia.ca!CC.UMontreal.CA!news.Umontreal.CA!hinsenk
From: hinsenk@cyclone.ERE.UMontreal.CA (Hinsen Konrad)
Subject: Re: Single European Language
In-Reply-To: ehanks@du.edu's message of 12 Jun 1995 21:02:34 -0600
Message-ID: <HINSENK.95Jun13184332@cyclone.ERE.UMontreal.CA>
Sender: news@cc.umontreal.ca (Administration de Cnews)
Organization: Universite de Montreal
References: <690061730wnr@afin.demon.co.uk> <802916119snz@storcomp.demon.co.uk>
	<3rgkru$7cn@cosmos.imag.fr> <3rgpuq$jua@news.ccit.arizona.edu>
	<3riv4a$a86@mercury.cair.du.edu>
Date: Tue, 13 Jun 1995 22:43:32 GMT
Lines: 35

In article <3riv4a$a86@mercury.cair.du.edu> ehanks@du.edu (Edwin Hanks) writes:

   There is something to be said in favor of the complexity of English.

   Consider that any constructed language, which by design is very codified
   and modular, is bound to be very limited and boring.  English has the
   ...

Some days ago, I said that one of the main problems facing proponents
of Esperanto is general misinformation. Well, here you have it.
"Any constructed language...is bound to be very limited and boring."
Why should this be so? I cannot see any reason. More importantly,
such a statement (at least the "limited" part; boringness is something
very subjective) can be verified in practice by observing the
very real existing Esperanto community. All it takes is a look
at soc.culture.esperanto. There you will find people from all over
the world discussing lots of topics - no sign of limitations imposed
by the language. But instead of looking for facts, people prefer
to repeat prejudices.

   to use so many words to get the point across.  English can be well
   understood from context, even if the exact word meaning is not plain
   to an inexperienced user.  But, aside from being acceptable and

May I ask whether you have learned English as a foreign language?
And if yes, under which conditions?

--
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Konrad Hinsen                     | E-Mail: hinsenk@ere.umontreal.ca
Departement de chimie             | Tel.: +1-514-343-6111 ext. 3953
Universite de Montreal            | Fax:  +1-514-343-7586
C.P. 6128, succ. A                | Deutsch/Esperanto/English/Nederlands/
Montreal (QC) H3C 3J7             | Francais (phase experimentale)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
