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From: elna@netcom.com (Esperanto League N America)
Subject: Re: Silly people... IALs _can't_ be fair.
Message-ID: <elnaE6CAr8.2Av@netcom.com>
Organization: Esperanto League for North America, Inc.
References: <853605030.2652@dejanews.com> <elnaE6ACyp.256@netcom.com> <7fhgixpoaz.fsf_-_@phoenix.cs.hku.hk> <3316B4AE.BE@eventus.com>
Date: Sat, 1 Mar 1997 00:59:31 GMT
Lines: 58
Sender: elna@netcom15.netcom.com

troyt@eventus.com writes in a recent posting (reference <3316B4AE.BE@eventus.com>):
>
>As for the ideal IAL ... well, League seems to think that
>Esperanto is it, despite its flaws, 

Not at all. I shy away from Platonic concepts: there is no
ideal IAL. Esperanto is an IAL which works, and works well.
It is supported by many Asians, so Mr Lee's whining about
"unfairness" and "Eurocentrism" is not universally sung in
chorus throughout Asia.  Esperanto works... warts and all!

>           and every objection that
>Mr. Lee comes up with seems to be, at root, "it's not like
>Chinese".  I'll step clear of that mess.
>
It is wise!  How can a language be isolatind *and* inflecting
*and* agglutinative???

>What do we need IALs for anyway?  Maybe for high-level
>international conferences with delegates from dozens of
>countries, but due to computer addressing glitches, my
>invitation seldom gets through.
>
What about tourism? Translation of exotic literature? 
International telephoning? Internet accessing?  And  
although *you* might not be the person attending those 
high-level international meetings, what about the waste of money
and difficulty of direct interpersonal communication among
those who take part?

>I'd much rather learn a NL (Normal Language) which would
>be twisty, irregular, and exotic, and would allow me to
>go to some far-off place and chitchat with the locals,
>read hundreds of years of history, and engage in
>humorous misunderstandings.
>
Why not both?
The EU education ministers support trilingualism; but in normal
circumstances, this can still fail to provide a common language.

It has been suggested that a different form of trilingual 
education be supported: first, the student learns his native
language, secondly, Esperanto is introduced as a clear & simple
introduction to formal grammar structures; thirdly, the student
chooses some other national tongue, from as large a selection
as possible. In this way, students master their own language, a 
neutral language with which to communicate with anybody from
anywhere, and another national language, according to their interest.

BTW Esperanto allows its students to go to *many* far-off places
and chitchat with the locals, read a hundred and ten years of history,
and engage in humorous (mis)understandings.   

-- 
Miko SLOPER              elna@netcom.com              USA  (510) 653 0998
Direktoro de la          ftp.netcom.com:/pub/el/elna   fax (510) 653 1468 
Centra Oficejo de la     Learn Esperanto! Free lessons: e-mail/snail-mail
Esperanto-Ligo de N.A.   Write to above address or call:  1-800-ESPERANTO
