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From: elna@netcom.com (Esperanto League N America)
Subject: Re: Single European language: *NOT* European english
Message-ID: <elnaE118AM.E7I@netcom.com>
Organization: Esperanto League for North America, Inc.
References: <3273663A.3C0A@pp.inet.fi> <55pb23$oin$1@superb.csc.ti.com> <badger.847263644@phylo.life.uiuc.edu> <55s9us$668@vidar.diku.dk>
Date: Sun, 17 Nov 1996 20:44:46 GMT
Lines: 28
Sender: elna@netcom5.netcom.com

klaus@diku.dk (Klaus Ole Kristiansen) writes in a recent posting (reference <55s9us$668@vidar.diku.dk>):
>badger@phylo.life.uiuc.edu (Jonathan Badger) writes:
>
>>        But can you tell me in
>>all honesty that uneducated laborers in Athens can speak fluent
>>English? The promise that IALs like Esperanto give is that there will
>>be a language that *all* people can speak with only a little training,
>>not just the upper classes with college degrees.
>
>Are you going to force those people to the school bench at gunpoint?
>
Good Lord, man, this seems a bit extreme!!
I suggest simply *allowing* Esperanto to be among the many languages 
offered in grammar school &/or high school. 

>It may be that IF they chose to make the effort, they would find it
>easier than learning any other language.  But even so, few of them
>are going to make the effort.
>
This a priori "reasoning" is easily tested: let us encourage school
administrators to offer Esperanto and observe the results!


-- 
Miko SLOPER              elna@netcom.com              USA  (510) 653 0998
Direktoro de la          ftp.netcom.com:/pub/el/elna   fax (510) 653 1468 
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