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From: stevemac@bud.indirect.com (Pascal MacProgrammer)
Subject: Esperanto-English
Message-ID: <D5L3BD.E0E@indirect.com>
Sender: usenet@indirect.com (Internet Direct Admin)
Organization: Department of Redundancy Department
Date: Fri, 17 Mar 1995 12:14:00 GMT
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Not so very long ago, byrial@daimi.aau.dk (Byrial Ole Jensen) said...
replying to>>What IS the problem with English?? I can see no real problem.
>
>Gxi ESTAS tro malfacile           It IS too dificult to          
>lernebla. Plej multaj homoj,	  learn. Most people trying      
>kiuj klopodas, neniam lernas	  never learns to use it good,   
>bone uzi gxin, kvankam ili	  even though they use a lot     
>uzas multe da tempo, kiu povus	  time on it, which could better 
>esti uzata pli bone por io	  used at other things.          
>alia.				                                 
>				  - Byrial                       
>- Burjalo

Kara s-ro Jensen!
  I really don't mean to embarass you, actually, you've given a fair 
example in your bilingual response.  I understand what your English is 
saying, and can tell that you've studied English for a =long= time to 
write it even that well, but you've still made many basic errors.

Repeating:  <<It IS too dificult to learn.  Most people trying never
learns to use it good, even though they use a lot time on it, which could
better used at other things.>>

Corrections:

(1)  The verb "trying" (with the meaning you intend) is always followed by
an infinitive (possibly an elliptical one).  That is, you might hear... 

   "Learn all the languages of the EU!"
   "I'm trying [to learn them]."

The infinitive can be left out, and the hearer fills it in from what the 
other person said.  But your elliptical infinitive would have to be 
filled in from "learns", which comes later in the =same= sentence, and we 
just don't say it that way.

(2)  We use "people" as a plural noun, so the verb should be "learn", 
rather than "learn".

(3)  "Bona" in English is "good", but "bone" is "well".

(4)  That should be ...a lot =of= time...

(5)  There's a missing "be", so...   "could =be= better used", or "could 
better =be= used".

AND NOW THE POINT OF ALL THIS:

  You have no doubt spent a =lot= less time learning Esperanto than 
learning English, but I find no errors in the Esperanto text.  Your use 
of the language as a Dane looks no different from that of Americans, 
Finns, Japanese, or Russians who have posted to <soc.culture.esperanto>.  
Just today, I read a post from someone mildly upset about all the 
non-Esperanto posts on <s.c.e>, who posted in his own language (which was 
mildly interesting, as it's one I've never seen before), and then a 
paragraph in English (with a few errors, as in yours above), and then 
returned to faultless Esperanto.
  The fact about Esperanto not noticed by so many people, or possibly
ignored or denied, is that IT WORKS!  All these people, from =wildly= 
different linguistic backgrounds, write the unique dialect of Esperanto 
fluently.  The few national-language idiosyncracies that do show up are 
made by beginners, and these disappear from their usage with a little more 
study.

-- 
                              ==----=                    Steve MacGregor
                             ([.] [.])                     Phoenix, AZ
--------------------------oOOo--(_)--oOOo----------------------------------
        Help stamp out, eliminate, and abolish redundancy!
