🚀 go-pugleaf

The Interlingua text is the original of this reply. The English one is
thus a translation of it. Those who would like to read the Esperanto
version of the reply may turn to:
 soc.culture.esperanto,
Here we go:
hinsenk@cyclone.ERE.UMontreal.CA (Hinsen Konrad) wrote:

>In article <4ehnrj$puh@oden.abc.se> m9548@abc.se (Kjell Rehnstroem) writes:

>   I have never said that you can speak a language without learning, but
>   suppose that I live in the countryside somwhere and I find a book and
>   cassettes in an international language. Suppose further that my native
>   language is Swedish, Finnish, Russian, Hungarian or Polish. 

>Finding books in the countryside is not exactly a typical situation...
You cannot imagine what you may find in the countryside. :-)
Tu no pote imaginar te de lo que on pote incontrar in le campania.:-)
>   What is my profit if I am going to talk to the world like this: Mi
>   venas de malgranda vilagho en la kamparo kaj mi ne scias la anlgan
>   lingvon kaj ne la germanan, sed mi lernis tiun internacian lingvon,
>   kiun mi nun parlas flue kaj senerare. 

>Most people will stare at you and ignore you. Those who have also
>learned Esperanto will understand you, answer you, and you can speak
>with then about whatever you want.

>   Or if I say:
>   Io veni de un micre village rural e io non cognosce le anglese o le
>   germano, ma io apprendeva iste lingua internacional, que io nunc parla
>   fluentemente e sin errores. 

>Same as above. Unless Interlingua also succeeds in sounding so similar
>to all (!) Romance languages that people in a few countries will
>understand roughly what you are getting at and start a baby-talk
>discussion with you. In any case no one will be impressed by "sin
>errores".
Maybe not, but the fluency!
Possibilemente non, ma le fluentia!

>   And imagine when I begin learning foreing languages at school...

>Which?

>   With Esperanto as your base you have to re-learn a lot of spelling and
>   even significance of a lot of words. This ratio is less for

>As I understand it the utility of learning Esperanto before other
>languages that has been observed in some studies is not due to any
>special advantage in vocabulary or grammar. It is mostly due to the
>encouraging experience of having successfully learned a foreign
>language.

Esperanto is good when you have to learn to parse sentences.

Esperanto es excellente quando tu debe apprender analysar
propositiones.

>   Interlingua. Every minute you have dedicated to the study of
>   Interlingua will pay off when you start learning other languages.

>Other Romance languages.

and English, that is to say the "culture" words in it.
e le anglese, a saper le parolas cultural in illo.

>   > and globally I think its influence on society would be very bad, 
>   >encouraging even more the obscure form of communication from governments,
>   > corporations, and institutions to the "ordinary citizen" whose reaction 
>   >is irrelevant anyway.

>   I'm not sure I understand you correctly, so if you would elaborate on
>   that it would be very nice.

>Suppose the European Union finds that Interlingua is a great way to
>simplify communication in Europe. It starts an educational program
>designed to teach people just enough of it to understand moderately
>complicated texts, 
Why just "moderately complicated texts?
Pro que solmente textos moderatemente complicate?
>maybe selling this program as "education in basic international vocabulary".
In this case more people would choose the Romance languages, which is
good in order to make their position stronger in Europe.

In iste caso plus de personas eligerea le linguas romance, lo que es
multo ben pro fortificar lor position in Europa.

>It then hires a small staff of Interlingua experts and publishes 
>its information to the citizens only in Interlingua. If they want 
>to respond, they are of course free to learn Interlingua actively, 
>if they can. Or hire a translator (at their own cost). 
>The EU, as the main user of Interlingua, could even define the
>vocabulary. 

The politicians would not like such a situation, and the individual
citizans would ceartainly not be so stupid as to accept such a
development. 

Le politicos non desirarea un tal situation, e le singule cives certo
non esserea si stupide que illes acceptarea un tal developpamento.

>George Orwell would be delighted.

Even without the introduction of an international language, there is a
risc that the EU-version of the national official languages will be so
specialized that they anyway will be impossible to understand by the
individual citizans. Remember the "drawingrights" and "lactoproductive
units"! 

Mesmo sin le introduction de un lingua international il ha un risco
que le versiones "eurunionese" del linguas national official essera si
specialisate que illos nonobstante essera incomprehensibile del parte
del singule cives. Recorda vos le "drawingrights" e le "unitates
lactoproductive"! 

>>   Anyone can misuse a language. 

>True. But that is not a good reason to design and advertise a language
>based on its potential for such misuse.

Prove this! Please, ruminate aloud the statement above.   

Isto que vos prova! Vole ben ruminar le alegation in supra a voce!

And how many times have I not heard Esperantists say that you cannot
speak Interlingua. Either they don't know what they are talking about
or they are right out lying. One of the two must be true, as I myself
speak Interlingua, and I know a lot of other people who can as well.


E quante vices io ha audite esperantistas dicente, que on non pote
paroar Interlingua. O illes non sape de que illes parla o simplemente
menti. Un del duo debe esser ver, viste que io ipse parla interlingua,
e io cognosce plure altere homines qui lo etiam sape.


I'd be dishonest, if I stated that Esperanto were as good an
international auxiliary language alternative. Why, do you thin, did I
become interested in Interlingua and learnt it without too much use of
energy, if I did not thought that Esperanto were OK? 

Io esserea dishoneste, si io alegarea, que esperanto es un alternativa
tanto bon como lingua auxiliar international. Pro que, crede vos, io
me interessava de interlingua e sin un troppo grande expensa de
energia lo apprendeva, si io pensarea que esperanto es OK? 

English rules, that's a fact. To me Interlingua already to-day is an
alternative that I can use for communication with other people who
know it actively and with the big number of persons who understand it
passively. 

Le anglese domina, isto es un facto. Pro me interlingua es jam hodie
un alternativa, que io pote usar pro communication con altere personas
qui lo (interlingua) sape activemente e con un tremende numero de
altere personas qui lo comprende passivemente. 

Interlingua is the alternative that I can use when I want to give more
than I take. If others prefere to use Esperanto, be my guest!

Interlingua es le alternativa que io pote usar quando io vole donar
plus que io prende. Si altere prefere usar esperanto, io les preca!

He who does not feel any need to change anything, of cource shouldn't
do it.  

Ille qui non senti le besonio cambiar alque, que ille naturalmente 
lo non face!

Kjell