http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/070114/national/esperanto_comeback_1
http://anayouhoo.blogspot.com/2007/01/couch-surfin-in-anaronto_16.html
coudn't help but think of you LQ
Sun Jan 14, 4:03 PM
By Jonathan Montpetit
ADVERTISEMENT
MONTREAL (CP) - Despite being the country's long-standing linguistic
policy, it's no secret that bilingualism can cause headaches, confusion
and even turn everyday activities into political statements.
But some Canadians maintain all the misunderstandings and political
anguish is needless - if only everyone would learn their language.
Esperanto, they say, is a passport across linguistic borders, an
easy-to-learn language that can be a real-life babel fish - a fictional
species in "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" by Douglas Adams that
can instantly translate any language to any other language.
"By learning Esperanto you can concretely show that it is possible to
have fair international communication," says Boris-Antoine Legault, an
active member of the Quebec Esperanto Society, better known in some
circles as the Esperanto-Societo Kebekia.
Of course the only problem is this lingua franca - that is, a language
widely used beyond the population of its native speakers - is only
spoken by two million people, well behind Yoruba (20 million) and Zulu
(10 million).
Esperanto was created in the late 19th century by amateur Polish
linguist Ludovic Lazarus Zamenhof, who envisioned a second-language
spoken around the world that would help bring nations closer together.
The language, which sounds like a mixture between Spanish and
Hungarian, has had something of a bumpy ride since then. Soviet
dictator Joseph Stalin was convinced it was "the language of spies,"
and killed several thousand Esperanto-speakers in 1937.
The movement reclaimed some of its glory when a young William Shatner
starred in "Incubus," the 1965 all-Esperanto cult classic about a
female demon who falls in love with a religious soldier.
The language has proved resilient despite purges and Shatner's acting,
and is even enjoying a resurgence of late thanks to the Internet.
"Esperanto carries with it that additional personal commitment you
might think of as linguistic democracy or egalitarianism," explains
Mark Fettes, an associate professor in the education department at
Simon Fraser University and himself a long-time Esperantist.
"It's a meeting on an equal playing field that no other language is
connected with in quite the same way."
It's perhaps no coincidence that one of the hotbeds for North American
Esperanto action is Montreal, a city where language police are kept
gainfully employed.
"The sensitivity about languages is quite strong here in Montreal,"
says Legault. "It would be interesting to think about Esperanto as a
bridge for communication between the anglophone and francophone
communities of Quebec."
Montreal will play host to a major Esperanto conference in 2008 and
Legault plans to throw an Esperanto birthday party this May that will
draw Esperantists from across Canada.
In the meantime, Legault says he will continue his work as a missionary
for the language.
The 30-year-old education student has travelled to various Esperanto
communities in North America, and remains undeterred by the sea of
English.
"English or any natural language is a possible tool for communication,"
Legault says. "But it's not as effective as a neutral language that
would be easier to learn."
He maintains that Esperanto's standardized grammar and lack of
irregular verbs make it five times faster to learn that most other
languages.
The language has even adapted to more contemporary linguistic demands,
with words for
"no sweat" (neshvite) and "couch-surfing" (kanapo glitado).
http://anayouhoo.blogspot.com/2007/01/couch-surfin-in-anaronto_16.html
P!^VP
