I’d rather talk about Esperanto than the pandemic, wouldn’t you? Yeah, I thought so. I’m hesitant to call this fluff because I take languages and linguistics seriously, but sure, for the sake of continuity, we shall call it fluff.
So, if you’ve been around these parts awhile, you know that I’ve been learning Esperanto for quite some time. For a bit back in 2012-2013 through Memrise, and then more recently through Duolingo. And wow, I am actually able to converse — kinda sorta — now.
I’m nowhere near fluent, though, so let’s not get too excited.
So I’m in a group on Facebook for Esperanto Duolingo learners, and an opportunity came up to take an actual class in it. A class, guys. I was ecstatic. I mean, there are Esperanto events and things happening — although I think they were either canceled or went virtual due to COVID — but this was the next step. One thing that was always suggested in the group was to supplement your Duolingo learning with other types of learning. And I’ve always been awesome at reading and writing and abysmal at pronunciation.
Same with French. Got all As, took Honors classes in high school, but could not pronounce it well. But damn could I write and understand it.
So I knew this was going to be quite the challenge. And a bit uncomfortable, as there were only five students in the class. Our instructor is a really nice guy, and funny, and easy to work with. However, he talks a lot in Esperanto. He said on day one that he will do that because he wants us to get used to hearing the language even if we don’t understand everything. It’s a sort of game to me — I try to figure out how many words I understand. I found that I absolutely love listening to it. It has a nice sound and rhythm. Anyway, he will call on each of us, so we are very much in the spotlight, and I have gotten corrected before — gently — and I’ve laughed it off. Because of how silly I sounded. But I really hate that because perfectionism. The other thing? Most of the students aren’t actual beginners. We’re all some variety of already-know-a-bit-or-a-lot-of-Esperanto, so there’s a lot of conversation happening that feels a bit more advanced. I do like it — it helps me to hear these things and try to figure them out, or if he himself tells us — but once in awhile I will feel a bit out of my depth.
But overall I am having a blast.
There’s such a huge difference between solitary, writing and reading study of a language versus a group with an instructor and speaking the language. You’re interacting with others. You’re asking questions. You’re hearing other people’s mistakes, and making your own and being corrected. Duolingo does correct you, but it’s not the same. And you can’t ask it questions. There are forums, and there is the Facebook group where you can ask the experts, but I still feel like the classroom setting is ideal for this. I really like this. I think this is truly my favorite way to learn.
And being back in class, even temporarily and not even officially, feels damn good because I love learning. Did you know I cried on my last day of college? Yep. I seriously did not want it to end. But I needed to pay off my loans which meant graduating and getting a job. I couldn’t stay.
So it’s been fun, and I will be sad when it ends. My goal with Esperanto is fluency, no matter how long it takes. There’s no time limit on this type of thing, and I am enjoying it so much. I’ll definitely do more with class or conventions in the future for sure. And hopefully my pronunciation will improve.
Hopefully.