Let’s Talk About Esperanto
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…