Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

How Many Readers Speak Esperanto?

Posted by Cliff on from the tongue-tied-polyglot dept.

lifebouy asks: "I just read a story about a high school that teaches Esperanto. I've noticed the majority of Esperantists I have met are IT professionals, perhaps because it nurtures our need to explore new things. So I was wondering, how many Slashdot readers speak Esperanto? Has anyone else noticed the high rate of IT Esperantists?"

2 of 219 comments (clear)

  1. A glaring omission by sakusha · · Score: 2, Troll

    I can see that this web page missed out on listing esperanto:

    http://www.thewavemag.com/pagegen.php?pagename=a rt icle&articleid=24184

    Esperanto is known to amateur linguists as a "conlang" (constructed language), a class that includes everything from Klingon to Elvish. There used to be a conlang fool I saw spouting off on the net about how he had invented a new conlang, it was a combination of Japanese and Maltese as if it would be spoken by a dinosaur with enormous nasal cavities. I kid you not. And these people expect to be taken seriously?
    If you want to be understood by the largest number of people, you'll study Chinese. If you want to be understood by the greatest number of technologists, you study English or Japanese. If you want to be understood by the greatest number of idiots, you study esperanto.

  2. Re:There's an old saying that... by Tumbleweed · · Score: 0, Troll

    I'd have more respect for someone who learned Klingon than for one who learned Esperanto. At least there's _some_ kind of benefit to learning Klingon! :)