by Jeremy Cohen
Even with a busy practice as an internist and geriatrician, Ruth Kevess-Cohen, who is my amazing mother and a Forest Hills resident, has taken on Esperanto.
And if you know my mother, she does not do anything halfway. Esperanto is a rapidly growing language with approximately 2 million speakers worldwide, though it is unfamiliar to many, and she is spreading the word. She not only speaks the language, but also played a central role in developing a free online Esperanto course at Duolingo.com, which she co-leads.
Esperanto was created by a Polish physician, Dr. L.L. Zamenhof, and released to the public in 1887. He intended it to be a universal second language for the world, to help people communicate across language barriers. It has flourished against all odds, and is enjoying a renaissance around the world, from the United States to South America and Europe, and to China and Australia.
In January 2013, while practicing French and German (languages she had previously studied) on the Duolingo website, my mom read about Esperanto in a discussion there. She immediately became curious about it, decided to study it, fell in love with it, and rapidly learned it. She made new friends among expert speakers at a course in North Carolina that summer. When she heard about a plan to teach Esperanto on Duolingo, she volunteered to be a member of the course creation team.Putting in a ton of hours, she constructed the course with Chuck Smith of Berlin and a team of dedicated Esperanto speakers, and she now makes changes and does maintenance for the course. Six months after it launched, the course already has 215,000 users. The more than 100 million people worldwide who use Duolingo to learn languages see Esperanto as an option among other languages, which greatly increases its exposure.
It’s been an adventure for her to say the least, from traveling to Hungary and staying with an Esperanto-speaking family, to reading Esperanto novels and attending meetings at home and abroad.
The joy she exudes while speaking Esperanto on the phone with her friends is nothing less than contagious. There is a real sense of community surrounding the language, and she is very passionate about it. Her desk is lined with Esperanto novels, and best of all the green-and-white flag of Esperanto is hanging from the adjacent stand.The vocabulary is similar to European languages, but the grammar is simpler, and there are no verb conjugations, because the language is designed to be regular, with no exceptions. In addition, you can easily sound out all words in Esperanto. Some familiar sounding words are “jes” (yes), “kato” (cat), and “helpi” (to help). As a native English speaker, this makes speaking, reading, and writing Esperanto much easier to learn. I would definitely suggest this language to everyone, including anyone who has had difficulty learning a second language, or people who wish to expand their horizons.
Esperanto culture consists of great music, such as Jonny M’s catchy “Dankon” (above), original literature and most importantly, very open-minded, friendly individuals. There are rock bands, music videos, meetups worldwide, and an enthusiastic population of speakers of all ages. There are Facebook groups, Google hangouts, and even blogs. Traveling is made easy because of the long tradition of welcoming other Esperanto speakers and putting them up for free.
Although Esperanto may never become the universal language that it was intended to be, Ruth Kevess-Cohen’s investment in this course will not only help insure Esperanto’s survival as a language and culture, but expand it.
Jane Solomon says
Dankon Jeremy kaj Ruth. Esperanto estas tre interesaj! I’ve never looked at Esperanto before this moment and had no idea that there were so many adherents worldwide. As one who loves languages, it’s fascinating to see how many different linguistic traditions are evident in just a few words. Thanks for the introduction and the inspiration to never stop learning. There are so many possible and unexpected journeys that may begin with the click of a mouse.
Henri Masson says
““The closest thing to a universal human language today is English, he added, but English in many ways fails to live up to Zamenhof’s dream, which was to hehp create a more egalitarian world.“ (prof. Jonathan Pool) December 15, 2009 (National Geographic)
https://www.foresthillsconnection.com/style/neighbor-profiles/meet-your-neighbors-the-doctor-who-prescribes-esperanto/
MS says
The fact that Esperanto was based on European languages was a limiting factor in its acceptance. If you spoke Mandarin Chinese, Esperanto would be as hard to learn as English, and English would be the better choice due to its world-wide presence. Today, Esperanto been reduced to a plaything for affluent speakers of European languages. English is the true lingua franca, the common language of medicine, science, technology, and art.
Joop Kiefte says
To be precise, Esperanto seems to be about 5 times harder for e.g. Chinese to learn, mostly because of vocab (grammar is really much like in Asian languages!), still more than an order of magnitude easier than English though, making the difference between some 10 hard years of learning and just some months (5 months as in one example in a blog post for Transparent Languages).
Considering that there is no way around learning eurocentric languages in Asia, Esperanto really is the best choice out there.
Nicole says
Esperanto is very useful for Asian people who have great difficulty with English pronunciation, with English grammar, Even though they have to spend a little longer on vocabulary, they still learn it so much faster than English. And Esperanto does use lots of suffixes and prefixes making vocabulary learning faster. On my website I put a quote from a Chinese factory worker who studied Esperanto and clearly writes how much Esperanto was easier for her than English. Really no comparison between the time needed for English and the time needed for Esperanto.
Vilchjo de Mesa Arizono,Usono says
Please do your research before making some statements that are contrary to fact.
“Two Dollar Bil” Munsil
Mesa AZ
Russ says
It is true that the mostly European-based vocabulary gives Europeans a head start learning Esperanto compared to e.g. Asians. BUT – and this is important – vocabulary is only one part of language learning!
The grammar, declination/conjugation, semantics, and orthography/pronunciation of Esperanto are highly regular, unlike other European languages, which are full of arbitrary complications and exceptions.
So for non-Europeans, Esperanto is still much easier to learn than other European languages.
Walter Klag says
Ekzistas universitata disertacio, ke por azianoj Esperanto estas plimalpli same facila kiel por europanoj.
Legu mem: http://ubt.opus.hbz-nrw.de/volltexte/2009/525/pdf/dskueckf.pdf
jouanique says
“If you spoke Mandarin Chinese, Esperanto would be as hard to learn as English, and English would be the better choice due to its world-wide presence. ” I can’t believe that some one writes such a sentence. All bad reasons to spread english and boycott Esperanto. Those people don’t care about easy prononciation, easy vocabulary because of prefix ans suffix, about fgrammatical rules (16, no more) without exception and neutrality, jets NEUTRALITY. when we choose Esperanto, we don’t have to thing like english native people. People who say Esperanto is too european, too difficult for asian people are the same who want to impose the english language on them, without any remorse. And moreover they continue to believe English is “fluently” spoken by all humans. Come ad visit me on my french country … Even in the towns around hear, just some people speak English fluently, the others just believe they speak it fluently !
MS says
But UTILITY of Esperanto is maybe 0.000001% of English. It’s a hobby or a lark, not a useful tool for education or career.
Louis Wunsch-Rolshoven says
What is the UTILITY of drinking beer? Or of going for a walk? You can’t measure all things on earth via utility – many things are just fun and friendship and feeling well or easy international understanding, like Esperanto.
A second point is: There is no alternative between English and Esperanto – neither for you nor for me. We both speak English already (you probably much better than I do).
Many Esperanto learners do learn Esperanto after they learned English. Why do they learn Esperanto? What does Esperanto give them English doesn’t? One important thing is: Esperanto is much easier to learn than English. This means, with about 300 hours of Esperanto you’ll speak as well as with 1000 hours of English.
(Not interesting for you, because you are an English native speaker? OK, but if you want to speak with a foreigner who can’t use English properly, you will understand what I mean. I began to study Esperanto after I learned that my English wasn’t very useful in Italy. The italians I met could say some sentences in English, but this was far from a meaningful conversation.)
Similar for English native speakers: About 50 hours of learning Esperanto and you’ll reach a level you probably won’t have after 150 hours of studying French or any other foreign language. And there are Esperanto speakers in more than 120 countries around the world, easy to find. Join the network, if you are open minded.
Phil says
Not a useful tool for YOU… Don’t presume to speak for the rest of us, many of whom use the learning of Esperanto for several practical reasons, including broadening our horizons, getting to know diverse group of people from many cultures, and also utilizing the practice of learning a language as easy to learn as Esperanto as a springboard for further study in languages, just to name a few. Your earlier comment that Esperanto is only for affluent Europeans was hilarious, especially to a working class guy in western Colorado who is already well on his way to fluency in the language, has made many contacts worldwide through Esperanto, and even have had discussions with my childs Waldorf School about the language as a studying tool in their curriculum. I’m sure there are many things that you do for enrichment that I would have no use for, but don’t presume to speak for the rest of us, and the practical and intangible uses that we have for learning Esperanto.
Christa says
Ho, interese! Ankaŭ mi loĝas en Koloradio, kaj certe ne estas riĉa, monrilate. Fakte, unu el miaj motivoj por studi Esperanton estis, ke estas tiom da bonaj studmaterialoj haveblaj senkoste, kontraste al aliaj lingvoj.
Interesting! I also live in Colorado, and am certainly not rich, in regards to money. In fact, one of my reasons for studying Esperanto was that there were so many good study materials available for free, in contrast to other languages. ( http://www.lernu.net , for example)
Phil says
True! I learned a little some time ago with limited resources, but now I have found so many more ways to study. My main two right now are Duolingo, to learn the structure of the language, and Memrise to really drive in the vocabulary. I definitely have heard of Lernu also. I would type this in Esperanto, but I’m not THAT good yet :-) I’m about a third or more the way through the Duolingo course. Nice to know you’re from Colorado! I don’t know many ‘Esperantistoj’ from here…..
Paul Gubbins says
A lovely article. It was a privilege and pleasure to get to know Ruth this summer in Raleigh and I wish her all the very best in her important work with Duolingo.
As for the views of MS, Esperanto is far from a plaything. It is a serious and effective everyday means of communication for those people sufficiently wise and progressive to give it their time and attention.
Vilchjo de Mesa Arizono,Usono says
I have used Esperanto in my ham radio, my genealogy and postal mail to pen pals.
I recorded an album of eight Christmas carols in both English and Esperanto I’m a retired tenor).
I was listed in the Jarlibro when I lived in a small hilltop town here in Arizona – Yarnell, to be exact.
A French nuclear power security Esperanto speaker was here in the US studying security at our local nuclear plant and went miles out of his way to come visit me..
For my email address look me up in the ham radio website qrz.com and enter my call sign K1ATV.
You will also see why kids call me Santa,
“Two-dollar Bil” Munsil
Margery Elfin says
Great article. Dedicated woman. Has a son who is a great writer. Congratulaions Ruth and Jeremy!
Moved on from Esperanto says
And for those who discover that the reality of Esperanto does not quite mach the hype, there is a much more regular language that deals with a number of issues that soon become apparent when learning it.
For those that are looking for a language that delivers what Esperanto only promises there is Ido (Internaciona DuaLinguo di Omni).
Phil says
LOL We get it. You like Ido, but you failed to mention that ‘ido’ in Esperanto means ‘offspring’, which is what Ido actually is – the offspring of Esperanto. Promoting Ido is fine, but you don’t have to do it by slamming the language it came from. The fact that both languages survived is a great thing, and certainly, no ‘hype’ is needed to demonstrate the impressive expansion that Esperanto is currently making.
Kenec^jo Goldbergo says
Mi g^uis , komprenante ke g^i ankorau` estas en la fazo “beta”. Tion c^i mi faris dum kvar tagoj. Mi diru, ke ne rigardis mi la kurson mem.
Kiam la tempo venas por perfektig^i la kurson, forte mi volas participi. Mi esperas, ke mi estos permesata simple komenti pri uzado. (Ekzemple: Mi diras, “Mi estas Kenec^jo(!) Amiko mia el Malio respondis al mi, ” Mi estas Drissa!” Tio ne kongruas kun niaj du naciaj lingvoj! Do, “Mi nomig^as…, diras, lau’ mia sperto, nur fruaj komencantoj, kvankam ili certe estas komprenataj.—Mi c^eestis NASK-on en 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, Esperantistig^is mi en 1993. Mi jam vidis nomon vian. Nun ni interkonatig^is!
Mike Jones says
Mi klarigas la anglan – por tiuj kiuj volas lerni ĝin – per Esperanto:
I explain English – for those who wish to learn it – by means of Esperanto:
Cross-Reference Kingdom
http://www.cross-reference-kingdom.com/