--- Emerson_José_Silveira_da_Costa <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > -------- Mensagem original -------- > Assunto: Re: universal language? > De: Vice-secretario > de UMI <[log in to unmask]> > Para: "Roland Stadler" > <[log in to unmask]> > > Sr. Roland Stadler ha scripte: > >Dear > Sirs, > > > >I just stumbled over you internet site (discovering > > the > >interlingua-dictionary at babylon). But I just > don't see, why > >a > universal language - so to say a foreign language to > >everybody - should be > necessary. > > > >You see, I'm swiss. My mother tongue is swiss > german. > In > >school we learn german and french as foreign > languages. > >I had some > years of english practice in high school and am > >quite satisfied with > it. > > > >But do you know, how I really learned the english > language? > >By > viewing MTV and reading lots of english literature. > > > >As long as there > aren't similar things for interlingua, > >there's no chance, your language > will ever be accepted even > >as a foreign language (and this is where you'll > dream will > >come to a halt), because today nobody cares about > the > latin > >language anymore. You know why? It's not spoken > anymore. You > >can > read, but you never, ever practice to talk in latin. > > Dear Mr. > Roland, > > First of all, Interlingua was not conceived > according to the > "Esperantistic" view of "the second language that > everyone should/must > learn". > > It is in fact the "materialization" of a latent > linguistic > reality: the existence of a common international > vocabulary shared by the > European languages, some part of which was spread to > all the world by means of > forces like science, technology, trade, arts, etc. > > It is undeniable that > such vocabulary is mostly based on Greco-Latin > material. But Interlingua is not > a simplified Latin. The word "television" did not > exist in Latin. It is part of > the modern international vocabulary, so it is > automatically part of > Interlingua. > > The advance of English is no problem to Interlingua. > As long > as English terms are incorporated by other > languages ("byte", "CD-ROM", > "software". .), they become automatically part of > Interlingua. > > The > present Interlingua was developed by the > International Auxiliary Language > Association (IALA) according to a given methodology > (described and explained > in detail in (<http://www.interlingua.com/ied/>). > Obviously many other > methodologies could (and indeed still can) be > devised and applied, producing a > number of distinct (but nonetheless somewhat > similar) "materializations" of > the same international vocabulary. > > Anyway, the Interlingua published by > IALA is *usable* whenever you want to reach an > heterogeneous > audience/readership composed of people from > different nationalities > speaking Europan languages. Many have a fair > comprehension of a text in > Interlingua at first sight, without having ever > known of it, or had any contect > with it, before. > > Interlingua is mainly a one-way communication tool: > You're not supposed to chat in it -- but obviously > you can do it for the fun of it. But > if you publish, say, a website in Interlingua (along > with a "main" English > version, why not? You want maximum audience!), > people will understand what you > say. If the public want to contact you back, that's > another story, but, also, > many people can understand some English without > being able to communicate in > it. > > Interlingua can additionally be used as a teaching > tool: an > introduction to the Romance languages or even -- for > non-Europeans -- to the European > languages. > > And, as any "natural" language, it has what it takes > to be used as > a second language within organizations, though we > understand that this is > quite improbable at present. > > I hope I have provided you with a more accurate > vision of Interlingua, and I understand that this > vision is not well expressed > in our website. There is indeed some emphasis on the > "second language" usage, > but we plan to reformulate it in the near future. > > Cordial salutationes, > --- > > Emerson José Silveira da Costa > Vice-secretario > Union Mundial pro > Interlingua > http://www.interlingua.com Thanks for the clarification! I was wondering if I should study esperanto, Ido or Interlingua, you made the choice pretty clear. Interlingua then has no pretention of becoming everybody`s second language, and just wants to remain a reference language. So I find the only solution to solve the human communication problem must then be esperanto or Ido. Thank you for your help ===== +++ Stëphane Larochelle Église Unie St-Marc (Ottawa) http://st-marc.freehosting.net __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Try FREE Yahoo! Mail - the world's greatest free email! http://mail.yahoo.com/