The Transformative Vision of Esperanto | Esther Schor | TEDxRoma

Esperanto is a visionary metaphor: for universalism; for neutrality; for technologies that break down barriers; for multiculturalism and harmony. It’s a vision of transformation; it makes the future present. A future of generosity, equality of access, and optimism about what we humans can do, when we do it together.

L’Esperanto è una metafora visionaria: che include l’universalismo; la neutralità; le tecnologie che abbattono le barriere; il multiculturalismo e l’armonia. È una visione di trasformazione in grado di rendere il futuro presente, fornendoci la possibilità di immaginarci un futuro di generosità, parità di accesso e ottimismo su ciò che noi esseri umani siamo in grado di raggiungere, quando agiamo insieme. Esther Schor is a poet and professor of English at Princeton University. Her most recent book is Bridge of Words: Esperanto and the Dream of a Universal Language, both a cultural history of the language-movement and a memoir of her seven years among Esperantists in the U. S., Vietnam, Turkey, Cuba, Holland, Brazil and Uzebekistan. Her essays and reviews have appeared in The New York Times Book Review, The New Republic, The Wall Street Journal, The Times Literary Supplement, Tablet Magazine and the Forward.

[humphreytonkin]

Superbly argued and superbly sensible. In this divided world, the moment for Esperanto is now.

[luix]

I've learned English, so I'll learn Esperanto as well.
I pray for more thoughtful people, for a world with no wars

[danielquill]

I'm now totally inspired to learn Esperanto, especially as it has no irregularites and is easy to learn. We need to become a global family with "a plank of wood" over every stream on earth.

[hugebartlett]

I have loved Esperanto since I first found a description in a scouting book, for gaining the linguist's badge. The study of Esperanto is enduring, and I am constantly intrigued by the hidden shades of the grammar. Although the language itself can be quite quickly learned, that is only a first step into learning the complexities of the grammar and syntax. For me this has been a lifelong study. Esperanto is absolute genius!

[karenkordes]

Actually, only 4.8% of the population of planet Earth speaks English natively. And that percentage is steadily falling. Mostly due to the rapid population increase of non-native English speakers.
Esperanto is WAY EASIER to learn than English. I love Esperanto. It's helping me to learn German and Polish.

[ismaelmad]

*This language should be established as the only official language in all international forums. It's enough that native English speakers are born with privileges over others!!!*

[vinceglaviano]

Thank you Esther!!!
I met Esther briefly at an Esperanto convention in DC in 2010, after I had picked up Esperanto as an entertaining pastime in college. Fast forward to 2023, years after she gave this talk, and she has inspired me with her message to pick it up again. Dankon!

[bipolar_diary]

Dankegon pro tio ke vi diskonigas nian amatan lingvon Esperanton! / Thank you for spreading the word about our beloved language Esperanto!

[BettyChatterjee]

Koran dankon Esther pro la inspirado! Bonajn dezirojn el Danio, kie ankaŭ troviĝas esperantistoj .
Thank you very much Esther for the inspiration! Best wishes from Denmark where you can find Esperanto speakers too.

[fredsu]

tre dankon, dankegon pro la publikigado de ĉi tiu konferenco pri Esperanto

[horizon]

Kia bona publika parolanto! Mi dankas vin pro la espero kaj ĝojo kiu nun pleniĝas mian koron.

What a good public speaker! Thank you for the hope and joy which now fills my heart.

[dennismurphy]

A great feature of Esperanto is the ease with which you can meet people as you travel. I used it all over Eastern Europe. Thanks to their Jarlibro (Yearbook) I was able to find a Buddhist monk/teacher in Sri Lanka while I was living in pre-internet Iowa. I have sister puppet companies in the Baltic states thanks to contact via Esperanto.

[lizwilliams]

Came here to watch this video as I start my journey in learning Esperanto! I am looking forward to a transformative year ahead. This is a great Ted Talk as to the reason why!
En paco, Liz

[penivos]

What a wonderful speaker and a wonderful speech! Kaj ŝi pravas.

[aposition]

This is great reasoning...there is no question Esperanto is a good idea. Wish more people found out about it!

[taliasimms]

mi parolas esperanton, me estas komencanto. ĝi estas facile lernebla lingvo,
ĉiuj devas studi ĝin. great video

[kekzealot]

I want to live in a world where i could lift my middle finger and say Fiku vin and be understood universally

[CenturionKZ]

Esperanto IS NOT any kind of mix. Such statements just push people away from learning it, cause one starts to think that it's just a kinda klingon or elfish joke for nerds, where it's not! Esperanto is unique, solid, live and very expressive communication tool, potentially better than any other! Although most of its vocabulary was taken from Latin and some other languages, it totally differences from all of them and Latin itself. Its grammar structure is so elegant, logic and genius. Even if there weren't other Esperantists and tons of books, it would be worth to learn Esperanto only for its elegance itself.

[rommelmartinez]

Bedaŭrinde, 2:20 devus esti “poŝtelefono.” Iel, ne gravas. La tempo por Esperanton lerni estas nun. La konverĝo estas nun. Multan dankon, sinjorino Ester SCHOR. ❤️

[adamjozefo]

I actually would not describe Esperanto as multiculturalist. I'd describe it as more interculturalist. There is a subtle difference between these. Multiculturalism does not necessarily envision a common language: in that respect, it can lead to a tower of Babel and confict between cultures. Interculturalism does promote a common culture, even if only an auxiliary one, that everyone learns as a common second culture to allow the development of intercultural relations.

We can even take Warsaw of Zamenhof's time as an example. He witnessed multiculturalism first hand, with four different language groups many of whom were not able to communicate with one another. This motivated him to create Esperanto to promote more just and fraternal relations between them. In other words, he created Esperanto so as to advance multiculturalism towards interculturalism.

And just a point about Esperanto being an artificial language. Esperanto is an artificial language just as English is an artificial language. IN fact, the word artificial is redundant since by definition, a language, any language, is artificial. That said, we can perhaps distinguish along a spectrum of planning and say that, relatively speaking, Esperanto figures among the more planned languages and English among the more ad hoc ones with regards to the regularity of their respective orthographies, grammars, and lexicons.