[STCrowley]

I dunno about Esperanto. A while back, I wrote a long entry before my internet connection got all hinky (that's not a word I teach students--I'm afraid they'd spend half an hour discussing the German equivalent before I could get them to move on.)

What I think the problem with Esperanto is, is that it's only hope at being the lingua franca is for it to be imposed. I mean, my students learn English because the company they work for--a Swedish energy company--has decided that English will be the company language. So, they're talking to colleagues in Sweden and Poland in English. The company made the decision, though, because it would also enable their employees to talk to. . . . well, anyone.

If you figure there's a lot of money involved in teaching people a language--we know this--you have to wonder what the people paying for it expect to gain from it. And Esperonto doesn't seem to offer enough to justify the cost. . . in terms of money or time.