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Quote STCrowley  I dunno about Esperanto. ....
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. ...
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. |
Cost/benefit analysis is a very sensible approach to the question and it highlights one of the main things that most people dunno about Esperanto!
The cost of learning Esperanto is on a completely different scale to other languages because it is the only one which was designed with ease of learning in mind. Ten (free) lessons and 100 hours of practice will make you a competent speaker of Esperanto.
What you can gain from it includes: experiencing thoughts and dreams in another language, making friends (on an equal basis) and exploring cultures from the inside in 100 countries, making/keeping your brain flexible, paid teaching work (I've done it for 10 years so far), and being part of a valuable social justice movement.
I have never found another language which offers more benefits for less cost, which I suppose is why Esperanto is a living language in spite of being the only one which has never been imposed.