I am a native English speaker and recently started learning Esperanto a few weeks ago. I was inspired by a TED Talk that explained how Esperanto is an excellent first choice for those interested in acquiring multiple languages.

Due to its relative simplicity, learning Esperanto effectively prepares your brain for learning additional languages, making the process quicker and smoother.

So how many here speak different languages and what are they?

  • Call me Lenny/Leni@lemm.eeM
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    18 hours ago

    I speak a few.

    English - Should start out with English since it’s the lingua franca even though it was my second language in two ways. The “native” language of my specific community was a pidgin, so I had access to half of the English language. I would learn this half and the other half later, and yet still be dragged down by my sloppy order of learning, my neurodivergence, and my “hermeneutic” thought process while engaging in dialogue.

    Morse Code - My adoptive parents were huge with their communication business at the time. I have absolutely no memory of this, and it’s possible they may be exaggerating, but they told me they tried teaching me Morse Code before they taught me anything else to see if I would “pick it up”, and they said they stopped when it “worked too well”. It is true I have known how Morse Code works for as long as I remember (even though this isn’t saying a lot, the parts of my childhood I remember go back only as far as five years old).

    Toki Pona - It is said to be the world’s easiest means of speaking to learn. I picked it up before my teen years, the Toki Pona half one year and the Toki Ma or Kokanu half years later.

    Dothraki - I picked this because I really used to like Game of Thrones. Perhaps the only one I picked up neatly in one piece.

    Other languages - Not fluently, but I also know bits and pieces of Tahitian, Maori, and Portuguese. Portuguese was my class of choice in middle school, but after I completed that class, the language mostly just vanished from me. Being the “kiwiphile” (Kiwi culture admirer) I come across as, I also would sneak Maori equivalences to sayings into projects and endeavors, such as an artist ID tagline saying “kia tau te aroha noa ki a koutou” (“grace be upon you”).

    • I was thinking of learning Morse Code, even tho it’s pretty much extinct now that it’s not required for a radio license anymore. I like the history of it and how excited people were about it back in the day. I think it’s still important, so it sucks that it’s going away.

      I love the idea of Toki Pona, since it’s quick and short. But I went for Esperanto instead. I may try Toki Pona again tho!