A universal language

The great number of language courses taught in New South Wales’ schools proves the quasi-impossibility of enabling all human beings to communicate universally, by use of national languages.

Only an auxiliary language, easy to learn, error-proof, taught in all primary schools in every country, would provide our descendants with a tool for international communication, while respecting and ensuring the continuity of all national tongues, dialects, and idioms within each ethnic group.

One of the objections cited by the Education Department to the teaching of such a language is that there is no demand from any ethnic community and no evidence of student interest.

But, for example, in 1966 "friendly persuasion" had to be used, along with firm perseverance, to adopt the metric system, yet it is a time-saver compared to the Imperial system. Likewise, no doubt, when Roman numerals were replaced by the Hindu-Arabic numerals: if we had waited for public demand we would still be making long divisions with M, D, C, L, X, V, I ... what fun!

In the musical world, if each member of an international orchestra read his part in his/her own language, could harmony be achieved?

Maybe it is time for educators to take the lead in the communication area.

English is often suggested as the international language. English is an elegant language, it would be a pity to see it disintegrating into “Englishes” and being spoken badly by non-native English users. To preserve its integrity, we should protect it to prevent it going the way of the Latin language.

Of course, there have been many attempts at "simplifying" English but what would become of the treasures of literature?

There have also been many attempts at inventing an international language: and one is presently gaining in popularity. In December 2007, Esperanto was added to the list of languages officially used by the European Union. It is very popular in Korea, Japan, China, Brazil and Canada, surprisingly welcome in parts of the United States, and getting known in Africa.

Esperanto is rejected by some educators as being an "artificial" language. The vocabulary is based mainly on Latin, Greek, German and Slav which hardly makes it artificial. (Anyway, come to think of it, aren't cars "artificial horses"?)

Phonetic and carefully compiled, Esperanto is logical. It is free of the exceptions, inconsistencies, irregular verbs, and traps inherent in, say, English or French, for example. It has a definite value in providing introductory instruction, encouraging the learner and boosting confidence - what one learns today is not contradicted tomorrow. Esperanto is a "bridge" to the acquisition of more languages.

Here are a few sites with useful information:

• A world where everyone understands one another is a better world, written by a Swedish doctor in medicine, Hans Malv;
• Propaedeutic value of Esperanto has details of several experiments using Esperanto;
• International Languages and International Human Rights is another interesting site. Here is an extract from it:

Linguistic dominance has its origins in conquest, military and political subjugation, and economic exploitation. The role of language in imperial expansion has been a central element of the “Europeanisation” of the world. The underlying language policy was articulated in a pioneer language-planning document presented to the Spanish court in 1492 … . At that time the dominant languages in Europe were spoken by only a few million people and had no international currency. The contemporary status of English, French, Spanish and Portuguese indicates how successfully and ruthlessly the principle of language imposition was applied.

Empires grow and grow until they disintegrate and a favourite language is sooner or later superseded when the power - economic or military - which fostered it, or imposed it, loses its preponderance. Then there is a necessity to learn another language, the one of the new leading block. Is that practical?

We often hear of "many millions" needed to teach local literacy, let alone foreign languages. Much time, effort and money, could be saved and employed for more beneficial ends.

Even if students never subsequently use Esperanto, their new knowledge of etymology, their practise of logic and a positive experience with language makes the exercise worthwhile. They can make use of it however, and they will never lack confidence in travelling to non-English speaking regions, they will be able to learn other native languages much more effectively and will benefit from the goodwill generated by going halfway, with an easy neutral language, when conversing internationally.