Why Mondlango?

[floro]

Why Mondlango?

by Oscar Mifsud

Well, to begin with, the in-thing nowadays is, unification and oneness. The trend is to have ONE system of measurement, currency etc., etc.. This is helping to bring peoples together and to ward off conflicts and wars between nations. So far nearly all attempts to unify have had very good results in recent years. But the change that is needed most urgently has so far been neglected for rather selfish reasons. What is needed most, is better communication, and for this to happen there is no better way than to have a common language for all. A world-language is the key to most of our global problems.

Someone might point out that there is English. Everybody is learning English all over the world! Be that as it may, the fact remains that no particular native language belonging to any particular nation or country, is ideal for a world-language; for the simple reason, to name just one for the moment, that they all have their difficulties which it would be preposterous to expect them to remove for the convenience of others. Take English, since there is a global craze for it. True, It is not only useful but it has now become necessary. However, meaning no offence to anyone, everything about it is full of difficulties and irregularities. When I ask my students to suggest the qualities of a suitable world language, they come up with things like: it must be easy to learn; it should be 100% phonetic; should have no fancy letters and accents on letters; should have easy spelling; no double consonants; no exceptions; easy conjugation of verbs; have an economic way of word-building to cut down on the strain on memory; easy grammar, etc... Now we all know that no existing national language has ALL these fine attributes to qualify it for a world language. English, it must be admitted, has absolutely none - not even one of these. The vowels alone give you a headache with regards to reading and writing. Pronunciation in general drives you crazy [ bed, bedevil ]; the spelling drives you mad [ belie, believe, receive, piece, peace, cat, kitten ]; and the grammar ?.Oh boy!

All this, very unfortunately, makes English most unsuitable for foreigners to learn quickly. I say very unfortunately, because we do need English and I am not in any way suggesting that people should not learn English at all. What I am on about is that besides English one could/should study a common language ,a world-language. And here I imagine someone saying: that there is Esperanto. But although it has been in use for over one century, it hasn't somehow caught on; not to a large extent anyway. It has all those fine characteristics mentioned above except one, because it has accented letters.

It may be argued that any new language must necessarily be artificial. So what? All man-made things are artificial by definition, Are we then to reject them on that account? What would we do without electricity, machines, vehicles and so many other things?Esperanto is just one such artificial language which has been proved to solve many language problems. Unfortunately, like most things on this earth, it is not perfectly smooth and without blemish. It has some though very few warts? such as letters with accents, and the non-use of some familiar letters like q,w,x,and y; and the introduction of some letters in used but with an added accent on them. These unfortunate defects have antagonized many, who nevertheless fully agree that there should be an easy world-language. The coming of the computer has made things worse mostly because of the accented letters. Requests by many to remove them have fallen on deaf ears, and Esperanto has begun to lose ground especially with people using Internet. I am a keen Esperantist, and had the accents been removed and w, x and y introduced in its alphabet I would have been satisfied; but something even better has happened.
A new world language, Mondlango (also known as Ulango) was born in China in July 2002. Its author/s, very wisely in my opinion, based it on Esperanto, removed all accents on letters and introduced the missing letters mentioned above. He/they went one better. Admitting the increasing popularity of English, they substituted English roots (phonetically) for the established Esperanto ones in many cases. This very wise step should, I think, satisfy everybody; because, in Mondlango we have exactly what we want: A very easy common language, 100% phonetic, employing no double consonants, streamlined grammar, no exceptions, no accents on letters, and, most important, very similar to spoken English.

Naturally, Mondlango, being in its babyhood, is far from perfect and the least we can do is to give it a sporting chance to mature, prove itself and reach adulthood. This it can and will do because unlike Esperanto it is not cast in bronze and never to change. It will evolve and mature in due course to the delight of those who adopt it. That is WHY, without abandoning Esperanto completely, I have chosen to switch to:

Mondlango.

[El_Cid]

Hi Mr. Floro. First of all, sorry for my English, but here in Spain the English only appears in the Stop road sign.

I'm in disagree with this text. I don't think that it would be a good idea get a common language for all the world. A language has an "useful" feature in order to allow the communication among the people, ok, but each language has a "cultural" feature as well. You cannot compare a language with a system of measurement. A language includes the idiosyncrasy of a country. This set of words isn't a random set of chars. Moreover, if you forget a language you're stealing to your children the posibility of enjoying with all the literature and essays written in that language for centuries. I don't accept the posibility of translation: it isn't the same.

As I said once, I think that a language is similar to a paintbrush. It has a utility: you can paint your room. But with this brush you can also make a beautiful picture expressing you feelings, a complaint, a place...

With a difference: if you lost this paintbrush, not only your children won't be able draw as you did, but also you lost the ability of enjoying with the pictures that you draw before.

I hope you understand me: It's difficult to me to express in this language.

Bye!

[El_Jibaro]

Como decimos en Puerto Rico:

• "¡Uepa Compay!"

Estoy de acuerdo contigo, en este mundo cada Pueblo con su Lengua.

Por causas POLÍTICAS, siempre en cada Época va a haber una Lengua que predomine en el Mundo, pero tarde o temprano esa Lengua siempre va a ser reemplazada por otra, pues no hay "imperio que dure 1,000 años..."

Por cierto, yo creo que cuando se habla de UN PAÍS FEDERADO, por naturaleza, debe PREDOMINAR una Lengua, pues si no hay CONFUSIÓN. Te recuerdo que cuando Constantino dividió el Impero Romano en dos, por causas LINGÜÍSTICAS, eso practicamente destruyó el Imperio como Unidad Cohesiva. Poco después de esa movida la Parte Occidental fue atacada, invadida y dominada por tribus germánicas, y la Parte Oriental, aunque duró muchos siglos mas políticamente, ahora tiene MENOS influencia cultural y política en esa Parte del Mundo que la Parte Latina ha tenido en Europa Occidental. Eso es "HISTORIA BÁSICA".

Por esto mismo, yo creo que para que Europa sea un ENTE MONOLÍTICO FEDERADO como pretende, van a tener que adoptar una Lengua Común, a lo mejor el mismo LATÍN de la Época Romana, para mantenerse unido y sin nacionalismos divisivos. Ya ves como ustedes los españoles YA NO se llevan tan bien con los franceses...

Te envío Saludos y le pido a Dios que tengas un buen Fin de Semana.

Manny

jibaro_1962@hotmail.com

For the idiots in here who don't know Spanish, let me translate my short letter:

• I agree with you, that in this world every People Group should keep their own Language.
  
  For POLITICAL reasons, there will always be in every AGE one Language that dominates the rest of the World, but sooner or later that Language will be replaced by another, for there is "no empire that lasts 1,000 years..."
  
  However, I believe that when we are talking about ONE FEDERATED COUNTRY, by nature, there should DOMINATE one Language, otherwise CONFUSION will reign. I remind you that when the Roman Emperor Constantine divided the Roman Empire in two, for LANGUAGE reasons, that practically destroyed the Empire as a Cohesive Unit. Just after Constantine did that, the Western Portion of the Empire was attacked, invaded and dominated by Germanic Tribes, while the Eastern Portion of the Empire lasted politically many more centuries, NOW it has LESS cultural and political influence on that Part of the World than the Latin Western Portion has had on Western Europe. That is "HISTORY 101".
  
  This is why, I believe that for Europe to remain a MONOLITHIC FEDERATED UNIT, as it pretends, they will have to adopt a Common Language, perhaps LATIN, the same Language of the Roman Age, in order to maintain unity and keep itself free from divisive nationalisms. As you can see, Spaniards NOW DO NOT GET ALONG WELL with the French...
  
  I send you my greetings and pray to God that you have a good Weekend.
  
  Manny

[El_Cid]

Sorry to only-english-speakers!!!!!!

La escasa simpatía por los franceses no es cosa de hoy. En el plano histórico, los roces hispanofranceses arrancan prácticamente desde el siglo XV con las guerras de Italia en las que Fernando el Católico envío a aquella Península al Gran Capitán, a defender el Reino de Nápoles.

Echando un vistazo a la Historia, tendrás que reconocer que España ha ido siempre por delante en lo que es la identificación de enemigos a vuestros EEUU, mi amigo transoceánico.

Cuando vosotros visteis el problema del imperialismo integrista islámico, siglos atrás ya estábamos combatiéndolo:



La rendición de Granada, Pradilla Ortiz

" Cualquiera que lo ha combatido sabe que los seguidores de Mahoma ansían conquistar el mundo, que cuando se detienen en sus avances es sólo para cobrar nuevas fuerzas y que continuamente aprovechan nuestras debilidades para sus fines." Isabel la Católica, S.XV


Cuando os percatasteis de lo traicioneros que son los franceses, nosotros llevábamos seis siglos aguantándolos



Los fusilamientos del tres de mayo, Francisco de Goya

Tropas napoleónicas fusilando a patriotas españoles que se alzaron el dos de Mayo de 1808 para combatir al invasor francés

Cuando estabais en Yalta al lado de Stalin, para posteriormente conocer su verdadera faz, nosotros ya llevábamos diez años luchando contra el comunismo.



Y cuando os embarcásteis en la lucha contra eso que parece tan reciente que es el terrorismo internacional, nosotros llevábamos desde 1968 sufriendo y combatiendo, durante muchos años sin ayuda alguna, al terrorismo etarra.



El concejal Pedrosa, asesinado en el 2000 por el terrorismo separatista y marxista de ETA (así hay que llamarlo, y no "grupo rebelde" o "grupo guerrillero", como hacen muchos medios ignorantes en EEUU y en Europa). Su única culpa, no sentirse nacionalista separatista. Más información sobre ETA y el nacionalismo vasco en http://www.interbook.net/personal/angelberto/inicio.htm

En cualquier caso, no pongo el cartel de los`productos franceses por rencillas de hace medio milenio: sería absurdo y ridículo. Ese cartel proviene de una página que se solidariza ante las continuas agresiones a las que se veían sometidos los camioneros españoles, que eran asaltados y agredidos por agricultores franceses, y volcada su carga, impidiendo la libre circulación de mercancías por la UE. Simplemente porque sus productos agrícolas eran menos competitivos que los de los agricultores españoles.

http://www.readysoft.es/tomatazo/

Esa es la justificación real: mi adhesión a la campaña. Yo no los consumo desde hace años.

Respecto a lo del mensaje:

La verdad es que yo veo más lógico pensar que la homogeneización en una lengua y la eliminación de rasgos nacionales puede dar lugar a un nacionalismo que el respeto a ellas. Claro está que eso no impide que surjan aún así los victimistas y los aprovechados, de eso en España sabemos mucho, pero a esos son a los que hay que combatir, y no a la cultura, que hay que verla como propia. Yo creo que sería un error buscar esa uniformidad lingüística en Europa. No creo que Europa tenga que ponerse como ejemplo u horizonte a los Estados Unidos, porque son casos radicalmente diferentes. Creo que Europa si quiere llegar a conformar un bloque más o menos cohesionado va a tener que innovar bastante, recorrer caminos no recorridos hasta ahora ("caminante no hay camino, se hace camino al andar...") y buscar un complicado equilibrio entre la potenciación de vínculos comunes y el respeto a las culturas nacionales. Además, la cultura Europea es una cultura de muchos siglos que no debería lanzarse por la borda. A mí como español no me gustaría que en pos de esa uniformidad se perdiesen rasgos culturales y bagaje histórico de otras naciones europeas. Yo seré más fácilmente europeo cuando me enseñen a admirar la grandeza de la Grecia antigua, cuando haga mío el bagaje de los clásicos grecolatinos como europeo que soy, y cuando veo que los demás sienten como suyas las aportaciones hispanas, por ejemplo, que arrebatándome el español.

Yo lo veo así. Pero lo que está claro es que va a ser muy complicado. Será interesante ir viendo como evoluciona el tema. Por lo pronto, la Constitución Europea se aprueba en Junio del próximo año. En España se someterá a referéndum: de momento es el único país europeo que va a optar por la consulta popular. Se podrá ver un dibujo de como va el tema de la construcción europea con esa primera Carta Magna Europea...

Muchas gracias por tus buenos deseos, y te los deseo también desde la península.

[floro]

1.What will the world be like when all people speak the same language?
We are not proposing a single language, we are proposing that people adopt a second language. Which means we won't have to learn three, four or more languages. We'll simply learn the International language which will be the common language, the real bridge for people of different countries. People would only have to learn the international language apart from their own native languages. As a consequence, less prominent languages, whose limited reach might lead to their disappearance, would be saved from extinction.

2.A country where the percentage of people understanding English is high, is more modernized. Is this true?
No! Some countries, such as India, Pakistan, and Nigeria , as former colonies of UK , use English as their official language, but they aren't highly modernized. On the other hand, Japan, Germany , and Sweden , which do not use English as official language, are highly modernized.
3.But isn't Mondlango an artificial language?
Of course it is. So is every language in the world. The word "artificial" means "made by human beings¡±, and every language has been created by human beings. The difference between national and artificial languages is that a national language is not made scientifically , but has many irregularities and unreasonable factors, whereas an artificial language is constructed systematically and scientifically, absorbing the good points and removing the shortcomings of national languages. In fact, Indonesian is a constructed language made by a Dutch missionary in the 1920s on the basis of synthesizing some local languages. Now this language has become the national language of Indonesia , used by more than one hundred million people. Mondlango is constructed also by synthesizing Indo-European languages such as English, French, Spanish , etc.

[YAUTIAPR]

Originally posted by floro

1.What will the world be like when all people speak the same language?
We are not proposing a single language, we are proposing that people adopt a second language. Which means we won't have to learn three, four or more languages. We'll simply learn the International language which will be the common language, the real bridge for people of different countries. People would only have to learn the international language apart from their own native languages. As a consequence, less prominent languages, whose limited reach might lead to their disappearance, would be saved from extinction.

2.A country where the percentage of people understanding English is high, is more modernized. Is this true?
No! Some countries, such as India, Pakistan, and Nigeria , as former colonies of UK , use English as their official language, but they aren't highly modernized. On the other hand, Japan, Germany , and Sweden , which do not use English as official language, are highly modernized.
3.But isn't Mondlango an artificial language?
Of course it is. So is every language in the world. The word "artificial" means "made by human beings¡±, and every language has been created by human beings. The difference between national and artificial languages is that a national language is not made scientifically , but has many irregularities and unreasonable factors, whereas an artificial language is constructed systematically and scientifically, absorbing the good points and removing the shortcomings of national languages. In fact, Indonesian is a constructed language made by a Dutch missionary in the 1920s on the basis of synthesizing some local languages. Now this language has become the national language of Indonesia , used by more than one hundred million people. Mondlango is constructed also by synthesizing Indo-European languages such as English, French, Spanish , etc.

___________________________________________________________
I am sorry but the difference between national and artifical languges is not that a language is made "more scientifically." The difference is that a national language that has a dictionary and a grammar has been planned, often with a lot of care as in The Spanish Academy. People that use Spanish will argue about their way of saying things, and there will be much debate about the difference between cacahuate and mani. There is a lot of political exchange on which one is correct and who choses to use which one.

All language is natural first. It is the oral tradition.
There are many official languages in the UN, why add one more?

Yautia