1 00:00:03,160 --> 00:00:06,559 Speaker 1: You're listening to Part Time Genius, the production of Kaleidoscope 2 00:00:06,680 --> 00:00:14,239 Speaker 1: and iHeartRadio. Guess what, Mango, what's that? Will? I just 3 00:00:14,280 --> 00:00:20,000 Speaker 1: wanted to say, kium vibenkas. What are you saying? You 4 00:00:20,000 --> 00:00:23,919 Speaker 1: don't know? I'm speaking nineteenth century constructed language Esperanto, And 5 00:00:24,160 --> 00:00:28,080 Speaker 1: I asked, how much do you binch in Esperanto? Oh, man, 6 00:00:28,280 --> 00:00:34,280 Speaker 1: I don't speak esperanto. Hmmm, hoto s doman gut? Was 7 00:00:34,320 --> 00:00:37,000 Speaker 1: that Esperanto? I mean, I'm pretty sure I butchered it. 8 00:00:37,120 --> 00:00:40,280 Speaker 1: But what I tried to say was, oh, that's a 9 00:00:40,360 --> 00:00:43,640 Speaker 1: shame and esperanto. And all of our Esperanto speakers listening 10 00:00:43,680 --> 00:00:46,599 Speaker 1: are like, no, you didn't say that, but either way 11 00:00:46,640 --> 00:00:50,199 Speaker 1: I tried. Well, I feel left out. Let me google this. 12 00:00:50,760 --> 00:00:55,240 Speaker 1: Mevo las lendi esperanto. All right, Mango, you're speaking esperanto. 13 00:00:56,720 --> 00:00:59,880 Speaker 1: I guess it's pretty easy to speak esperanto. Yeah. I 14 00:01:00,040 --> 00:01:02,120 Speaker 1: mean that's kind of the point. And by the way, 15 00:01:02,200 --> 00:01:05,840 Speaker 1: isn't it just fun to say esperanto? Yeah, esperanto and 16 00:01:06,000 --> 00:01:08,560 Speaker 1: it rolls off the tongue esperanto. Yeah. I feel like 17 00:01:08,600 --> 00:01:10,479 Speaker 1: we should commit to saying and at least a thousand 18 00:01:10,560 --> 00:01:12,960 Speaker 1: times in this episode. So now we have about a 19 00:01:13,000 --> 00:01:16,080 Speaker 1: thousand people that have just dropped off from listening. But anyway, 20 00:01:16,360 --> 00:01:19,320 Speaker 1: still haven't told me how much you binge. Oh, I 21 00:01:19,440 --> 00:01:21,880 Speaker 1: definitely want to tell you all about my weightlifting prowess. 22 00:01:22,000 --> 00:01:24,240 Speaker 1: But before I do that, why do we dive in? 23 00:01:45,360 --> 00:01:47,320 Speaker 1: Welcome back to Part Time Genius. I'm Will and as 24 00:01:47,400 --> 00:01:50,280 Speaker 1: always I'm here with my good friend Mango, And somewhere 25 00:01:50,360 --> 00:01:52,960 Speaker 1: behind that big booth is our pal Dylan. Oh, there 26 00:01:53,000 --> 00:01:55,680 Speaker 1: he is. He's waving a big green flag and it's 27 00:01:55,720 --> 00:01:57,640 Speaker 1: got this big green star in the corner, and he 28 00:01:57,800 --> 00:02:01,520 Speaker 1: is just waving that thing at us. Yeah. I don't 29 00:02:01,560 --> 00:02:04,240 Speaker 1: know how he's waiting that from that tiny studio booth, 30 00:02:04,360 --> 00:02:07,520 Speaker 1: but look at him. Go, that's really it's impressive. Well, 31 00:02:07,800 --> 00:02:10,600 Speaker 1: I'm excited about this show because I feel like Esperanto 32 00:02:10,760 --> 00:02:13,760 Speaker 1: is kind of a punchline today, but the idea behind 33 00:02:13,800 --> 00:02:16,280 Speaker 1: it is actually really cool and it makes you wonder 34 00:02:16,400 --> 00:02:18,959 Speaker 1: like what would have happened if the world had embraced it, 35 00:02:19,320 --> 00:02:22,079 Speaker 1: and if we'd all learned to speak Esperanto in school? 36 00:02:22,639 --> 00:02:25,400 Speaker 1: How might the world be different? Yeah, let's get into it. 37 00:02:25,720 --> 00:02:27,359 Speaker 1: You know, at the top of the episode, I know 38 00:02:27,440 --> 00:02:30,480 Speaker 1: you referred to it as a constructed language, and I'm 39 00:02:30,520 --> 00:02:34,040 Speaker 1: curious about this. Aren't all languages basically constructed? You know? 40 00:02:34,120 --> 00:02:36,359 Speaker 1: I was curious about that too, and I learned that 41 00:02:36,440 --> 00:02:40,760 Speaker 1: the difference is that constructed languages are artificially created, meaning, 42 00:02:41,120 --> 00:02:44,160 Speaker 1: instead of a language that evolves naturally over time, the 43 00:02:44,240 --> 00:02:47,639 Speaker 1: words in grammar are actually planned out from the very beginning. 44 00:02:48,200 --> 00:02:51,239 Speaker 1: So consider dat Rocky from Game of Thrones or Elvin 45 00:02:51,320 --> 00:02:54,240 Speaker 1: from Lord of the Rings. Both of these languages were 46 00:02:54,280 --> 00:02:57,640 Speaker 1: invented and used in fictional worlds. Now, that said, if 47 00:02:57,680 --> 00:03:00,920 Speaker 1: there's a community of fluent speakers, especially native speakers, who 48 00:03:00,960 --> 00:03:04,079 Speaker 1: actually grow up speaking that language as their mother tongue, 49 00:03:04,400 --> 00:03:08,040 Speaker 1: then the language can actually involve and lose that you know, 50 00:03:08,240 --> 00:03:11,400 Speaker 1: constructed status. I like that, so I can get promoted 51 00:03:11,440 --> 00:03:14,239 Speaker 1: from a constructed language to kind of a natural language. 52 00:03:14,960 --> 00:03:18,200 Speaker 1: So that's right. So tell me about Esperanto itself, Like, 53 00:03:18,280 --> 00:03:21,079 Speaker 1: why was it invented in the first place. So, Esperanto 54 00:03:21,200 --> 00:03:25,959 Speaker 1: falls under the category of international auxiliary languages, and it 55 00:03:26,080 --> 00:03:30,240 Speaker 1: was created to facilitate international communication, which is why it's 56 00:03:30,320 --> 00:03:34,000 Speaker 1: relatively easy to pick up. So Esperanto was dreamed up 57 00:03:34,000 --> 00:03:36,920 Speaker 1: in the late eighteen hundreds by a Polish medical doctor 58 00:03:37,080 --> 00:03:40,760 Speaker 1: and his name was el el Zamenhoff. I love that name, 59 00:03:41,000 --> 00:03:46,520 Speaker 1: like elms. Yeah, like super steampunk or something. But it's 60 00:03:46,520 --> 00:03:49,280 Speaker 1: also crazy that you said it's been around since the 61 00:03:49,360 --> 00:03:52,160 Speaker 1: eighteen hundred, so, like I just assumed it was kind 62 00:03:52,160 --> 00:03:55,440 Speaker 1: of a modern language and came out in the nineteen fifties. Well, 63 00:03:55,560 --> 00:03:58,640 Speaker 1: you're actually not totally wrong. So the UN and UNESCO 64 00:03:58,760 --> 00:04:02,320 Speaker 1: gave Esperanto a p by officially recognizing it in the 65 00:04:02,400 --> 00:04:05,720 Speaker 1: nineteen fifties, but it was actually invented well before then, 66 00:04:05,800 --> 00:04:08,320 Speaker 1: back in eighteen eighty seven. And just to put it 67 00:04:08,400 --> 00:04:11,680 Speaker 1: in perspective for you, Esperanto is older than Helen Keller 68 00:04:12,160 --> 00:04:15,360 Speaker 1: sliced bread and the invention of the zipper, three things 69 00:04:15,400 --> 00:04:18,200 Speaker 1: that you talk about nonstin I'd say every day you 70 00:04:18,360 --> 00:04:22,400 Speaker 1: mentioned these things at least once. Yeah, well it's also 71 00:04:22,440 --> 00:04:25,720 Speaker 1: crazy though it's like basically created twenty years after the 72 00:04:25,839 --> 00:04:30,320 Speaker 1: Civil War. Like that's nuts. So honest, tell me about 73 00:04:30,360 --> 00:04:33,920 Speaker 1: the genius behind it. This guy ll Zemenhoff. Well, to 74 00:04:34,000 --> 00:04:36,960 Speaker 1: start with, he spoke a ton of languages, so I 75 00:04:37,000 --> 00:04:39,640 Speaker 1: think genius feels right here because get a load of this. 76 00:04:39,800 --> 00:04:42,880 Speaker 1: So Russian was his mother tongue, but because he lived 77 00:04:42,880 --> 00:04:46,040 Speaker 1: in Poland. He spoke Polish too. He learned Yiddish from 78 00:04:46,080 --> 00:04:54,599 Speaker 1: his mother. He also studied German, English, Spanish, Lithuanian, Italian, French, Hebrew, Latin. 79 00:04:54,760 --> 00:04:57,039 Speaker 1: I'm not making this up, and to round it all out, 80 00:04:57,279 --> 00:05:01,600 Speaker 1: a little bit of Aramaic. And so before he invented Esperanto, 81 00:05:01,720 --> 00:05:08,520 Speaker 1: Zemenhoff even learned another constructed language, Vllapoukh. Wait, what's what's valapouk? 82 00:05:09,800 --> 00:05:11,520 Speaker 1: I actually thought this would be one that you knew 83 00:05:11,640 --> 00:05:13,240 Speaker 1: for some reason, you just strike me as the type 84 00:05:13,279 --> 00:05:16,599 Speaker 1: that would speak vallipuuk. But actually that's really the problem 85 00:05:16,720 --> 00:05:20,120 Speaker 1: here is with with Valapuk. It's very, very hard to learn. 86 00:05:20,240 --> 00:05:22,960 Speaker 1: It was constructed back in eighteen eighty, it was about 87 00:05:23,000 --> 00:05:26,400 Speaker 1: a decade before Esperanto, but it was just too complicated, 88 00:05:26,520 --> 00:05:29,320 Speaker 1: so it never took off. And Zaemonanhoff saw that and 89 00:05:29,400 --> 00:05:31,599 Speaker 1: he realized that if he was going to get Esperanto 90 00:05:31,760 --> 00:05:34,560 Speaker 1: to catch hold, it had to be much easier to learn. 91 00:05:34,960 --> 00:05:37,480 Speaker 1: So Zemanhoff was fixated on this idea that if we 92 00:05:37,560 --> 00:05:40,400 Speaker 1: could speak a common language and one with you know, 93 00:05:40,680 --> 00:05:45,480 Speaker 1: no cultural baggage or ideas of superiority or inferiority, that 94 00:05:45,560 --> 00:05:49,120 Speaker 1: it would create this more tolerant world, and so what 95 00:05:49,360 --> 00:05:52,200 Speaker 1: was driving that fro him? Was it like partially because 96 00:05:52,320 --> 00:05:55,280 Speaker 1: he was a Jew? Yeah, that's exactly it. So this 97 00:05:55,440 --> 00:05:57,800 Speaker 1: is the eighteen eighties. He's a Jew in Poland at 98 00:05:57,839 --> 00:06:00,880 Speaker 1: the time of the Russian pogor RUMs, and you know, 99 00:06:01,000 --> 00:06:04,520 Speaker 1: anti Semitism is on the rise, and Zamenhoff thought if 100 00:06:04,520 --> 00:06:07,640 Speaker 1: he could make an international auxiliary language, he could bring 101 00:06:07,839 --> 00:06:12,120 Speaker 1: people together. So I notice you keep using the word auxiliary, 102 00:06:12,279 --> 00:06:15,400 Speaker 1: and I'm curious, like why is that. Well, like, Esperanto 103 00:06:15,560 --> 00:06:17,640 Speaker 1: is just another word that I like to say over 104 00:06:17,720 --> 00:06:20,360 Speaker 1: and over, so it's just just kind of fun. Sure, 105 00:06:20,440 --> 00:06:23,240 Speaker 1: But I mean the reality is that Esperanto isn't meant 106 00:06:23,320 --> 00:06:26,440 Speaker 1: to replace your mother tongue, like whatever that may be, 107 00:06:26,680 --> 00:06:30,080 Speaker 1: that's fine for that to still be there. Zaymanhoff really 108 00:06:30,200 --> 00:06:32,680 Speaker 1: saw it as a second language, like something people could 109 00:06:32,720 --> 00:06:37,320 Speaker 1: learn quickly to facilitate easy conversation with anybody there. So 110 00:06:37,320 --> 00:06:39,920 Speaker 1: they're speaking to around the world, and so we worked 111 00:06:40,040 --> 00:06:42,960 Speaker 1: really hard to make the language as easy as possible 112 00:06:43,000 --> 00:06:45,920 Speaker 1: to pick up. Well, before we get into just how 113 00:06:45,960 --> 00:06:48,160 Speaker 1: fast you can pick up Esperanto, why don't we take 114 00:06:48,160 --> 00:07:06,040 Speaker 1: a quick break. Welcome back to part time Genius where 115 00:07:06,040 --> 00:07:09,720 Speaker 1: we're talking all things Esperanto. So I don't know about you, 116 00:07:09,880 --> 00:07:12,840 Speaker 1: but when I learn languages, I'm great for like the 117 00:07:12,920 --> 00:07:17,480 Speaker 1: first six months, Like vocab is easy, pronunciation is really easy, 118 00:07:17,600 --> 00:07:21,520 Speaker 1: but eventually the grammar just catches up to me and 119 00:07:21,680 --> 00:07:24,920 Speaker 1: it stifles me and gives me like total anxiety. And 120 00:07:25,640 --> 00:07:28,200 Speaker 1: instead of getting pleasure from speaking a new language, I 121 00:07:28,280 --> 00:07:30,800 Speaker 1: really get in my head and get very tongue tied. 122 00:07:30,960 --> 00:07:34,640 Speaker 1: So I'm curious, like, how did Zamon Hoff go about 123 00:07:34,720 --> 00:07:37,840 Speaker 1: making Esperanto easy for new students. Well, I mean, like 124 00:07:37,920 --> 00:07:41,480 Speaker 1: any language, it does have grammar rules and vocabulary, so 125 00:07:41,560 --> 00:07:44,320 Speaker 1: you can't get around memorizing those rules. But what he 126 00:07:44,400 --> 00:07:47,080 Speaker 1: tried to do is to make those as simple as possible, 127 00:07:47,200 --> 00:07:49,520 Speaker 1: and not only that, but to make them very consistent. 128 00:07:50,080 --> 00:07:52,640 Speaker 1: And if you're already familiar with a romance language, you're 129 00:07:52,720 --> 00:07:55,520 Speaker 1: going to recognize a lot of it. I mean, here's 130 00:07:55,640 --> 00:07:58,600 Speaker 1: an example of something that makes Esperanto easier to learn. 131 00:07:59,080 --> 00:08:01,760 Speaker 1: There's no ambiguity how you pronounce it. Zam and Hoff 132 00:08:01,840 --> 00:08:04,080 Speaker 1: wanted it to have a one to one letter to 133 00:08:04,360 --> 00:08:08,800 Speaker 1: sound correspondence, meaning there are literally extra letters in Esperanto 134 00:08:08,960 --> 00:08:11,800 Speaker 1: and within the alphabet, just so you can never have 135 00:08:12,000 --> 00:08:15,520 Speaker 1: to guess how something is spelled or pronounced from its context. 136 00:08:15,880 --> 00:08:19,160 Speaker 1: Oh that's really cool, you know, Hindi is actually like that, 137 00:08:19,440 --> 00:08:22,760 Speaker 1: it's fanatic. And I remember thinking, like, it's so much 138 00:08:22,800 --> 00:08:24,640 Speaker 1: better for beginners to be able to spell that way 139 00:08:24,640 --> 00:08:27,840 Speaker 1: because it's just, you know, no ambiguity. But I actually 140 00:08:27,880 --> 00:08:31,040 Speaker 1: remember in college one of my professors talked about this 141 00:08:31,240 --> 00:08:34,600 Speaker 1: movement to change English and make all the spellings more phonetic. 142 00:08:35,200 --> 00:08:37,200 Speaker 1: And part of the reason was that if a language 143 00:08:37,240 --> 00:08:41,319 Speaker 1: is spelled phonetically, it supposedly reduces, you know, the difficulties 144 00:08:41,360 --> 00:08:44,920 Speaker 1: for people with learning disabilities like dyslexia and so like, 145 00:08:44,960 --> 00:08:46,880 Speaker 1: if you spell things exactly the way you pronounce them, 146 00:08:46,960 --> 00:08:49,880 Speaker 1: spelling tests aren't a thing anymore. Yeah, I mean, and 147 00:08:50,040 --> 00:08:52,920 Speaker 1: that's I mean, I find that really interesting. And fixing 148 00:08:53,000 --> 00:08:56,439 Speaker 1: spelling wasn't the only thing Zamenhoff was concerned with, Like 149 00:08:56,520 --> 00:08:59,800 Speaker 1: he did other things to just try to simplify the language, 150 00:09:00,200 --> 00:09:02,760 Speaker 1: like the nouns have no gender, which can be a 151 00:09:02,800 --> 00:09:06,000 Speaker 1: real stumbling box to speaking a language you know fluently, 152 00:09:06,160 --> 00:09:10,640 Speaker 1: and the verbs are all regular. There's only one standard form, pertense, 153 00:09:11,200 --> 00:09:15,160 Speaker 1: And he worked to really simplify the grammar as well like, actually, 154 00:09:15,240 --> 00:09:19,120 Speaker 1: before he constructed Esperanto, Zamenhoff had these dreams of reviving 155 00:09:19,240 --> 00:09:23,640 Speaker 1: Latin and making that the language that everyone could communicate in. 156 00:09:24,080 --> 00:09:27,000 Speaker 1: But he decided the grammar was just too hard, so 157 00:09:27,120 --> 00:09:29,480 Speaker 1: he decided to work to make the rules as simple 158 00:09:29,679 --> 00:09:33,920 Speaker 1: as possible. Anyway, Zemanhoff laid out all the Esperanto basics 159 00:09:34,000 --> 00:09:37,959 Speaker 1: in his book Unua Libro aka first Book, and this 160 00:09:38,120 --> 00:09:41,000 Speaker 1: was in July of eighteen eighty seven, and Mengo, can 161 00:09:41,040 --> 00:09:43,120 Speaker 1: I tell you the pseudonym that he published it under? 162 00:09:43,200 --> 00:09:45,319 Speaker 1: This is pretty great. Yeah, I'd love to hear it 163 00:09:45,920 --> 00:09:52,520 Speaker 1: Doctro Esperanto. I love that. I knew you would. It's 164 00:09:52,600 --> 00:09:55,720 Speaker 1: kind of like an off friend X men character. Yeah, 165 00:09:55,760 --> 00:09:59,559 Speaker 1: it actually, I think that's spot on because it translates 166 00:09:59,640 --> 00:10:03,000 Speaker 1: as doctor hopeful, which is kind of bittersweet, given that 167 00:10:03,120 --> 00:10:07,439 Speaker 1: Zamenhoff died in nineteen seventeen and Esperanto largely died off 168 00:10:07,520 --> 00:10:10,320 Speaker 1: during World War One. I guess the World War made 169 00:10:10,360 --> 00:10:13,959 Speaker 1: the mission of kind of bringing people together seem futile, 170 00:10:14,080 --> 00:10:16,480 Speaker 1: and that, you know, there were some dedicated speakers that 171 00:10:16,600 --> 00:10:19,040 Speaker 1: kept it alive. But then, of course there was World 172 00:10:19,080 --> 00:10:21,800 Speaker 1: War Two, and you know, the rest is history there. Yeah, 173 00:10:21,840 --> 00:10:25,360 Speaker 1: it couldn't have been good for pushing Esperanto forward. Yeah. 174 00:10:25,800 --> 00:10:29,679 Speaker 1: In fact, Esperanto had two formidable opponents during World War Two, 175 00:10:30,280 --> 00:10:34,920 Speaker 1: Joseph Stalin and Hitler. So Stalin sent Esperanto speakers to 176 00:10:35,040 --> 00:10:38,520 Speaker 1: the gulags, and Hitler wrote in mindcomf that Esperanto was 177 00:10:38,559 --> 00:10:41,360 Speaker 1: a language being used by Jews as a method of 178 00:10:41,520 --> 00:10:45,720 Speaker 1: world domination. Wow, which of course was not Zamenhoff's point. 179 00:10:46,240 --> 00:10:49,640 Speaker 1: But what's really devastating is zaemon Hoff's three children, who 180 00:10:49,720 --> 00:10:52,880 Speaker 1: were of course also Jewish, were actually all killed during 181 00:10:52,960 --> 00:10:56,280 Speaker 1: the Holocaust. Oh that's uh, you know, it's crazy to 182 00:10:56,360 --> 00:11:00,679 Speaker 1: think that, like Esperanto is almost like a Miller joke 183 00:11:00,760 --> 00:11:03,920 Speaker 1: or something these days. But yeah, it wasn't that long 184 00:11:03,960 --> 00:11:06,439 Speaker 1: ago that, you know. I guess just speaking it could 185 00:11:06,480 --> 00:11:09,000 Speaker 1: get you killed or thrown in prison. Yeah. Think about 186 00:11:09,000 --> 00:11:11,160 Speaker 1: a lot of our younger listeners here. I love that 187 00:11:11,240 --> 00:11:14,240 Speaker 1: you just made a Dennis Miller reference, so they can 188 00:11:14,360 --> 00:11:17,640 Speaker 1: they can do their homework on hewe but he was 189 00:11:17,679 --> 00:11:21,000 Speaker 1: also from right after the Civil War, I believe. Yeah. Yeah, 190 00:11:21,080 --> 00:11:23,480 Speaker 1: I'm pretty pretty sure a little bit a little bit after. 191 00:11:23,679 --> 00:11:28,200 Speaker 1: But what's amazing is that somehow Esperanto managed to survive 192 00:11:28,400 --> 00:11:32,400 Speaker 1: and was taught in concentration camps spoken by true believers. 193 00:11:32,559 --> 00:11:36,199 Speaker 1: And after World War Two Esperanto was almost completely gone, 194 00:11:36,280 --> 00:11:39,480 Speaker 1: but it somehow managed to survive into the twentieth century. 195 00:11:39,800 --> 00:11:42,079 Speaker 1: And that really was thanks to these small groups of 196 00:11:42,320 --> 00:11:46,199 Speaker 1: Esperanto enthusiasts. And it's hard to know exactly how many 197 00:11:46,280 --> 00:11:49,760 Speaker 1: people speak Esperanto, but according to some estimates, there are 198 00:11:49,800 --> 00:11:53,320 Speaker 1: at least two million speakers in the world today, which 199 00:11:53,360 --> 00:11:56,319 Speaker 1: I found shocking when I saw that number. Yeah, and 200 00:11:56,480 --> 00:11:59,720 Speaker 1: even though Esperanto was made to be this auxiliary language, 201 00:12:00,120 --> 00:12:02,360 Speaker 1: there is a cohort of about a thousand people who 202 00:12:02,440 --> 00:12:06,440 Speaker 1: speak Esperanto as their first language. Isn't that wild? Wow, 203 00:12:06,559 --> 00:12:09,880 Speaker 1: that's really cool. So Esperanto kind of ended up transcending 204 00:12:10,000 --> 00:12:13,559 Speaker 1: that constructed language status and I guess evolved into a 205 00:12:13,679 --> 00:12:16,480 Speaker 1: real language. Yeah, yeah, it makes me wanted to say that. 206 00:12:16,480 --> 00:12:19,880 Speaker 1: You know, look, Japeto, I'm a real, live language. You know, 207 00:12:20,160 --> 00:12:23,480 Speaker 1: Pinocchio was actually written in Esperanto. Wait, you're kidding, because 208 00:12:23,480 --> 00:12:25,839 Speaker 1: I said, is that actually true? No, it's not true, 209 00:12:25,880 --> 00:12:28,199 Speaker 1: but it sounds like a lie that Pia would tell. 210 00:12:29,040 --> 00:12:32,280 Speaker 1: But you know, who actually is a native speaker of 211 00:12:32,400 --> 00:12:34,559 Speaker 1: Esperanto and I found this in research and was fascinated 212 00:12:34,600 --> 00:12:38,439 Speaker 1: by this. George Soros. Okay, so this is your second line? 213 00:12:38,840 --> 00:12:41,160 Speaker 1: Is that? Is that actually true? It is true? And 214 00:12:41,240 --> 00:12:48,000 Speaker 1: also George Santos speaker? No good, Yeah, George Soros actually 215 00:12:48,200 --> 00:12:51,760 Speaker 1: is a speaker. Apparently, his father, Tivadar Soros, was a 216 00:12:51,960 --> 00:12:55,640 Speaker 1: huge proponent of Esperanto, and in fact, Tivadar published his 217 00:12:55,800 --> 00:13:00,640 Speaker 1: memoir in Esperanto in nineteen twenty three. It's really it's 218 00:13:00,640 --> 00:13:03,040 Speaker 1: about being held in a prisoner of war camp in 219 00:13:03,160 --> 00:13:06,520 Speaker 1: Siberia and how he kind of led this escape of 220 00:13:06,840 --> 00:13:09,320 Speaker 1: his companions. They fled by foot and made it all 221 00:13:09,360 --> 00:13:12,160 Speaker 1: the way back to Hungary. And so how does Sourus's 222 00:13:12,240 --> 00:13:16,880 Speaker 1: dad learn Esperanto? So Sourus's dad is from Budapest, and 223 00:13:17,160 --> 00:13:20,600 Speaker 1: by all accounts he was a genius. He was a doctor, 224 00:13:20,920 --> 00:13:23,679 Speaker 1: a lawyer, he was a writer and an editor. But 225 00:13:24,160 --> 00:13:26,640 Speaker 1: early in his life, after fighting in World War One, 226 00:13:26,880 --> 00:13:29,959 Speaker 1: he escaped Russia and returned to Hungary, and in this 227 00:13:30,080 --> 00:13:32,920 Speaker 1: period he picked up the language. In his twenties, and 228 00:13:33,240 --> 00:13:36,160 Speaker 1: then a little later he actually helped start this literary journal. 229 00:13:36,280 --> 00:13:40,600 Speaker 1: It was called Literature Amando, and it published works in Esperanto. 230 00:13:41,320 --> 00:13:43,680 Speaker 1: And I assume that that's how George Soros grew up 231 00:13:43,720 --> 00:13:46,240 Speaker 1: speaking it or what. Yeah, so George and his brother 232 00:13:46,320 --> 00:13:49,160 Speaker 1: grew up speaking it. They grew up in Budapest in 233 00:13:49,200 --> 00:13:52,559 Speaker 1: the nineteen thirties and forties, and in fact, when he 234 00:13:52,720 --> 00:13:56,640 Speaker 1: was seventeen, George left Budapest to seek his fortune in England, 235 00:13:56,920 --> 00:13:59,640 Speaker 1: and he said, quote, one of the first things I 236 00:13:59,760 --> 00:14:03,320 Speaker 1: did was seek out the Esperanto society in London, because 237 00:14:03,440 --> 00:14:06,640 Speaker 1: it was basically this refuge for him. I do like 238 00:14:06,720 --> 00:14:08,880 Speaker 1: how speaking a common language can almost make you a 239 00:14:09,000 --> 00:14:11,120 Speaker 1: citizen of a country, or at least give you this 240 00:14:11,240 --> 00:14:14,439 Speaker 1: shared background, which is nice. Yeah, it's funny, my family. 241 00:14:14,679 --> 00:14:16,680 Speaker 1: I mean you know this, but we speak this tiny 242 00:14:16,960 --> 00:14:19,480 Speaker 1: dialect of a dialect that basically no one speaks, like 243 00:14:19,560 --> 00:14:22,040 Speaker 1: maybe like twenty five thousand people in that world. But 244 00:14:22,200 --> 00:14:25,520 Speaker 1: when I hear someone speaking it, you feel immediately connected 245 00:14:25,600 --> 00:14:31,080 Speaker 1: to them. But unlike Esperanto speakers, Conkany speakers never almost 246 00:14:31,160 --> 00:14:34,320 Speaker 1: had our own country. Wait, was there actually almost an 247 00:14:34,440 --> 00:14:38,760 Speaker 1: Esperanto country? Yeah, so the long lost Esperanto nation was 248 00:14:38,880 --> 00:14:43,160 Speaker 1: called I'm a Kajo. And in eighteen fifteen, this is 249 00:14:43,280 --> 00:14:46,080 Speaker 1: after the fall of Napoleon, the borders within Europe had 250 00:14:46,120 --> 00:14:49,040 Speaker 1: to be re established, right, So, like Prussia and the 251 00:14:49,160 --> 00:14:52,360 Speaker 1: Kingdom of the Netherlands were fighting over this territory known 252 00:14:52,440 --> 00:14:56,800 Speaker 1: as Moresnet, where an important zinc mine was located. And 253 00:14:57,000 --> 00:14:59,640 Speaker 1: so eventually more as I was divided into three parts. 254 00:15:00,000 --> 00:15:02,400 Speaker 1: One went to the Netherlands, one went to Prussia, and 255 00:15:02,560 --> 00:15:06,360 Speaker 1: one was declared a neutral territory around this disputed zinc 256 00:15:06,440 --> 00:15:10,240 Speaker 1: mind called Neutral Moorsnet. And it's sort of a little 257 00:15:10,320 --> 00:15:13,240 Speaker 1: like No Man's Land or something. Yeah, and it's a 258 00:15:13,320 --> 00:15:16,080 Speaker 1: tiny space, like it was only like seventy acres or so, 259 00:15:16,360 --> 00:15:19,800 Speaker 1: but by eighteen sixteen there were I guess, like two 260 00:15:19,880 --> 00:15:22,080 Speaker 1: hundred and fifty two hundred and fifty five people living there. 261 00:15:22,400 --> 00:15:24,600 Speaker 1: But because of the zinc mine, the number of inhabitants 262 00:15:24,680 --> 00:15:27,920 Speaker 1: grew and by eighteen fifty eight there were about twenty 263 00:15:27,960 --> 00:15:31,120 Speaker 1: five hundred people there. Anyway, one of the immigrants to 264 00:15:31,320 --> 00:15:35,360 Speaker 1: Neutral Moresnet was this German doctor named doctor Wilhelm Molly. 265 00:15:35,720 --> 00:15:38,200 Speaker 1: He was a really popular doctor because he kept his 266 00:15:38,320 --> 00:15:41,240 Speaker 1: fees very low, and he actually became super popular when 267 00:15:41,240 --> 00:15:44,720 Speaker 1: he helped to like end this cholera epidemic there. Yeah, 268 00:15:44,760 --> 00:15:46,240 Speaker 1: I mean that's so at all the popular kids in 269 00:15:46,280 --> 00:15:50,520 Speaker 1: my high school. They helped, you know, clear cholera. Yeah, sure, sure. 270 00:15:51,080 --> 00:15:54,560 Speaker 1: Well doctor Molly was also really big into Esperanto, and 271 00:15:54,920 --> 00:15:58,280 Speaker 1: when he met this professor named Gustav Roy, who was 272 00:15:58,360 --> 00:16:01,880 Speaker 1: also an Esperantis, they decided to establish an Esperanto state 273 00:16:02,080 --> 00:16:04,720 Speaker 1: in this area. In nineteen oh eight, there was this 274 00:16:04,840 --> 00:16:08,240 Speaker 1: big demonstration with speeches and this effort to establish this 275 00:16:08,480 --> 00:16:11,520 Speaker 1: Esperanto free state, and they wanted to call it Amika Joe, 276 00:16:11,800 --> 00:16:16,360 Speaker 1: which means friend place in Esperanto. That's actually pretty funny. 277 00:16:16,480 --> 00:16:19,680 Speaker 1: It's like Amity Island and Jaws or Amnyville from Amnityville 278 00:16:19,760 --> 00:16:22,840 Speaker 1: Horror in both these movies where everything goes, you know, 279 00:16:23,000 --> 00:16:27,120 Speaker 1: super smoothly in this friend place. Yeah, I guess naming 280 00:16:27,160 --> 00:16:29,360 Speaker 1: your new nation friend place is sort of a kiss 281 00:16:29,480 --> 00:16:32,720 Speaker 1: of death. But they really wanted to make this place happen. 282 00:16:32,920 --> 00:16:35,640 Speaker 1: So the zinc miners there even had a band and 283 00:16:35,680 --> 00:16:38,960 Speaker 1: they played a proposed national anthem, the Amika Joe March, 284 00:16:39,200 --> 00:16:41,880 Speaker 1: which I'm sure you're familiar with, definitely, and the New 285 00:16:41,960 --> 00:16:44,640 Speaker 1: York Times covered it in nineteen oh eight and they 286 00:16:44,720 --> 00:16:48,120 Speaker 1: heralded Amika Joe as a new European state. But of 287 00:16:48,280 --> 00:16:51,480 Speaker 1: course it did not last. When the zinc mine got depleted, 288 00:16:51,760 --> 00:16:54,360 Speaker 1: Prussia began to reassort his claim over the territory and 289 00:16:54,480 --> 00:16:58,160 Speaker 1: the inhabitants of Moors that petitioned for annexation by Belgium. 290 00:16:58,640 --> 00:17:01,360 Speaker 1: In nineteen nineteen, the terror Ratory was seated to Belgium, 291 00:17:01,520 --> 00:17:03,560 Speaker 1: and that kind of brought an end to the existence 292 00:17:03,640 --> 00:17:07,440 Speaker 1: of Nu film War'snet and also the dream of Mikicho. 293 00:17:08,720 --> 00:17:11,960 Speaker 1: Let's talk about a few more constructed languages before we 294 00:17:12,040 --> 00:17:29,879 Speaker 1: get to that, though, Let's take a quick break. Welcome 295 00:17:29,920 --> 00:17:32,320 Speaker 1: back to part time Genius. We were talking about Esperanto, 296 00:17:32,520 --> 00:17:34,840 Speaker 1: So will I think you were just about to walk 297 00:17:34,920 --> 00:17:37,800 Speaker 1: us through a few more constructed languages that you found. 298 00:17:38,240 --> 00:17:42,080 Speaker 1: It's funny because before going into this, I knew about Esperanto, 299 00:17:42,200 --> 00:17:45,280 Speaker 1: but I didn't realize how many constructed languages there are 300 00:17:45,320 --> 00:17:48,840 Speaker 1: out there. It's kind of like this Pandora's box, Like, 301 00:17:49,040 --> 00:17:53,280 Speaker 1: way before Esperanto, there was Lingua ignata. This was thousand 302 00:17:53,400 --> 00:17:56,399 Speaker 1: years ago, and it's kind of a divine language. So 303 00:17:56,560 --> 00:18:00,360 Speaker 1: you've got the Benedictine Abbess Hildegarde von Bingen. It's quite 304 00:18:00,359 --> 00:18:04,439 Speaker 1: the name, right, the Benedictine Abbess Hildegarde von Bingen, who 305 00:18:04,560 --> 00:18:09,679 Speaker 1: had these religious visions, probably brought on by intense migraines, 306 00:18:09,760 --> 00:18:13,520 Speaker 1: and she constructed this glossary of a thousand words. She 307 00:18:13,720 --> 00:18:17,480 Speaker 1: arranged them hierarchically, beginning with the words for God and 308 00:18:17,600 --> 00:18:21,399 Speaker 1: the angels, than human beings, than other animals, plants, and 309 00:18:21,520 --> 00:18:24,520 Speaker 1: so on. And the abbess used Latin for the grammar 310 00:18:24,600 --> 00:18:27,639 Speaker 1: of her language, but also wrote in this made up 311 00:18:27,680 --> 00:18:32,119 Speaker 1: script literary ignante or unknown letters. You know, one thing 312 00:18:32,160 --> 00:18:36,080 Speaker 1: that's funny about Esperanto or volapuk is that they're both 313 00:18:36,119 --> 00:18:41,359 Speaker 1: supposedly universal languages, but they're also super Eurocentric. They're mostly 314 00:18:41,400 --> 00:18:44,640 Speaker 1: based on Latin or Romance languages, so of course they're 315 00:18:44,680 --> 00:18:47,119 Speaker 1: easy to learn if you're from Europe. But there are 316 00:18:47,240 --> 00:18:51,520 Speaker 1: obviously other continents where people speak languages with wildly different constructions. 317 00:18:51,880 --> 00:18:54,080 Speaker 1: You know, there are two thousand different Asian languages alone, 318 00:18:54,119 --> 00:18:57,000 Speaker 1: which asproto completely ignores. And I found a couple of 319 00:18:57,080 --> 00:19:00,480 Speaker 1: these con langs that actually addressed this. So are we 320 00:19:00,520 --> 00:19:04,120 Speaker 1: the kind of people that say con langs? Now? Yeah, 321 00:19:04,240 --> 00:19:07,280 Speaker 1: I've decided to, you know, break that barrier on this show. 322 00:19:08,080 --> 00:19:10,560 Speaker 1: But it is a thing. Con Lang is the actual 323 00:19:10,680 --> 00:19:15,359 Speaker 1: term for constructed languages. Anyway, one con lang that addresses 324 00:19:15,520 --> 00:19:20,040 Speaker 1: this eurocentrism problem is Lingua de Planeta, which is based 325 00:19:20,119 --> 00:19:25,760 Speaker 1: on Arabic, Mandarin, English, French, German, Hindi, Persian, Portuguese, Russian, 326 00:19:25,960 --> 00:19:32,480 Speaker 1: and Spanish. That feels like a lot of very different languages. Yeah, 327 00:19:32,720 --> 00:19:35,040 Speaker 1: but I mean it's got Planeta in the name, so 328 00:19:35,560 --> 00:19:37,760 Speaker 1: you know it's true to that's true, I get it. 329 00:19:38,119 --> 00:19:42,440 Speaker 1: The language was invented in twenty ten by Dmitri Ivanoff 330 00:19:42,560 --> 00:19:46,520 Speaker 1: and a group of fellow language enthusiasts in Saint Petersburg, Russia, 331 00:19:47,080 --> 00:19:50,320 Speaker 1: and it was based on the most widely spoken languages 332 00:19:50,320 --> 00:19:52,879 Speaker 1: in the world. The unfortunate part is that it is 333 00:19:53,119 --> 00:19:55,600 Speaker 1: really really hard to learn, so you didn't pick up 334 00:19:55,680 --> 00:19:59,080 Speaker 1: Samenhoff's lesson. But the good thing is that wherever you're from, 335 00:19:59,240 --> 00:20:01,760 Speaker 1: at least some words will be familiar to you. But 336 00:20:01,920 --> 00:20:04,520 Speaker 1: because most of the words sound completely different, and because 337 00:20:04,560 --> 00:20:08,040 Speaker 1: you're combining elements of Russian and Portuguese and Hindi, it's 338 00:20:08,640 --> 00:20:12,040 Speaker 1: it gets a little complicated. Yeah, I mean, it doesn't 339 00:20:12,040 --> 00:20:15,240 Speaker 1: exclude whole portions of the earth population, which is a 340 00:20:15,400 --> 00:20:18,440 Speaker 1: nice idea, but it sounds almost impossible to learn, which 341 00:20:18,560 --> 00:20:22,000 Speaker 1: doesn't seem like a great strategy for spreading a language. Yeah, 342 00:20:22,160 --> 00:20:24,520 Speaker 1: I mean that kind of highlights the dilemma of this 343 00:20:24,720 --> 00:20:28,560 Speaker 1: whole ideal interra language, right, like how do you compress 344 00:20:28,680 --> 00:20:32,480 Speaker 1: thousands of global languages and cultures into one universal standard. 345 00:20:33,200 --> 00:20:35,879 Speaker 1: Even uniting a continent with a single language can be 346 00:20:35,960 --> 00:20:38,320 Speaker 1: a real challenge. There was another example of this that 347 00:20:38,359 --> 00:20:41,800 Speaker 1: I was looking at, Afriheli, for example, which was created 348 00:20:41,880 --> 00:20:46,240 Speaker 1: by this Ghanian civil engineer ka Kumi Autobra. This was 349 00:20:46,280 --> 00:20:50,439 Speaker 1: back in nineteen sixty seven, and Afriheli takes vocabulary from 350 00:20:50,560 --> 00:20:54,080 Speaker 1: languages all over the African continent and the whole goal 351 00:20:54,119 --> 00:20:56,520 Speaker 1: of this was to be adopted as the lingua franca 352 00:20:56,760 --> 00:20:59,560 Speaker 1: of Africa. And of course there would be lots of 353 00:20:59,600 --> 00:21:02,479 Speaker 1: benefit to that, right like, not only can a unified 354 00:21:02,560 --> 00:21:06,680 Speaker 1: language promote unity and understanding among different peoples, you could 355 00:21:06,680 --> 00:21:10,119 Speaker 1: improve education and of course you can boost trade from this. 356 00:21:10,840 --> 00:21:14,640 Speaker 1: So in nineteen seventy one, the Afriheeally Center began publishing 357 00:21:14,760 --> 00:21:18,320 Speaker 1: a newspaper in Afriheally called The Sun, and according to 358 00:21:18,400 --> 00:21:20,960 Speaker 1: a nineteen eighty seven press release for the twenty fifth 359 00:21:21,040 --> 00:21:25,400 Speaker 1: anniversary of the language, about a thousand people learned Afriheally. 360 00:21:25,840 --> 00:21:28,600 Speaker 1: But the last published reference to afriheally seems to be 361 00:21:29,000 --> 00:21:33,640 Speaker 1: nineteen eighty eight, so it unfortunately wasn't that successful. Yeah, 362 00:21:33,880 --> 00:21:36,320 Speaker 1: I mean, while we're counting up all these failed attempts 363 00:21:36,359 --> 00:21:38,840 Speaker 1: to unify real people, we should definitely talk about the 364 00:21:39,000 --> 00:21:43,320 Speaker 1: fictional con lingus which tend to be more successful, including Klingon, 365 00:21:44,840 --> 00:21:49,200 Speaker 1: which I know you have a story about Klingon right, Yes, 366 00:21:49,320 --> 00:21:51,119 Speaker 1: I had not thought about this in a while. So 367 00:21:51,400 --> 00:21:53,480 Speaker 1: you and I when we were back at Mental Floss, 368 00:21:53,560 --> 00:21:57,120 Speaker 1: we were invited to give a talk to the team 369 00:21:57,240 --> 00:21:59,760 Speaker 1: at Google, and so we thought, ah, this was in 370 00:21:59,840 --> 00:22:03,040 Speaker 1: the time there was all this talk about how smart 371 00:22:03,080 --> 00:22:04,720 Speaker 1: you had to be to work at Google and how 372 00:22:04,800 --> 00:22:07,000 Speaker 1: many tests you had to pass to get you know, 373 00:22:07,200 --> 00:22:09,520 Speaker 1: hired there, and so we thought, you know what, We're 374 00:22:09,560 --> 00:22:12,240 Speaker 1: going to come up with a challenge that these guys 375 00:22:12,280 --> 00:22:14,600 Speaker 1: are not going to be able to solve. And so 376 00:22:15,160 --> 00:22:17,280 Speaker 1: we were working with a puzzle creator, and the puzzle 377 00:22:17,320 --> 00:22:20,560 Speaker 1: creator had this amazing idea of coming up with a 378 00:22:20,640 --> 00:22:25,000 Speaker 1: crossword puzzle that was all in constructed languages, so like 379 00:22:25,160 --> 00:22:28,560 Speaker 1: Klingon and Elvish and Esperanto was of course one of them, 380 00:22:28,640 --> 00:22:31,280 Speaker 1: and several others. And so we thought, you know what, 381 00:22:31,480 --> 00:22:35,040 Speaker 1: the one who completes this, if anybody does, will win 382 00:22:35,119 --> 00:22:37,160 Speaker 1: a prize. I can't remember what we were giving away, 383 00:22:37,200 --> 00:22:40,159 Speaker 1: a subscription to Mental flows or something. Well, anyway, I 384 00:22:40,200 --> 00:22:42,720 Speaker 1: think there were like ten people that brought it up complete. 385 00:22:43,240 --> 00:22:46,440 Speaker 1: Not only that, they were actually correcting our grammatical mistakes 386 00:22:46,520 --> 00:22:50,679 Speaker 1: in these constructed languages. So it was it was pretty 387 00:22:50,720 --> 00:22:54,080 Speaker 1: amazing and proved that they were, you know, pretty smart, 388 00:22:54,119 --> 00:22:56,280 Speaker 1: I guess, yeah. Yeah, but a little star so you 389 00:22:56,359 --> 00:22:59,920 Speaker 1: were talking about this, but they actually hired a linguist 390 00:23:00,080 --> 00:23:04,280 Speaker 1: to create a whole Klingon language. Yeah, so Klingon was 391 00:23:04,600 --> 00:23:07,960 Speaker 1: created for Star Trek by a linguist named Mark Okrind. 392 00:23:08,560 --> 00:23:10,840 Speaker 1: And you know, he didn't actually create the whole language 393 00:23:10,880 --> 00:23:13,639 Speaker 1: at one time, which is kind of interesting. Basically, the 394 00:23:13,680 --> 00:23:16,280 Speaker 1: story goes in the Wrath of Khan. There were two 395 00:23:16,440 --> 00:23:19,399 Speaker 1: Vulcan characters speaking to each other in a corridor, and 396 00:23:19,640 --> 00:23:22,280 Speaker 1: the producers shot the scene with the actors speaking English, 397 00:23:22,440 --> 00:23:26,160 Speaker 1: but later they decided to change it to a Vulcan language, 398 00:23:26,520 --> 00:23:29,280 Speaker 1: but there wasn't one yet, so Okran told the Washington 399 00:23:29,320 --> 00:23:31,720 Speaker 1: Post quote, they wanted a linguist to come and make 400 00:23:31,800 --> 00:23:34,840 Speaker 1: up gobbledygook that matches the lip movements and I said, 401 00:23:35,200 --> 00:23:37,919 Speaker 1: I can do that, and from then on Oakren kind 402 00:23:37,960 --> 00:23:40,560 Speaker 1: of designed the language as needed based on the needs 403 00:23:40,600 --> 00:23:43,040 Speaker 1: of the scenes. The language was built kind of one 404 00:23:43,119 --> 00:23:45,000 Speaker 1: line at a time to suit the story of the show, 405 00:23:45,480 --> 00:23:48,320 Speaker 1: and you'd actually coach the actress to say the lines 406 00:23:48,400 --> 00:23:51,320 Speaker 1: to get through the process and then moved on. But 407 00:23:51,440 --> 00:23:54,640 Speaker 1: actually there are people who can speak Klingon right, yeah, 408 00:23:54,800 --> 00:23:56,640 Speaker 1: today they are are more than two hundred and fifty 409 00:23:56,680 --> 00:24:00,560 Speaker 1: thousand copies of Okrin's Klingon dictionary that so old, and 410 00:24:00,920 --> 00:24:04,240 Speaker 1: Duo Lingo even has a Klingon language course, which is amazing. 411 00:24:04,480 --> 00:24:07,280 Speaker 1: No way. The funny thing is that some Klingon speakers 412 00:24:07,320 --> 00:24:10,760 Speaker 1: aren't even Treky's like, they just love languages and wanted 413 00:24:10,800 --> 00:24:14,040 Speaker 1: to expand this one. So there's a group of speakers 414 00:24:14,080 --> 00:24:17,160 Speaker 1: that formed the Klingon Language Institute in nineteen ninety two 415 00:24:17,720 --> 00:24:22,280 Speaker 1: and it's a full nonprofit organization dedicated legitimately teaching Klingon. 416 00:24:22,440 --> 00:24:25,760 Speaker 1: They have translators, they have other online resources. And the 417 00:24:25,840 --> 00:24:29,960 Speaker 1: strange thing is like, unlike Esperanto, Klingon is not easy. 418 00:24:30,200 --> 00:24:33,440 Speaker 1: But when a language is part of like this world 419 00:24:33,520 --> 00:24:36,639 Speaker 1: building of a story, people will apparently really want to 420 00:24:36,680 --> 00:24:40,200 Speaker 1: participate and there's a fandom that wants to develop that culture. Yeah, 421 00:24:40,240 --> 00:24:42,639 Speaker 1: and it makes me think about like Lord of the Rings, 422 00:24:42,640 --> 00:24:46,280 Speaker 1: where the readers who are really into these elven languages. 423 00:24:46,720 --> 00:24:49,840 Speaker 1: In fact, JR. Tolkien kind of did the language thing 424 00:24:49,920 --> 00:24:53,920 Speaker 1: the opposite way. Tolkien writes, quote, the invention of languages 425 00:24:54,040 --> 00:24:57,479 Speaker 1: is the foundation of my fictional writings. The stories were 426 00:24:57,520 --> 00:25:00,159 Speaker 1: made to provide a world for the languages, rather than 427 00:25:00,200 --> 00:25:03,840 Speaker 1: the reverse. And apparently Tolkien started creating languages when he 428 00:25:04,040 --> 00:25:07,640 Speaker 1: was thirteen years old, and he believed that a language 429 00:25:07,680 --> 00:25:11,080 Speaker 1: could not be complete without the history of the people 430 00:25:11,240 --> 00:25:13,680 Speaker 1: who've spoken. I mean, this is just so interesting to 431 00:25:13,720 --> 00:25:16,919 Speaker 1: read about. And the whole thing was basically a hobby 432 00:25:17,040 --> 00:25:19,919 Speaker 1: for him, like something he did for personal enjoyment as 433 00:25:19,960 --> 00:25:23,000 Speaker 1: a scholar and a linguist. And in fact, it wasn't 434 00:25:23,119 --> 00:25:25,320 Speaker 1: just the languages he made up. He also liked to 435 00:25:25,359 --> 00:25:29,159 Speaker 1: write poems and songs and dead languages like medieval Welch. 436 00:25:29,600 --> 00:25:31,840 Speaker 1: This was just a way of keeping his mind sharp 437 00:25:31,880 --> 00:25:35,960 Speaker 1: and obviously it worked. I love what a weirdo Tolkien is. 438 00:25:36,200 --> 00:25:39,200 Speaker 1: I remember my friend Brian Gottisman wrote this article for 439 00:25:39,320 --> 00:25:41,960 Speaker 1: as a mental floss about Tolkien, and there was a 440 00:25:42,000 --> 00:25:44,960 Speaker 1: bit about how sometimes as a joke, Tolkien would chase 441 00:25:45,040 --> 00:25:48,720 Speaker 1: his neighbors around dressed like an axe wielding Anglo Saxon warrior. 442 00:25:50,480 --> 00:25:54,840 Speaker 1: It's amazing. And also sometimes at like a cash register 443 00:25:54,880 --> 00:25:57,200 Speaker 1: at a store, he would hand a shop keep false 444 00:25:57,280 --> 00:26:01,760 Speaker 1: teeth instead of a payment, like such a weird. Anyway, 445 00:26:01,920 --> 00:26:04,920 Speaker 1: before we do an entire episode on Tolkito right now, 446 00:26:05,320 --> 00:26:16,479 Speaker 1: why don't we switch leans into a fact off? All right, well, 447 00:26:16,480 --> 00:26:19,560 Speaker 1: how about I kick this off? So for nearly forty years, 448 00:26:19,760 --> 00:26:23,240 Speaker 1: Esperanto was the language of instruction at the International Academy 449 00:26:23,280 --> 00:26:27,200 Speaker 1: of Sciences in San Marino. The idea of using Esperanto 450 00:26:27,359 --> 00:26:31,240 Speaker 1: was basically to eliminate linguistic biases and keep the focus 451 00:26:31,400 --> 00:26:35,080 Speaker 1: on the science instead. It's a perfect example of why 452 00:26:35,240 --> 00:26:38,399 Speaker 1: esperanto is invented. That's really cool. Do you know that 453 00:26:38,480 --> 00:26:41,919 Speaker 1: studying Esperanto can help you pick up other romance languages faster? 454 00:26:42,400 --> 00:26:45,120 Speaker 1: So there are two studies from the nineteen fifties, one 455 00:26:45,200 --> 00:26:48,520 Speaker 1: that observed the kids at Denton Grammar School and another 456 00:26:48,600 --> 00:26:51,360 Speaker 1: from Sheffield University, and these took place around the same time, 457 00:26:51,800 --> 00:26:54,400 Speaker 1: and they found that the average student who learned one 458 00:26:54,480 --> 00:26:57,960 Speaker 1: year of Esperanto followed by three years of French. Spoke 459 00:26:58,080 --> 00:27:00,280 Speaker 1: French much better and more fluently at the end of 460 00:27:00,320 --> 00:27:03,160 Speaker 1: that course versus those who just took four years of French. 461 00:27:03,640 --> 00:27:06,080 Speaker 1: I guess it kind of makes sense, like we were saying, 462 00:27:06,160 --> 00:27:08,919 Speaker 1: how it's so easy to learn? But all right, Well, 463 00:27:08,960 --> 00:27:12,080 Speaker 1: in nineteen twenty one, the League of Nations, the precursor 464 00:27:12,119 --> 00:27:16,080 Speaker 1: to the un almost accepted Esperanto as their working language. 465 00:27:16,440 --> 00:27:19,440 Speaker 1: This is from the Library of Congress. It almost went through, 466 00:27:19,560 --> 00:27:22,240 Speaker 1: but then the delegate from France vetoed it because he 467 00:27:22,320 --> 00:27:24,520 Speaker 1: saw it as a threat to the French language and 468 00:27:24,560 --> 00:27:27,280 Speaker 1: the position it held in the world. Doesn't it Just 469 00:27:27,400 --> 00:27:30,160 Speaker 1: this feels like that's the right way this must have ended, 470 00:27:30,640 --> 00:27:34,000 Speaker 1: And because all resolutions had to be unanimous, the proposal 471 00:27:34,200 --> 00:27:38,360 Speaker 1: was ultimately scrapped. That's so sad. It feels like Esperanto 472 00:27:38,440 --> 00:27:42,600 Speaker 1: almost had a shot. And then yeah, then the French. 473 00:27:43,440 --> 00:27:45,800 Speaker 1: Here's a quick non Esperanto one. Have you ever heard 474 00:27:45,840 --> 00:27:49,080 Speaker 1: of the fictional con land called Teo Knot I don't 475 00:27:49,080 --> 00:27:51,600 Speaker 1: think I have. Yeah. So it was created by a 476 00:27:51,680 --> 00:27:55,240 Speaker 1: sci fi author, Sarah Higley, also known as Sally Caves, 477 00:27:55,400 --> 00:27:58,760 Speaker 1: and the language is one spoken by a race of 478 00:27:58,880 --> 00:28:02,639 Speaker 1: winged cats who eventually become human but continue to worship 479 00:28:02,760 --> 00:28:06,119 Speaker 1: cats as gods. Oh you know how I feel about cats. 480 00:28:06,160 --> 00:28:09,119 Speaker 1: It's so cat to be cats also worship cats the 481 00:28:09,200 --> 00:28:13,000 Speaker 1: whole thing. But anyway, all right, so this is really cool. 482 00:28:13,320 --> 00:28:15,280 Speaker 1: Did you know that Enia sing some of her songs 483 00:28:15,320 --> 00:28:18,840 Speaker 1: in a fictional language called Loxian. I guess she was 484 00:28:18,920 --> 00:28:22,960 Speaker 1: recording a song in all of these languages, English, Gaelic, Latin, 485 00:28:23,480 --> 00:28:25,600 Speaker 1: and none of them were quite doing it. For so 486 00:28:25,800 --> 00:28:29,840 Speaker 1: her creative partner, Roma Ryan wrote the lyrics into Loxian, 487 00:28:30,240 --> 00:28:33,600 Speaker 1: and Enya loved it. Well, you know what I always say, 488 00:28:33,680 --> 00:28:36,840 Speaker 1: if anyone can bring the global community together, it is Enya. 489 00:28:37,440 --> 00:28:41,560 Speaker 1: You do say that that's true. So here's a final 490 00:28:41,640 --> 00:28:44,080 Speaker 1: one for me. I didn't realize that there had been 491 00:28:44,280 --> 00:28:47,840 Speaker 1: any movies made in Esperanto, but there is at least 492 00:28:47,960 --> 00:28:51,560 Speaker 1: one film, a black and white movie called Incubus starring 493 00:28:51,760 --> 00:28:57,440 Speaker 1: none other than William Shatner. Nically, the film was lost 494 00:28:57,560 --> 00:29:00,480 Speaker 1: for decades, but it was restored and then released in 495 00:29:00,520 --> 00:29:02,840 Speaker 1: two thousand and one. And despite the fact that Esperanto 496 00:29:02,960 --> 00:29:06,920 Speaker 1: is supposedly easy to speak and pronounce, according to many Esperantos, 497 00:29:07,320 --> 00:29:11,120 Speaker 1: his pronunciation in the film is off, which is not 498 00:29:11,320 --> 00:29:14,280 Speaker 1: unlike our pronunciation in this show. Yeah, I was gonna say, 499 00:29:14,560 --> 00:29:16,960 Speaker 1: I'm guessing he did it better than us, But I 500 00:29:17,000 --> 00:29:19,000 Speaker 1: don't know the fact that we talked about cling on 501 00:29:19,080 --> 00:29:22,400 Speaker 1: in this episode and you somehow brought it all back 502 00:29:22,440 --> 00:29:24,920 Speaker 1: to Shatner, I gotta say it makes me want to 503 00:29:24,920 --> 00:29:28,320 Speaker 1: give you this week's trophy. So congrats, Mango, Thank you 504 00:29:28,440 --> 00:29:31,480 Speaker 1: Will or, as the renowned thespian William Shatner often says, 505 00:29:31,520 --> 00:29:35,560 Speaker 1: an esperanto, thank you Will Nice. That's it for today's 506 00:29:35,600 --> 00:29:37,960 Speaker 1: Part Time Genius. If you like the show, please be 507 00:29:38,080 --> 00:29:40,080 Speaker 1: sure to reach out to either of our moms who 508 00:29:40,120 --> 00:29:42,040 Speaker 1: would love to hear about it, or let us know 509 00:29:42,080 --> 00:29:44,240 Speaker 1: in the reviews. You know we love hearing from you. 510 00:29:57,840 --> 00:30:01,120 Speaker 1: Part Time Genius is a production of Kalidus Go and iHeartRadio. 511 00:30:01,640 --> 00:30:05,000 Speaker 1: This show is hosted by Will Pearson and Me mongas 512 00:30:05,080 --> 00:30:10,000 Speaker 1: Chatikler and research by our goodpal Mary Philip Sandy. Today's 513 00:30:10,000 --> 00:30:13,360 Speaker 1: episode was engineered and produced by the wonderful Dylan Fagan 514 00:30:13,480 --> 00:30:17,040 Speaker 1: with support from Tyler Klang. The show is executive produced 515 00:30:17,080 --> 00:30:20,600 Speaker 1: for iHeart by Katrina Norbel and Ali Perry, with social 516 00:30:20,640 --> 00:30:24,960 Speaker 1: media support from Sasha Gay trustee Dara Potts and Viney Shore. 517 00:30:25,720 --> 00:30:30,160 Speaker 1: For more podcasts from Kaleidoscope and iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, 518 00:30:30,400 --> 00:30:33,720 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.