Esperanto moves forwards or backwards in 140 years

 

The very first question for people to know the word Esperanto, they would ask, what it is? 

The Esperanto speakers would have to explain at least for five minutes even bring out the history of recommendations of UNESCO. However, they still cannot convince people to learn Esperanto, especially in Asia, where English language is a must learn language. 

Though,  English is not called international language, it is almost entire world is putting English language as a must learn language in their countries.

Esperanto is 139 years old and moving to 140 years, more than a century but still not able to be used in any organisations as an official language. This should be asked by the Universal Esperanto Association(UEA) with simple question, WHY.

https://www.uea.org/

The myth of Esperanto world is that, all people should learn Esperanto, but in actual fact, what are the reasons contributed to people learn a language, it is either for economy reason or by law.

Does Esperanto have economy value?  Yes, it is but the Esperanto speakers are not using to put the value in life.

Esperanto is a threat to major language like English. Thus, the Esperanto speakers would have to face the bombardment from other language speakers. 

However, the Esperanto speakers have forgotten, the real cause of Esperanto, by the creator, Dr Zamenhof  was as an easy learning second language but not for international language. 

If more people were using Esperanto as a second language, it would be an international language. Therefore the Esperanto speakers have to forgo lots of myths especially the language must have native speakers. Esperanto is a second language but not a native language.

We ask why Esperanto cannot be accepted in the world as a major language, we come to the following:

* less economy values

You may find strange with only one reason. Yes, this is also an important reason for surviving in life but not for fun.

How to attract the people to learn Esperanto is not by force but by values, especially the economy values. 

Why more people are learning Chinese language, a very difficult to learn language, it is because of the economy value, as China is getting stronger in economy, more investments are in international levels. 

Are the rich Esperanto speakers to invest in business in few countries? 

UNESCO recommended to teach Esperanto in the schools, it is the economy value, less time of learning, less expenditure of teacher salary. It can free the pupils more time if they are not language lovers. They can use the time to learn other skills.

We have written a few articles on Esperanto, especially after the appearance of Artificial Intelligence  (AI), it gave a good analyis on the problem of developing Esperanto. 

https://malaysiakusayang.blogspot.com/2025/08/why-esperanto-is-slowly-dying-off.html

At the moment, the Esperanto world is dominated by the language lovers, thus, economy is not in the mind.

We write this article is hoping when Esperanto welcomes in the 140 years, it would be having changes and by 150 years of Esperanto creation, the language, Esperanto would be the major language in the world by creating the distance learning university; the economy value. The fastest way to spread Esperanto is to create knowledge, Knowledge is economy.

You do not have to start the accredited distance university. As we have read somewhere an Esperanto speakers suggested to be initiated in Hungary, the only country in the world accepted Esperanto as the school curriculum, which means it is officially recognised the language. But, sorry, we could not find the article for you to read his suggestion.

Here is the AI suggestion for Esperanto speakers to think and act. Do not depending on UEA, an organisation of more than a century but dominated by language lovers. It is by US dollars as quoted.

AI Overview

Starting a fully accredited distance university requires roughly \(\$2\) million to \(\$10\) million+ to cover legal licensing, curriculum development, and learning systems. If you only need to create a smaller, unaccredited online academy, you can launch it for \(\$10,000\) to \(\$100,000\). [1, 2, 3]

Major costs break down into specific areas:

1. Accreditation and Legal: \(\$100,000 – \$500,000+\)

Government Approval: You must pay for licensing and inspection fees to the local education authority. For example, in Malaysia, approvals go through the Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) and the Malaysian Qualifications Agency (MQA).
Legal Fees: You need lawyers to draft university charters, honor codes, and governance policies. [1, 2, 3]

2. Curriculum and Course Creation: \(\$5,000 – \$30,000\) per course

Content Creation: Producing just one hour of ready-to-learn online content costs about \(\$22,000\).
Design: This includes paying professors, scriptwriters, videographers, and graphic designers. A full degree requires dozens of courses. [1, 2, 3]

3. Technology and Infrastructure: \(\$50,000 – \$250,000+\)

Learning Management System (LMS): You need software to host classes and track grades. Examples include Canvas LMS or Blackboard.
Proctoring Software: You need tools to prevent cheating during online tests.

4. Operations and Marketing: \(\$500,000+\) per year

Staff: You must hire administrative staff, student support advisors, and a faculty of teachers.
Marketing: You need to run ads to find your first students. [1, 2]

If you want to move forward, tell me:

• What subjects or degrees do you want to teach?
• Are you aiming for official accreditation or flexible, unaccredited certificates?
• What is your estimated budget range?

I can help you build a custom step-by-step launch plan.

AI Overview

Yes, a major distance learning university could boost Esperanto's popularity. It would make learning easier, more official, and more respected worldwide. [1, 2, 3]

Here is how a university could help:

Adds Official Value: People love getting degrees or certificates. A university program makes learning feel like a smart investment of time.
Proves It Works: Many people think Esperanto is just a hobby. An official school shows it is a serious, proven language that helps you learn other languages faster. [1, 2, 3]
Better Teaching: The internet already has great tools. However, a university brings trained teachers and structured classes. This gives students the push they need to finish their classes. [1, 2]

Even without one giant university, there are already great ways to learn online. You can try these sites: [1]

Lernu!: A free website with courses for all levels.
Duolingo: The most popular app for learning the basics.
Esperanto 12 Lessons: A fast beginner course that teaches the 500 most important words. [1, 2, 3, 4]

If you want, I can:

• Tell you how many people speak Esperanto
• Explain how long it takes to learn
• Suggest more advanced books or groups

AI Overview

Esperanto speakers do not set up a dedicated distance university because the language has no physical homeland. Without a specific country to support it, it is hard to get official government approval and money. Instead, speakers prefer to learn online using free apps and use existing colleges for higher degrees. [1, 2, 3, 4]

Here are the main reasons why this is the case:

No Home Country: Universities need official government approval to give out real degrees. Because Esperanto is spoken all over the world, no single government wants to fund a whole university just for the language. [1, 2]
Already Working with Colleges: Rather than building a new university, the community works with regular colleges. For example, you can get advanced degrees in Esperanto studies (called Interlinguistics) at Adam Mickiewicz University in Poland. [1, 2, 3]
High Costs vs. Free Tools: Building a university is very expensive. The Esperanto community prefers to use free, simple websites like Lernu.net to teach the basics. [1]
The Language is a Tool, Not a Subject: For most speakers, Esperanto is just a helpful tool for talking to people from other countries. They use online platforms like Eventa Servo to find daily meetups and practice speaking. They do not feel they need a formal school setting to do this

The AI is still collecting the information from the net, thus do not change the mind of language does not need the home country but needs the value, especially the economy. 

We do not know will Esperanto dying off slowly or booming from 140 years of creation onwards. 

It is either moving forwards or backwards especially in the internet era. 

We hope it moves forwards to help more people, especially the poor people to have more knowledges via the Esperanto distance university.  You can see the MOOC courses online. They are free of charge, maybe, the Esperanto speakers can start from this tiny project and grow into the world project.

https://www.mooc-list.com/

This is the site which many people use for upgrade their knowledges. They are more as more knowledge hunger youngsters are waiting for the change of their life.