Hello, everyone! It's Evildea, your god. Tonight I want to talk about a subject which might annoy some Esperantists and even anger others, I don't know. Well, the subject of this videoblog is whether Esperanto, when it becomes the second language of the whole world, will destroy the other world languages or save them. I simply want to say now, before I start my speech on this subject, that it's not about the Esperantists themselves. Most of the Esperantists who I know in fact want to save languages. For example, I myself, I work with the Sydney Language Festival. Most of the board of that festival association are Esperantists. I want to speak now about the nature of a second language. It really doesn't matter if it's Esperanto or if it's another language. Of course, Esperanto is the main language or almost the only language of my channel. I sometimes use English. Also, it of course is important for the future of the Esperanto world. We all know that in the modern world, that little by little English is extinguishing other languages, simply due to the fact that those languages are small economically and in military strength or potential, I suppose. Little by little other languages are destroyed by English. Not only English destroys other languages. Almost all important languages and large languages destroy other languages. For example, Chinese. It now-- or not Chinese itself, but Mandarin. It now is extinguishing the local dialects in China. I simply want to talk about Esperanto. Imagine-- for example, these days Esperanto is a small language. It in fact is large compared to most languages, but compared to the primary important languages, to the top 100 languages, by size, I suppose. They are so much larger, I can't imagine. Esperanto still is small, but it is rapidly growing. Imagine-- for example, I simply want to talk about an imaginary situation. I simply will choose a random situation out of my head. Imagine there is a city between France and Italy. There, French and Italian are spoken, and imagine that every person learns Esperanto in school. So, everyone can speak either Italian or French or maybe both languages, but everyone certainly can speak Esperanto So in the city, everyone speaks their own languages at home, and when they go out, they speak French with French shopkeepers, but sometimes they meet Italian shopkeepers, who don't know French, and then they simply use Esperanto. The goal of the language, isn't it? Imagine that all of these shops want to advertise their wares to the French and the Italians. They of course set up signs in two languages-- or three languages. So in French, in Italian, and in Esperanto. A little later, one of the shopkeepers decides that he wants to save some money, or he simply doesn't see a reason to use French, Italian, and Esperanto, because he does know that everyone speaks Esperanto as a second language. So, he simply sets up a sign which uses only Esperanto. Of course, the French see it, they can read it, because they studied Esperanto in school. The Italians can read it; it's not a problem. Some other shopkeepers see that they lack space on the menus, and so on. They simply decide to use only Esperanto. It is the second language of the entire community. Yes, some speak French, and yes, some speak Italian. It really doesn't matter. Simply use Esperanto. So imagine, in this situation, that little by little almost every sign in the town only has Esperanto text, because they don't need to use three languages at the same time. Maybe the local government says that they have to use it, but really imagine that in most of the world, that will not happen. Imagine now, that every sign is only in Esperanto, but people in the street can speak French and Italian. Imagine then, that there is a marriage between a French woman and an Italian man. They come together and have a baby and then, they think, "Well, we both speak Esperanto. You speak French; I speak Italian. We always speak Esperanto together. The local second language is Esperanto. We'll just teach Esperanto to the child." Not intentionally! Maybe we just speak it, because it is the most fitting language. Then, the child grows and is educated and only speaks Esperanto. All of their friends may speak French or Italian, but all of them understand Esperanto. So little by little, the children, when they play together, simply use Esperanto, and no longer use French or Italian. Probably, all of them understand it, but they simply choose to use Esperanto. When they become adults, the main language of that group of former children now is Esperanto, and everyone uses Esperanto together. After one or two generations, they no longer see a reason to teach French in school or Italian in school. I know that in France according to the state constitution you must teach French, but this is simply a made-up situation. Imagine then, that all of them speak Esperanto, some still know French or Italian but they mainly use it with their grandparents. Now, the most important language no longer is just the second language, Epseranto, but it now is the primary language of the community. Many people still know French and Italian, but Esperanto now holds the position of the language of the community, the language of the local economy, and probably later, of the language of the state. Now imagine bigger. Little by little-- for example, here in Australia. We all speak English. For example, I create a film, and I want to sell it to the rest of the world. Well, I know that in the US, some people-- not some. Everyone speaks English, but I also know that now, everyone speaks Esperanto as a second language. And I know that in China, everyone speaks Esperanto as a second language, but they speak Chinese as the primary language. Now, many of them can use Esperanto and it in fact is the primary language of some families. But I want to sell my film. Do I choose English, which is the main language in some parts of the world? Or do I now use Esperanto, which little by little is becoming the most important language of some parts of the world, simply for the fact that it little by little took that role? No, I simply make my films in Esperanto. So little by little, not only the economy will use Esperanto as a second language, but the film industry will use it. Later, many more people perhaps will see the other languages as languages of the past. We no longer need them, because we all speak Esperanto now. So, you can imagine after a hundred, two hundred years, I don't know how long, I'm just rambling on. But imagine, that now the whole world uses Esperanto as a second language. They not only use it in international communications, they use it in cities, in shops, and even as the primary family language in various parts of the world. Little by little, when for example China uses Esperanto almost everywhere, and the US almost everywhere, the rest of the world simply follows. You can imagine that Esperanto little by little would become the most important language and what would happen to the traditional languages, the natural languages? They simply little by little would be extinguished because the later generations no longer see a reason to learn them. Well, I just want to say now due to the fact that the whole world is connected by the internet. Those languages, yes, might die, but we still will have records of them. You can still listen to those languages in every situation simply through the internet, and through historical copies of the language. But it would no longer be the language of daily communication. I simply want to raise this subject, because I know that many people say "Oh, Esperanto can save other languages!" I simply want to somewhat contradict that idea. Yes, it can. Not the language itself, but the Esperantists, because the majority of the current Esperantists love other languages and want to save them. In fact, the majority of Esperantists are much more protective than the general public. But imagine, when later generations start using Esperanto more and more and then, people start to learn it, not for idealistic reasons, but for economic reasons, for various other reasons, or simply due to suitability of the language. We can imagine then that the other languages will quickly die, simply because they are no longer fitting. So, I just want to raise this subject and also I want to ask you, what you think about this idea. I think, that really this will probably happen if Esperanto attains the most important position of languages, I suppose. If it doesn't reach that, maybe English will simply take that post or that position between the languages. But I believe, that Esperanto can more quickly take it than English, because English is a really hard language but due to the ease of Esperanto and due to the ideas of the language itself. It in fact can, if we aren't careful, kill every other language, unintentionally, quickly, much more quickly than other, natural languages. I just want to raise this subject, and see your-- well, not see, read your comments about it, so just write below if you have your own ideas. That's all! So if you liked this speech, like it, share it, subscribe to my channel if you still haven't subscribed, and I will see you all in the next film. And if you aren't there, I will find you and I will kill your family language! 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