I read from Ĉapitro XIX of La Hobito (the Esperanto translation of The Hobbit) for the languages segment of the upcoming Mythgard Institute Webathon on Sept. 22, 2013. Tune in to the live stream on the 22nd (link below) for 12 hours of Tolkien and fantasy literature goodness from the students of the Mythgard Institute and Signum University.

I discuss Raymond Schwartz’s Esperanto novella Anni kaj Montmartre and read a few of his poems.

Note: This was originally posted in the How to Learn Any Language forum

Well, it’s been almost three years since I wrote the above. I don’t post much on HTLAL anymore. Instead, the time I was spending here learning how to learn languages I now use for actually learning them. ;-) But I’m proud that I’ve earned more votes on the site than I have number of posts. Hopefully that means I’ve given back a little of the wisdom I’ve acquired here.

Here’s some of what I’ve accomplished since I began back on 2010 as a monolingual American:

Developed a reading proficiency in my top three languages: Greek, Latin, and Esperanto.

Greek: I’ve read the entire gospel of John and various excerpts from the New Testament, Septuagint, and several classical authors in Greek. I feel pretty comfortable now reading from the GNT, partly because I’m familiar with the contents so new vocab isn’t much of a hurdle.

Esperanto: I’ve read about a dozen books in Esperanto, half of which have been “native” books–that is, not didactic content, but intended for a fluent audience. Efforts to find a community of speakers nearby were unsuccessful, but I know I could activate this language pretty quickly given an immersion situation. Maybe someday I’ll attend a congress… Otherwise I don’t spend any time “studying” Esperanto, just reading in it for enjoyment when I get the urge.

Latin: The last year and a half I’ve spent on Latin. I took a two semester course using Wheelock, worked through Lingua Latina I, and have read some neo-Latin readers. Last summer I took a huge vacation in Italy and it was fun to use my Latin to read inscriptions, manuscript pages on display in museums, etc.

Italian: In preparation for the trip I also worked on some Italian, which was fun to use. I consider myself at tourist/simple-conversation level. Going forward, this will be my first attempt to attain a “traditional” level of fluency in a modern language, which is a very different goal than I had in the above three.

So, here’s the plan for the next 5 years:

Primary Goal: start tackling living languages, roughly following ProfArguelles’ outline for Spanish French Italian German, though swapping the order of Spanish and Italian. (1 hr daily min.)

Secondary Goal: continue to improve my Latin by “swimming back to it through the centuries” (30m daily min.)

Tertiary Goals: take a class on Philology (already lined up). Basic reading abilities in Old English and biblical Hebrew. (occasional)

A personal goal of mine is to cultivate a knowledge and appreciation of sport. I think my general disinterest in sport stems from not really giving it a fair shake. It is unfair to criticize people for not sharing my interests while I do not share theirs. To that end, at the start of each season I tell myself I will follow a team through the entire season and I never do. Often, I watch a few games, get bored and quit. Partly, this is due to laziness and annoying blackout restrictions, etc. which seem primarily designed to inconvenience me. However, it is also due to my indifference about which team to support. This is where you guys come in.

First, I like to watch/listen on my schedule, not live. Hence, I need recorded games access, preferably online (ipad support is a plus). Anyone use NFL Game Rewind? Got better suggestions?

Second. Unless I want to spend extra money, it seems I must pick a team to follow. The system is not conducive to neutral viewers. As my sports-loving friends, I am seeking your advice about which team to support. As a nerd, what will keep me interested is statistics and solid strategy/coaching. I could give a rat’s ass about star appeal. In fact, that’d probably be a negative (though watching a crap team lose every week isn’t fun either). I have several obvious possible candidates:

• Bills. Reason: Lived in Upstate NY. Also, my current boss’s team…

• Giants/Jets. Reason: proximity.

• Patriots. Reason: proximity. (Still, Brady is super-annoying; 2nd only to Tim Tebow.)

• Steelers. Reason: Since my Dad’s in PA, he follows them.

• Dolphins. Reason: I liked Dan Marino as a kid.

(Basically, AFC East Division, plus a few.)

All of the above have pros (share interests with friends & family) & cons (not least of which is the obvious bandwagon consideration).

What are your thoughts? Is this a good way to go about it?

Note: This kicked off a lively discussion on Facebook.

I review Julio Baghy’s novel Viktimoj based on his experiences in a Siberian POW camp during World War I. Originally written in Esperanto, it is considered a classic of Esperanto literature.