Return-Path: <@SEGATE.SUNET.SE:LOJBAN@CUVMB.BITNET> Received: from SEGATE.SUNET.SE by xiron.pc.helsinki.fi with smtp (Linux Smail3.1.28.1 #1) id m0sV5JQ-0000ZEC; Mon, 10 Jul 95 01:58 EET DST Message-Id: Received: from segate.sunet.se by SEGATE.SUNET.SE (LSMTP for OpenVMS v0.1a) with SMTP id A2E8A950 ; Mon, 10 Jul 1995 0:43:28 +0200 Date: Mon, 10 Jul 1995 00:35:09 METDST Reply-To: Goran Topic Sender: Lojban list From: Goran Topic Subject: Re: for non-English native Lojbanists X-To: Lojban Listserv To: Veijo Vilva Content-Length: 1863 Lines: 38 > Based on a discussion on conlang list, I have a simple question. > Are there any non-English native Lojbanists who can read Lojban text with > equal or greater ease than English text (or even close for that matter)? Native Lojbanists??? :) :) Sorry, no... I kind of grok the grammar now more or less OK, but my vocab is not very good (pretty weak, in fact...) and I have to look up things in the dict a lot, if there are any words in the text I don't see every day. So, things are, although muchmuch faster than a year ago, still pretty slow, barring trivial sentences, like: .i lo jufra pe dei frili se ke tcidu je jimpe mi > Is there anyone (Goran?) who feels they could write a Lojban snetence or text > with as much competence or confidence as they have that they can write a > grammatical and clear English sentence? Nope, still not. I can write lojban sentence, even a text, but I am confident that there *must* be numerous errors in there somewhere, while I can write English knowing that, though my language *is* imperfect, there are many natives that couldn't write a simple sentence without losing track of grammar or spelling. Just watch Usenet. :) But, I trust that given enough time and use of the dicts, I can express most concepts reasonably well. Can't compare that to English. If I were to scale my langs by competence, my natlang being 1, English would be around .9, and lojban around .3-.5 (grammar: English .95, lojban .8, vocab: English .8, lojban .2) There is nothing to force me to learn the words, 'cause there is (still) absolutely no one here but me learning the lang. Can't speak. Can't get enough practice. > I'm going to guess that the answer is still know, but figure it is worth > asking. Yeah... :) -- // le ka misno cu zasni \\ || .i ku'i le ka tolterju'o cu vitno || \\ .i co'o mi'e. goran. //