From dufrp@xxxxxx.xxx Wed Oct 20 01:30:26 1999
X-Digest-Num: 260
Message-ID: <44114.260.1395.959273825@eGroups.com>
Date: Wed, 20 Oct 1999 04:30:26 -0400
From: Paul Dufresne <dufrp@xxxxxx.xxx
Subject: This list is not as I expected

Somehow, I am worry about if Lojban can really be used to think, in
day to day process. I guess the answer is, of course not. A language
is a communication tool, and you cannot use Lojban to write a report
to your employer, or listen to the TV, because your employer is not
speaking Lojban (most likely), and there is no Lojban TV channel, yet.

But then, at least it should be very usable to do personal thoughts in
your mind. But somehow I have the feeling few if any does that. The
fact that I only see translation of text, rather than people posting
their own ideas on a subject, without translation, make me think that
they don't see Lojban simply like a tool to communicate. Of course
translation of text is fine for people like me that would not
understand anything without translation. But sure not having the
translation would force me to try to decode the meaning, which would
be good from a pedagogical point of view (well maybe not because
I would give up very fast).

Of course I was expecting to see people
speak of Lojban itself on this mailing-list, but I was also expecting
people speak of just about anything, by using the Lojban language.
Something like... like the new 'coppermine' processors that will be
announce october 25.

I have seen some posts of very technical detail of Lojban, that seems
to show great knowledge of the language, but these posts were made in
english, which seems to indicate that even when people know well the
language and speak for people that should know it well too, they still
prefer to think and write it in english rather than Lojban. This make
me afraid that I am learning Lojban for nothing, since Lojban must
have some internal flaw that make it unusable for thinking.

Of course I could be wrong, and I would be please to get pointers to
Lojban text that have no translation in an other language, and that
are not about Lojban itself, somehow showing that there is people
who are able to think in Lojban.

P.S. Please, don't do what I am suggesting, and don't reply exclusively
in Lojban.