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PAUVal ALanguageForAll

The European Union spends a large amount of money on translations due to having over 20 official languages. An economist proposed using a constructed language like Esperanto to make communication easier. Esperanto was invented in 1877 and aims to promote peace between countries through an international language that is easy to learn. Studies show Esperanto can be learned much faster than other languages and helps learn additional languages. However, there are only an estimated 1,000-2,000 native Esperanto speakers despite its benefits, as it only works if widely adopted simultaneously. The inventor said it may take centuries for Esperanto to become universal.

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127 views2 pages

PAUVal ALanguageForAll

The European Union spends a large amount of money on translations due to having over 20 official languages. An economist proposed using a constructed language like Esperanto to make communication easier. Esperanto was invented in 1877 and aims to promote peace between countries through an international language that is easy to learn. Studies show Esperanto can be learned much faster than other languages and helps learn additional languages. However, there are only an estimated 1,000-2,000 native Esperanto speakers despite its benefits, as it only works if widely adopted simultaneously. The inventor said it may take centuries for Esperanto to become universal.

Uploaded by

Nieves Fuertes Ibañez
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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PAU Practice Examination (Valencia)

A Language for All


The European Union has over 20 official languages which results in an enormous amount of money
being spent every day on translations and interpreting. The Swiss economist François Grin was asked
to look into this issue and make suggestions. In 2005, he published a report which suggested the use of
a “constructed language” – that is, an artificial language which has been specially invented for the
purpose of making communication easier. By far the best-known constructed language is Esperanto.

Esperanto was invented in 1877 by L. L. Zamenhof, a Polish eye doctor. He was fascinated by the idea
of a world without war, and believed that this could happen with the help of an international language.
Hoping to promote harmony and peace between countries, Zamenhof’s aim was to make learning
Esperanto as easy as possible, so its vocabulary and grammar are straightforward.

Linguists estimate that Esperanto can be learned in 5%-25% of the time required to learn other
languages. For example, one study suggested that French school students would need to study English
for 1,500 hours, but Esperanto for only 150 hours, to attain the same level of proficiency. It has also
been shown that learning Esperanto makes it easier to learn a third language. In one study, a group of
students learned Esperanto for one year and then French for three years. At the end of the four years,
they were significantly better at French than a control group which had studied French for four years.

Despite all these good reasons for learning Esperanto, there are probably only between one to two
thousand native speakers of Esperanto – that is, people who have learned the language as small
children from their Esperanto-speaking parents. In contrast, there are about 400 million native
English-speakers and perhaps 1.1 billion people speak it as a secondary language. The problem for
Esperanto is one of co-ordination – it is an idea which can only really work if a lot of people take it on
simultaneously. It is pointless to learn Esperanto unless many other people do as well. Zamenhof
himself said that it might take “many centuries” for Esperanto to become a universal language.

Part I Reading Comprehension

1. Answer the following questions using your own words but taking into
account the information in the text. (2 points: 1 point each)
a. What motivated Zamenhof in developing Esperanto?
b. What are the benefits of learning Esperanto?

2. Are the following statements true (T) or false (F)? Identify the part of the
text that supports your answer by copying the exact passage on the answer sheet.
(1.5 points: 0.5 each)
a. François Grin was asked to construct an artificial language.
b. Esperanto is the only known constructed language.
c. There are relatively few native Esperanto speakers in the world.

IH-014-645 1/2
3. Find a synonym for each of the four words or phrases below from these six options.
All words are underlined in the text. (1 point: 0.25 each)
look into artificial pointless straightforward attain centuries
a. examine or investigate
b. simple, easy to follow
c. achieve or reach a level
d. having no purpose

4. Choose a, b, or c, in each question below. Only one choice is correct.


(1.5 points: 0.5 each)
1. The text suggests that …
a. Esperanto is easier to learn as a third language.
b. learning Esperanto makes foreign language learning easier.
c. Esperanto is a useful language to know.
2. Which of these statements is NOT true?
a. Although there are good reasons to learn Esperanto not many people do so.
b. It has been shown that small children are better at Esperanto because they learn it naturally.
c. It’s not known for certain how many people speak Esperanto.
3. The writer of the text …
a. Encourages readers to learn Esperanto.
b. Informs readers about Esperanto.
c. Gives a negative opinion about Esperanto.

Part II Composition (130 to 150 words approximately) (4 points)

5. Do you think students should have to learn several foreign languages at school?

PAU Valencia – A Language for All 2/2

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