One World, One Voice Project.org

FSI Language Programs

admin — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 00:59:36 +0000

OK…

Since we shifted our efforts over to the IEI website, we decided that there is no need to let this site go to waist.

So, we made arrangements to offer language programs here for sale, from the Foreign Service Institute, and at a substantial discount. These are the same exact programs the U.S. Government uses to train diplomats, foreign service personnel, and FBI, Secret Service and CIA agents. They are highly sought after and (along with the Pimsleur programs) are considered to be the best ones to learn foreign languages with.

The programs will be available on our website in downloadable form soon.

Hey, you’re here now… Might as well learn another language.

IEI Website

admin — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 21:54:53 +0000

The IEI website is finally ready.

Obviously, we will be adding new features and pages as they are worked out.

Take a look at it and if you would like to get involved, let us know by using the “Contact” page on the IEI site.

Interlingua Education Institute

admin — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 03:34:28 +0000

All right gang…

I’m happy to inform you that the Interlingua Education Institute (IEI) website is almost ready for prime-time. In a matter of days it will go live and will have all the basic functions and pages working.

Also, the text for our first Interlingua program will be available within the next couple of weeks, so I think we’re in pretty good shape.

And then there is the “BIG GET”. I can’t tell you what it is just yet, but it involves a number between one and two million… And it’s so big, that none of the other auxlangs had ever achieved it. Not even Esperanto.

Progress Report

admin — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 04:54:10 +0000

It seems that many of you are asking us about the “IEI” button on the menu bar, or asking us if we have fallen off the face of the Earth after the initial momentum.

IEI stands for “Interlingua Education Institute”. The site is not ready yet, but the aim is to develop educational materials, and to turn it into a training facility for Interlingua studies. We started a wiki for IEI and work on group projects. Our top priority is to develop the Interlingua-Interlingua dictionary.

As for the second question…

NO, we haven’t gone anywhere. We’re simply too busy working on Interlingua language programs, which all have an audio component.

Until next time…

And The Winner Is…

admin — Sun, 19 Aug 2007 23:01:56 +0000

After much discussion and dealing and wheeling, One World, One Voice has made a decision.

Drum roll please…

The winning auxiliary language IS…

INTERLINGUA

OWOV has decided to throw its weight behind Interlingua, as the best possible compromise. From now on, everything we do will benefit the promotion of Interlingua as the auxiliary language of choice.

Thank you.

Change Is Good

admin — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 23:22:55 +0000

Admittedly, we haven’t heard anything from the Ido and Interlingua leadership yet. But, there have been some dealing and wheeling behind the scenes.

Something’s brewing and we think that it is for the better.

So, check back often, because this site is about to change.

Official Invitation

admin — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 08:36:17 +0000

We are officially inviting the Ido and Interlingua organizations and their members, so we can start the process of deciding which of the two languages would be the best compromise, or be the most acceptable to the masses.

Also, if there are issues with the particular language that need to be worked out (such as deciding on the particles, in Interlingua) we need to finalize those as well, so we can move forward with promotion and marketing, as well as generating materials, like learning tools, literary works, audio programs and music, video programs, etc.

Obviously, all other groups and interested parties are welcome.

Welcome Aboard

admin — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 02:50:42 +0000

I think the time has come to make this interesting.

If you think that you are ready to contribute to this project and want to roll up your sleeves and get down to business, email us using the “Contact Us” page.

For those of you who want to stay anonymous, for whatever reason, I can assure you… your name will be protected. We are willing to work behind the scenes, which is basically how we have been working. I can tell you this much. Some of the guys that work with us are actually members of the Esperanto community, who had their reservations about the movement and wanted to do something about it.

So, if you understand where we’re coming from, and agree with what we’re trying to do… then what are you waiting for?

Why Ido and Interlingua, and Why Not Some Other Language?

admin — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 16:45:41 +0000

As always, much is being made about the fact that our project arrived at Ido and Interlingua as a proposed auxiliary langauge, and not something else.

People are having intense discussions about this, and some even stated that they refuse to join One World, One Voice for the simple fact that they like another language.

These people are missing the point.

One World, One Voice is not designed to replace ANY language and that includes both, natural AND auxiliary languages. If a person loves to work with an auxlang that is not Ido or Interlingua, they don’t have to stop tinkering with it, or form groups around it for their own pleasure.

We hope that people can see the problem in selecting one auxlang out of many. As it stands right now, the fact that everyone is working on developing their own language, and that they belong to separate groups is a testament to the fact that this way of doing things will never produce results. Hoping and waiting for your language to be in a better position in the future is just a divisive way of jockeying for position.

We need an auxlang now, and the only way to select one is to use common sense, to look at the issue objectively and subjectively — which is the way the rest of the world operates — and to get everyone together to work out the glitches.

We proposed Ido and Interlingua because OVERALL these were the best compromise. And we DID compromise. If we had it our way, we would have come up with the perfect (or best) auxlang, but that’s impossible. If you ask a hundred people to define the criteria for the perfect auxlang, you will get a hundred different answers, and even then it would be impossible to implement all of them into one language, because many of them wouldn’t be compatible.

Because of this, we had to find a middle ground and that’s what we did. We wanted to select from languages that already have or had a certain amount of following (not necessarily a large one) and one that can be acceptable for most people. That left us with Esperanto, Interlingua and Ido. When we looked at all of them, we realized that Esperanto has many drawbacks, and therefore we settled on Ido and Interlingua.

What we’d like to do now, is to get the Ido and Interlingua communities together, along with everyone else who can graciously put their preferences aside and join a common cause, and figure out which one out of these two languages would best fit the role of the international auxiliary language.

To tell you the truth, the only reason we picked Ido over Interlingua was because we wanted to accommodate Esperantists, and to make it easier for them to accept an alternative language. The fact that there is a lot of material already in Esperanto, which can be translated into Ido much easier than material from other natural languages, also helped us lean towards it.

But, we realize that REASONABLE adjustments need to be made to either language, before it’s considered to be final, and before we allow either one to evolve naturally from that point on.

So, there you have it.

We hope that people can put their preferences aside, so one international auxlang can be finally realized. Everyone can continue tinkering with their favorite language for their own linguistic pleasure, but it’s not realistic to believe that by everyone following their own path we can arrive at one solution.

One Wold, One Voice is the only type of project that can give us ONE auxiliary language.

What is Subjective?

admin — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 15:55:28 +0000

I have been reading some of the discussion that’s going on about “One World, One Voice” in usegroups like “auxlang”.

Evidently, people are curious as to how we arrived at our “subjective criteria” and they are offering their own opinions on the matter.

Well, once again we have to use Esperanto as an example.

If you ask someone who is not involved with Esperanto (or do some serious searching on the internet, or show an Esperanto text or audio recording to a random group of people) you’ll find that most of them are not all that enthusiastic about it. They say it sounds weird, or that it sounds harsh, or that it doesn’t sound pleasant, or… or… or.

As we’ve said before (for better or for worse) perception is truth. So, it doesn’t matter how strongly someone believes that they are right, the truth will prove otherwise. So, if we give in to pressure by a particular group, to use their language when the general population considers it yucky, which is a technical term by the way , we’re going to have a marketing nightmare on our hands.

The only way we could circumvent this is by using force, and we all know that that’s just ridiculous. No one in their right mind would expect Esperantists (for example) to try to force the use of their language on people.

So, if we want to be successful, then we will have to select a language that meets the largest number of objective linguistic criteria, as well as subjective factors, like being practical, sounding pleasant, being visually appealing when written, etc. etc.

This is not OUR choice, and these things are not under our control. We can either fight them, or work with them.

You can understand that we chose the later.