this post was submitted on 24 Mar 2026
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Hi thanks for looking at my query. I recently as a joke changed some writing on the board of a friends EAL (English as an Additional Language) classroom from English to German. She liked the idea, but using Google Translate resulted in an overly formal phrasing that made it seem more a demand than a suggestion or polite request.

So my ask, if you speak (or I guess write) another language I would love to request you take a moment to translate "Please stack chairs at the end of the day" into whichever language you can help me with, it should be a polite request though.

I'm really not sure what the composition of her class is but she is a fan of languages as a whole so even if it's not a language that is represented in her class I am sure it will be a bit of fun and a talking point to figure it out.

If you have the time and the skills to help I really appreciate it, otherwise I appreciate you taking the time to read this post. Have a fantastic day.

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[โ€“] GreyEyedGhost@piefed.ca 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Yes, Esperanto has many advantages of a manufactured language, but I think there are only something like 2 million speakers worldwide. If someone wanted to dip their toes into it, Harry Harrison's Stainless Steel Rat series has Esperanto sprinkled throughout it, and has been translated into Esperanto. He was a fan. You certainly won't learn it reading his (English) books, but the structure is very recognizable.

[โ€“] Fondots@lemmy.world 0 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Probably the coolest thing since I started learning it is some of the weird places it turns up

If you read the comic series Saga, the "blue" language is Esperanto

It shows up in the background of some movies and such as a generic "foreign" language

The watch brand Movado is an Esperanto word (movement)

[โ€“] shads@lemy.lol 2 points 1 day ago

I first heard of it thanks to Red Dwarf if that counts for anything.