How to promote an international auxiliary language

Translating works by this man is a great way to show the capacity of one's language.

After criticizing the approach taken by a number of people writing on change.org's proposal to instate Esperanto as a foreign language in U.S. schools, it would only be fair to take note of one message that I consider to be an especially effective approach. You can see a large number of comments on the page here, and as a huge fan of Herman Hesse and of literature in general, one of them stands out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03mj0YFnPVQ
In this clip I give a personal opinion on the value of learning Esperanto.
The clip starts with a reading in Esperanto of my translation of Demian by Hermann Hesse. (available at www.librejo.com)

Posted by Detlef Karthaus on 12/14/2008 @ 04:42PM PST

Okay, let's take a look at that video then:




Here's what he reads (the parts I couldn't make out were provided by Steve Rice):

Por komenci mian rakonton, mi devas tre multe malantauxen iri. Se estus eble, mi devus reiri multe pli, ghis la unuaj jaroj de mia infanagxo, kaj trapasinte cxion gxis la foro de mia deveno. La poetoj kiam ili verkas romanojn kutimas fari tion, kun dieca sinteno, kvazaux ili povus komplete superrigardi kaj kompreni tutan homvivon, kaj prezenti ghin kvazaux Dio rakontus gxin al si mem tute senvuale, chiam trafe. Tion mi ne povas. Samkiel la poetoj malsukcesas. Sed mia rakonto estas pli grava al mi...

And you can compare that to the original German:

Um meine Geschichte zu erzählen, muss ich weit vorn anfangen. Ich müsste, wäre es mir möglich, noch viel weiter zurückgehen, bis in die allerersten Jahre meiner Kindheit und noch über sie hinaus in die Ferne meiner Herkunft zurück.

Die Dichter, wenn sie Romane schreiben, pflegen so zu tun, als seien sie Gott und könnten irgendeine Menchengeschichte ganz und gar überblicken und begreifen und sie so darstellen, wie wenn Gott sie sich selber erzählte, ohne alle Schleier, überall wesentlich. Das kann ich nicht, so wenig wie die Dichter es können. Meine Geschichte aber ist mir wichtiger als...

Back to the original subject: this is an example of what I consider the perfect way to promote a language. First: actually speak the language, show what it sounds like. Second: explain what it is you like about it and where you use it. Then repeat ad infinitum. It's actually very similar to a politician giving a stump speech in that way: you decide on a message and then have to repeat it with only perhaps a few tweaks here and there depending on the audience.

I can't find the English version of the content above, but if you have it or know a page that has it (not the whole book of course, just the first two paragraphs) then let me know and I'll include it too.

Edit December 17: an anonymous poster has included the English version in the comments below. Here it is:

"To begin my story, I have to go very far backwards. If it were possible, I would have to return much more, until the first years of my childhood, and passing through everything until the far reach of my origin. The poets, when they write novels, usually do that, with a god-like demeanor, as if they were able to gain a complete picture and understanding of all human life, and present it as though God were telling it to himself, totally unveiled and always on point. I can not do this. Just like the poets fail. But my story is more important to me... "