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=== Software tools ===
=== Software tools ===
* [http://www.memrise.com/courses/english/lojban/ Memrise.com] is a great place where you can learn Lojban words online. Just register on that website, try several courses and use the one that you like most. Alternatively use [http://ankisrs.net/ Anki] (downloadable, Lojban decks are downloadable within the program)
* [http://www.memrise.com/courses/english/lojban/ Memrise.com] is a great place where you can learn Lojban words online. Just register on that website, try several courses and use the one that you like most. Alternatively use [http://ankisrs.net/ Anki] (downloadable, Lojban decks are downloadable within the program)
* [http://mw.lojban.org/extensions/ilmentufa/camxes-exp.html camxes] is an automatic grammar checker of what you write in Lojban (which is unique among all languages!) It can help you quickly understand whether your sentence is grammatically correct.
* [http://mw.lojban.org/extensions/ilmentufa/camxes-exp.html camxes] is an automatic grammar of Lojban. It can help you to understand the structure and correctness of sentences.


=== [[Learning materials. Secondary links|Other learning materials ...]] ===
=== [[Learning materials. Secondary links|Other learning materials ...]] ===

Revision as of 14:28, 26 June 2015

Lojban (pronounced [ˈloʒban])
is an experiment in human language –
a constructed language based on predicate logic

What is Lojban?

<embedvideo service="youtube" alignment="right" dimensions="240x160" container="frame" description="a «lightning talk» introduction to Lojban by Timo Paulssen">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdlGxgKt7nc</embedvideo> <embedvideo service="youtube" alignment="right" dimensions="240x160" container="frame" description="«prami simbi'o», a song by Djemynai">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3BQ-pE7ypY</embedvideo> <embedvideo service="youtube" alignment="right" dimensions="240x160" container="frame" description="«ro lo ma'a datka», a song by guskant">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emCDL4aocDE</embedvideo>

Lojban is a carefully constructed spoken language. It has been built for over 50 years by dozens of workers and hundreds of supporters.

  • Lojban's grammar is simpler than of most natural languages, but complex in its own unique way. Lojban is an experiment in thought, as well, it wishes to see how these unique language structures affect thought and understanding.
  • Lojban allows the expression of tiny nuances in emotion, using words called attitudinals, which are essentially spoken emoticons.
  • Lojban allows you to communicate concisely without unnecessary or undesired details. For example, you don't have to always think of what tense (past, present or future) to use in a verb when it's already clear from context.
  • Lojban is machine parsable, which allows potential new explorations in the fields of artificial intelligence and machine translation.
  • Lojban is unambiguous in syntax. Natural languages often have ambiguous sentences — does "He's left" mean that he's still here or that he's gone? Lojban systematically eliminates this.
  • Lojban has a live community of speakers expanding its vocabulary day by day.

Lojban means different things to different people

  • a linguistic curiosity - a test-bed for language experimentation
  • a challenging way to expand their minds or discipline their thoughts
  • a new perspective on languages
  • an entertaining medium to communicate with friends or create art
  • a domain for exploring the intersection of human language and software

What will Lojban mean for you?

More basic information ...

Learning Lojban

Official resources

  • "The Complete Lojban Language", a reference grammar of Lojban. This book will teach you how to read and use Lojban, what the different types of words and grammatical constructs do. It does not, however, teach vocabulary, style, or colloquial language. Please note that since the initial publication of the reference grammar, some language reforms such as xorlo have become widely adopted.

Unofficial and supplemental resources

<embedvideo service="youtube" alignment="right" dimensions="240x160" container="frame" description="«Lessons in Lojban» by Dustin Lacewell">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZjSTUK3hFI</embedvideo> <embedvideo service="youtube" alignment="right" dimensions="240x160" container="frame" description="«The Perfect Language», an introduction to Lojban by Wesley Wilson">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIpn0OEpT40</embedvideo>

Different non-authoritative learning resources have been created. They are said to be more beginner-friendly.

Dictionaries

Software tools

  • Memrise.com is a great place where you can learn Lojban words online. Just register on that website, try several courses and use the one that you like most. Alternatively use Anki (downloadable, Lojban decks are downloadable within the program)
  • camxes is an automatic grammar of Lojban. It can help you to understand the structure and correctness of sentences.

Other learning materials ...

Connect with the community

<embedvideo service="youtube" alignment="right" dimensions="240x160" container="frame" description="«bripre jikca», a community literary vlog"> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6fXtgkPdWQ</embedvideo>

Lojban is spoken by a vibrant community, producing literature, music, and art, and discussing questions about language and thought. The webcomic xkcd said that, if you spoke Lojban, you'd have to speak with Lojbanists. That may not be such a bad thing!

IRC (Internet Relay Chat)

At any time of day, there are likely to be Lojbanists available on IRC to answer questions or engage in real-time Lojban conversation. Join the chat in your browser with the KiwiIRC or QWebIRC browser-based clients, or connect with the IRC client of your choice. There are three channels (chat rooms) on the Freenode IRC network (host: chat.freenode.net, ports: 6667 or 6697 for an SSL-encrypted connection) that are typically used for Lojban:

  • #lojban for discussion about Lojban in any language
  • #ckule for the teaching of Lojban and questions from beginners in any Language
  • #jbosnu for discussions exclusively in Lojban

Here is an cheat sheet for those unfamiliar with IRC.

Mailing lists

Ask a question on Lojban
on the mailing list for beginners

The Lojban Beginners Mailing List is for discussions related to learning Lojban. Anything about how to understand a part of the language, how to learn it better, study tools, actual teaching sessions, and so on, is on topic. Nothing else is. You can also subscribe to it by sending your first question to [email protected]. Wait until it is approved and others reply to it.

The Lojban General Mailing List is another way to get your questions answered. It has about 500 subscribers, and has existed more-or-less continuously since 1989. You can also subscribe to it by sending a question to [email protected].

3rd-party websites

Some Lojban people also have organized themselves on several 3rd-party websites, such as: Facebook Logo Mini.svg Facebook, Google plus icon.svg Google+, reddit-12.png Reddit, quora.png Quora.

la jbotcan is a simple Lojban image board where one posts images and comments them and discuss other random stuff. The atmosphere is very informal here. There is a Lojban and an English version.

International Contacts

<embedvideo service="youtube" alignment="right" dimensions="240x160" container="frame" description="an exposition by guskant in Japanese">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzqhNYCWKLo</embedvideo>

  Languages spoken
la selpa'i
[email protected]
English, German
la gleki
[email protected]
English, Russian
la ilmen
[email protected]
English, French
la tsani
[email protected]
English, French
la xorxes
[email protected]
English, Spanish
la guskant
[email protected]
English, French, Chinese, Japanese, Esperanto
la remod
[email protected]
English, Italian

Lojban around the world - other ways of communication ...

What's next?

  • Write your own original texts (prosa or poetry) in Lojban or translations. Start writing a blog or a personal diary
  • Continue memorizing the vocabulary and using Lojban as much as you can! Once you know what words you want to learn, you could try additional memorization software to vastly improve your vocabulary.
  • Try reading proofread (proofed by at least one Lojbanist in addition to the author) Lojban texts, starting with short-and-easy through to long-and-difficult. For example, read Terry the Tiger (you can listen to this one too!), then one of the Berenstain Bears books, for example The Berenstain Bears and the Prize Pumpkin, then The Little Prince.
  • You could contribute to the jbovlaste dictionary interface by adding new words. You could also translate some definition into one of the many, many languages that jbovlaste supports.
  • BPFK is a Lojban language planning committee.

More info ...


This web site is dedicated to documenting Lojban and the activities of the Lojban-using community, and also serves as the official web site of the Logical Language Group (LLG), a non-profit organization founded in 1987 to promote the scientific study of the relationships between language, thought and human culture.