Novial/Novial as a gateway to language learning

To learn a foreign language to a fair degree of fluency typically takes several or many years and requires a high degree of motivation (or compulsion). Educational studies have shown that previous foreign language study makes it easier to learn second and subsequent foreign languages. However, language study proceeds slowly because of several factors:

1) learning new words takes a lot of time unless they are similar to words we already know

2) unfamiliar grammatical constructions must be thoroughly assimilated

3) numerous irregularities in word formation take up much of the learning time

The end result is that many students rapidly become disheartened and may learn to hate studying foreign languages.

Novial provides an excellent first foreign language of study for the following reasons:

1) most of the vocabulary is similar to English words (70% plus)

2) those words which are not familiar are from Romance languages or German which broadens general knowledge of West European languages

3) most Novial grammar is similar to English

4) word formation is kept regular

5) for students new to language study, grammatical concepts are most easily learned thanks to points (1), (3) and (4) above.

Novial can be learned several times more quickly than Romance languages or German. For the newcomer to foreign language study this means that a good knowledge of a foreign language and the educational benefits derived from that study can be obtained in dozens of hours rather than many hundreds or the over 1000 hours of study typically required to gain real fluency in Romance languages or German.

Although Novial is much easier than other languages it is a genuinely foreign language. This gives the student of the language the educational benefits of first foreign language study very quickly.

Novial was designed by one of the most prominent linguists of the early 20th century, Professor Otto Jespersen. His expertise and aesthetic sense created a language at once elegant in form and sound and potent in its expessiveness and simplicity.

Welcome to the Novial language experience!