en: what is Esperanto
Esperanto is a language intended to facilitate communication between speakers of different languages around the world. thus, Esperanto has been called everything from "universal language" to "international (auxiliary) language" and also "constructed language" as the language was created in 1887 by L.L. Zamenhof.
because Esperanto is not the national language of a country but rather is spoken around the world, it is very heard to estimate just how many speakers of the language there are. rough estimates put the number of fluent speakers anywhere between 100,000 and 2,000,000 people. there are even native speakers of the language, but it is even harder to estimate their numbers. it should be noted, however, that Esperanto is not meant to replace anyone`s first language, but rather can be used in addition to it to communicate with people with whom no other common language is shared. thus, even native speakers of Esperanto speak Esperanto in addition to another language. Esperanto is considered by many to be a very easy language to learn-- much easier to learn than most other languages for various reasons.
Esperanto is not just a language, however. despite what some may claim, Esperanto, like other languages, has a culture behind the language which includes various things from literature and music to international conferences. not only can one use Esperanto for international communication, but it can also be used for international travel through utilizing the travel services that are available just for Esperanto speakers.
like every language, Esperanto is a live and thus still developing and changing today with the world and its speakers. this has been but a brief introduction to Esperanto-- one that hopefully didn't bore you to tears. if you are interested in finding out more about the language, please seen the links below. if you are interested in learning the language, please see the en: how to learn Esperanto page for more links.
further information about Esperanto:
- Esperanto@wikipedia (English)
- Esperanto@esperanto.net (60 languages)
- EsperantoFAQ@somesite (English)