Esperanto is a universal language invented in 1887 by the Polish eye specialist Dr Ludovic Lazarus Zamenhof. It was hoped it would further international peace and understanding. Many others had tried before him to establish constructed languages without success. Zamenhof, who spoke nine languages himself, took it one step further.
Today, it is thought that 1.6 million people in almost 90 countries are able to converse in Esperanto to a reasonable level. It was on the school curriculum in China, Hungary and Bulgaria. The Japanese religion Oomoto encourages its use among its followers, and the more mainstream Baha’i faith is also sympathetic to the idea of a single auxiliary international language. Mike Dawson spoke to one of its strong advocates Paul Gubbins. Here they discuss how and why esperanto came about and how useful it can be in the present day. Click the player below to hear the full audio or use the links for more information.
Esperanto estas kiel populara kiel ?iu kaj Mike Dawson parolis unu el sia(n) forta rekomend Paul Gubbins. Tie ?i ili diskuti kiel kaj kial Esperanto fari?is kaj kiel utila povas esti en la nuna tago. Klak la ludisto sub a?di la plenan a?dion a? uz la ligiloj por pliaj informoj. mi dankas vin pro vizitanta ni
