Extras

What does Esperanto mean?

Esperanto is the most widely spoken constructed international auxiliary language. The fundamentals of this language were published by Ludwik Lejzer Zamenhof.

Esperanto – the language – is a neutral language for international communication that is easy to learn. However, it is not intended to replace other languages. People in more than one hundred countries speak Esperanto in addition to their native language. An international Esperanto community has developed since the language was first published in 1887. This community uses Esperanto for various purposes such as letters between pen pals, international conventions, and cultural exchange. Esperanto can also be found on the internet and on radio.

A living language

Since the basics of Esperanto were published by Ludwig Zamenhof in Warsaw in 1887, it has developed into a living language as it gained increasing acceptance. New terminology is quickly being added to Esperanto: In Esperanto, a mobile telephone is a posch-telefono (“pocket telephone", pronounced posh-telephono), a laptop is a tekokomputilo (“briefcase computer"), and the internet is the interreto (“inter-net").

Easy to learn

As a bridge language, Esperanto is much easier to learn than other languages. More than a dozen school trials in various countries have confirmed that it only takes approximately 20 to 30 % of the time required to reach the same level in another national language. Many Esperanto students begin using the language after approximately twenty hours of instruction. There are several reasons the language is so easy to learn: Esperanto has a consistent structure, pronunciation is predictable and uniform, and the number of roots that need to be memorised is minimised due to a clever word formation system. Therefore, Esperanto is also much easier for people who do not speak any European languages to learn than, say, English.

 
Introductory Dictionary

English - Esperanto

• yes - jes
• no - ne
• Thank you! - Dankon!
• Pardon me! - Pardonon! (also: Pardonu!)
• Please! - Bonvolu!
• You’re welcome!  - Ne dankinde! (literally: not deserving of thanks)
• Hello! - Saluton!
• Good day! - Bonan tagon!
• How are you? - Kiel vi fartas?
• I’m fine / not feeling well. - Mi fartas bone/malbone.
• Bless you! - Sanecon! (or simply: Sanon!)
• So long! - Ĝis revido!
• I do not understand. - Mi ne komprenas.
• I love you! - Mi amas vin!