According to research, there are thousands of languages in existence in the world. This number could be further increased if we also count the number of artificial languages. Artificial languages? Yes! Artificial languages are human-made languages.
The purpose behind creating artificial languages varies, from just to have fun, to trying to reduce the barriers and boundaries between people from different countries through developing more effective ‘international languages’
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One of the artificial languages that ‘stands out of from the crowd’ (is more prominent amongst competitors) is Esperanto. Introduced to the public in 1887, Esperanto is estimated to currently have around 2 million speakers worldwide.
Here is a list of resources for learning and using the Esperanto language. Enjoy!
1. Reading Esperanto magazines, books, and articles
I like reading very much. Do you? If you also like reading, there is an abundance of Esperanto resources that can fulfill your desire to read.
There are more than 200,000 Esperanto articles published on Wikipedia, making the Esperanto Wikipedia the 33rd largest Wikipedia article collection (based on the number of articles), and the largest Wikipedia collection written in an artificial language.
The Gazetejo website compiles many Esperanto magazines from Esperanto associations or regional groups around the world. Some magazines are also available for download at Esperanto groups’ websites, such as Indonesian Esperanto and Mexican Esperanto.
Two of the many popular Esperanto magazines are Kontakto, from the World Esperanto Youth Organization (“Tutmonda Esperantista Junulara Organizo” (TEJO)) and Esperanto from the Universal Esperanto Association (“Universala Esperanto-Asocio” (UEA)).
You can also read many Esperanto language novels at Minus, or Esperanto news at El Popola Cxinio and Global Voices Esperanto.
2. Listening to songs and radio broadcasts
Some learners listen to songs in the target language to immerse themselves. If you are this type of learner, keep reading to find out what you can listen to in Esperanto.
An Esperanto radio station called Muzaiko provides 24-hour-broadcasts of Esperanto songs. Esperanto Radio has links to a number of Esperanto radio stations.
You also can visit Vinilkosmo, an independent record label publishing Esperanto songs. YouTube also has a wide number of Esperanto songs. For example, you can find them in this YouTube Esperanto songs playlist.
3. Watching videos and movies
If your Esperanto proficiency level is somewhere between beginner and lower-intermediate, you may enjoy watching Mazi en Gondolando and Pasporto al la Tuta Mondo, which have been created especially to aid this level of Esperanto speakers with their language study.
For Esperanto learners at a higher level, there are Esperanto movies that you may also enjoy watching. For example, Gerda Malaperis, a movie produced in Brazil, which is adapted from a famous novel of the same title in Esperanto literature.
There is also a documentary movie called Insulo de la Rozoj about the creation of a micronation on a man-made platform in Italy whose official language is Esperanto.
4. Socializing in Esperanto
Who say learners of an artificial language cannot socialize with each other using the artificial language?
You can visit Ipernity, a social networking website that is also available in Esperanto that is widely used by the Esperanto-speaking community.
If you use Facebook, you can join several Esperanto groups. For instance, you can find Esperanto or Esperantistoj. You can also exchange Skype usernames if you use Skype at Ĉu vi skajpemas? Esperanto Skype Facebook Group.
Lernu, a learning website for the Esperanto language, has several features that you can use to enrich your knowledge about the language, such as history, games, and exercises. You can also participate in the forum, or chat with fellow Esperanto speakers in the chat box.
What about your experiences and the resources you use? Do you have other support resources and ways you enjoy using Esperanto? Please share your thoughts with us below!
Teddy is a language enthusiast, a multilingual speaker, and a language blogger at www.neeslanguageblog.com. In his free time, he enjoys reading about technology, business, culture, and language.
Illustration by Malachi Ray Rempen - Itchy Feet
