Esperanto is designed to be an "international" language, a second language for everyone. So, if New Zealanders want to speak with Greeks, or if someone from Mexico wants to speak with someone from Kuwait, there is no need to learn a lot of different languages. If we all could speak Esperanto besides our own mother tongue, then it would be so much easier to communicate and share ideas and friendship.

How did Esperanto come about?

Esperanto was created by L. L. Zamenhof in Poland, while he was studying medicine. He came up with a simple grammar and vocabulary and the idea just developed from there. He published the first book on Esperanto in 1887. The International Language has now spread throughout the world and there about a million people who speak Esperanto in over 100 countries, from the deserts of Africa to the islands of Japan.

Further information about Esperanto is available on many web sites. Try: