Esperanto:does any one actually speak it??? are there books, newspapers and tv-channels in this language?

Question

and when was it invented and by whom ??? and why wasn´t a hit???

Answer 1

First, here are some facts.
Believe it or not, Esperanto represents the best chance for the survival of the multitude of dying languages since it's purpose is to forestall the monopoly of any one National tongue to the disadvantage of another.
Consider if you will, Esperanto is an easily learnt AUXILIARY language. This means that myself and that Spanish fellow over there needn't sink a lot of time and effort into learning each others mother tongue, where whose ever tongue we settle to communicate in will hold the advantage in any discussions; since the likelihood of having a mastery of the second language will be remote at best. Each partner has exerted a similar effort in order to communicate; a linguisticly neutral hand shake if you will.
Further, I am now in a position to visit just about every country in the world and with the help of my new found Esperanto speaking friend (2 million plus) learn of his / her culture and language. This second facet is possible because in learning Esperanto I now have a firmer grip on linguistic principles. I will provide a link below on the benefits of learning tertiary languages after Esperanto.
However, if it is Esperanto Culture you desire, then you've no need to look much further than the Internet. In music there are Folk, Jazz, Opera, Rock, Hip Hop, Rap, childrens' songs, etc. In literature there is multinational translations plus original works. The yearly Congresses are a play ground for young and old alike for interaction.
The error it seems that most people make, is the assumption that a focus on one area or language will detract from other areas. Although it may be true to a point, it is extremely unlikely to effect an area to the point of destruction. There are simply too many people in the world to allow that to happen. None of this precludes learning another language.
Conversely, nobody would feel forced to learn it, especially if they've no desire to leave their comfort zone.
The fact is that like it or not, it's use is expanding exponentially. The last educated guess puts the number of functionally fluent speakers at 2 million plus and another 2,000 native speakers (those that were born to an Esperanto household; yes they exist).
Yet many feel almost threatened by it, which is the last intent to be feared. It is simply a tool to allow those that might otherwise struggle to learn a new language, the option of expanding their horizons.
Finally, there is currently $600 million plus a year being spent on translation services at the UN, and a similar amount in the EU, because no one nationality wants to loose the prestige of owning one of the 'working' languages in each of those institutions. This a huge waste of resources that might otherwise go to feeding and housing those less fortunate. A single working language, easily learnt (less than a year to become fluent) would certainly go along way towards that goal.
Doctor L. L. Zamenhof (an ophthalmologist actually) first published the Unua Libro (First book) in 1887. During the Second World War many Esperantistoj (Esperantists) were hunted down by either Hitler (Because he saw it as a Jewish threat) and Stalin (Because he saw it as a spy language and a threat to his control of the little people).
A few movies have been done in it, the most famous (relatively speaking) was Incubus staring William Shatner. He wasn't an actual Esperantistoj, he just learned his lines and according to those that have seen it, it shows. This was made before he became Capt. Kirk.
There was an online TV station for a year or so but seems to have disapeared for the time being at least.
The Vatican and a few other places make regular radio broadcasts around the world.
Below are a small sample of web sites that can provide information, companionship and lessons.
Research and make your own conclusions.

Gxis!

Answer 2

As it was said, Esperanto is still alive and there are many people who still speak it around the world. Some Esperanto speakers I know take the task of learning it and speaking it so serious that they accept no criticism over the fact it is not as widely spoken as Spanish, French, or English - for instance. I wish I spoke Esperanto, for the idea of its creation is not a bad one. It was born in a strive for the creation of a language of peace. But it seems the fact that it was artificially created resulted in such a small number of adepts. Anyway, the number of Esperanto adepts seem to be growing up after the creation of the Internet, and you should have a look at the article dedicated to Esperanto at Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esperanto
The one who invented Esperanto was Ludwik Lejzer Zamenhof, a philologist. ( a specialist in languages) The year of the first of his publications in Esperanto was 1887. His intention was inventing a language with an easier grammar and, being easier to learn, it would concquer more adepts around the world. It failed to become a hit, that is true. But some data of the year of 2000 in the United States show about 1,6 million of people speaking Esperanto throughout the world.

Answer 3

Well, it is not as dead as a doornail. There is a monthly magazine produced in Esperanto, which name is Monato.It carries articles on politics, culture and economics. It is printed in Belgium and distributed to readers in 65 countries. The title means "month".
And there is an Esperanto-language internet news website- Ĝangalo. It offers various services: news from all over the world in Esperanto, many personal blogs, very active forums in and about Esperanto, the most used chat among the esperantists, and much more.
Have a look http://gxangalo.com/ :)
There is a good article on Esperanto, where you can read all the information about its origin,distribution and other.-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esperanto

Answer 4

There are many of us out here who speak Esperanto. I began learning the language in 2000, could hold simple but meaningful conversations within 2 months, and was fluent within 2 years (and I'm pretty slow with languages).

There is a world-wide Esperantist organization (UEA - Universala Esperanto-Asocio) and there are also yearly conventions of Esperanto Speakers from all over the world as well as annual conventions for just about every country on earth. This year's U.S. annual convention will be a joint meeting between the U.S. and Mexican Esperanto organizations in Tijuana, Mexico.

Since Esperanto is a constructed language (I don't agree with the term "artificial", there is nothing in the language that is artificial. Everything in the language was taken from other European languages. A more accurate description would be a constructed All-European pidgin language) and is not the national language of any country, there is no way to know exactly how many people speak it. We know some facts, there are more than 200,000 speakers in the world (the number of people who are members of Esperanto clubs in the world), and we know that there are many more people who speak the language who are not club members. I ran into a man in an Esperanto Chat room a few weeks ago who lives in California, but is not a member of ELNA or UEA. Most Esperantists accept the approximation of 2 Million Esperantists in the world.

There are also a few hundred Denaskaj Esperantistoj (From-Birth Esperantists) or people who's families spoke Esperanto at home, so it is their "native" language. They are born to couples who met via Esperanto, but with different native languages, so in their homes they speak Esperanto as the family language. I know one family (Mom, Dad, and three children) in New York who speak Esperanto at home, and their children are in this catagory.

There are many books in Esperanto, check out the online bookstore at ELNA https://esperantousa.hypermart.net/butiko/butiko.cgi

There's an Esperanto Wikipedia, http://eo.wikipedia.com/

Esperanto was created by a young polish boy in the late 1800s (actually, where he lived was part of Russia at the time, but is now in Poland. Dr. Zamanhof moved to Warsaw Poland later in life), one answerer said he was a philologist (a branch of linguistics), but by profession he was an Occulist (medical doctor specializing in the eyes). His love of languages was his love, not his profession. His first book was released in 1887 and was written in Russian.

Initially it was a big hit. Less than 20 years after the first book was published, the estimate was over 250,000 speakers. The first international congress was held in France with 668 people in attendance. Considering the difficulty and expense of travel at the time, this was a pretty good turnout. The largest turnout ever was the Centennial Celebration in 1987 in Warsaw with 5946 attendees. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Congress_of_Esperanto. In Europe it was persecuted by Hitler in Nazi Germany and Stalin in Communist Russia, denounced as a "Jewish Conspiracy" and Esperantists were killed. This put a damper on the early enthusiasm through out Europe to learn the language.

Today it doesn't look like a big hit, because it's totally voluntary. Except for the few denaskaj esperantistoj it's a choice everyone makes. In today's world it's difficult to convince someone to spend time to learn something if they can't see an almost immediate return in $$$. The most common thing I heard said about it is "Why would anyone want to learn a language nobody speaks?", but this couldn't be further from the truth, as you can see from the number of responses you've received. This is an assumption people make based on the fact that they, themselves, don't really want to put forth the time and effort to learn another language, or they don't see any monetary benefit from learning the language. Although it wasn't a big hit, historically, it has been steadily growing for the past decade thanks to the internet, and people's heightened awareness of the language issues in the world.

I hope this was helpful. If you have any other questions, feel free to send them to me via my profile.

Gxis!

Answer 5

I'm sure that many of your questions can be answered by Wikipedia. Yes, there are many people who speak it, even more people than some minority natural languages. I'm sure there are books, but I don't know about television or newspapers.