So I was talking to another CEMBer, and the topic of Esperanto came up, and they mentioned that they hadn't heard of it all, so I decided to create a thread about
la Internacia Lingvo (the original name for Esperanto).
I've been learning Esperanto for a while on this
wonderful website, and I've gotta say, I'm completely in love with the language and the culture! For those who don't know, Esperanto is a language that was started by a Russian Jew called Zamenhof more than a century ago to serve as a neutral tool of international communication. Here are some of the things the site has to say about Esperanto:
What is Esperanto?
It's a language that is particularly useful for international communication.
Important traits of Esperanto
International: Esperanto is most useful for communicating among people of diverse nations who do not have a common mother tongue.
Neutral: It doesn't belong to one people or country, so it works as a neutral language.
Equal: When you use Esperanto, you feel more equal from a linguistic standpoint than when, for example, you speak Spanish with a native Spanish speaker.
Relatively easy: Thanks to the structure of Esperanto, it's usually much easier to master than other foreign languages.
Living: Esperanto evolves and lives just like other languages, and it can be used to express the most varied facets of human thought and emotion.
We created this website because we like using Esperanto. Everyday we use it to communicate with friends in different countries and continents, mostly online. We find Esperanto to be a good tool for making new friends and working together with people who speak different native languages.
The idea of Esperanto is: the foundation of a neutral language will help break down barriers between people and help everyone see each other as neighbors. [L. Zamenhof, 1912]
The basic idea of Esperanto is about tolerance and respect for people of diverse nations and cultures. Communication is indeed the essential part of understanding each other, and if that communication happens through a neutral language, that can help the feeling that we 'meet' on equal grounds and help create respect for one another.
As an ordinary speaker of Esperanto, you don't often think about the "foundation of a neutral language" and those kinds of fancy expressions. You just enjoy having the ability to express yourself freely in conversations with people from other countries and cultures.
There are many ways we use Esperanto. The most common ways are listed below.
Travelling
It's very interesting to travel 'in' Esperanto. You can stay in the home of other Esperanto speakers (usually for free) and in this way you get an insider's view of the country/region. The Pasporta Servo book, which has addresses of hosts in more than 80 countries, is published every year.
International meetings
Different kinds of meetings regularly go on in Esperanto. Some examples are: Internacia Junulara Kongreso (International Youth Congress, a meeting with generally 400 young people), Education@Interreto seminars (seminars about the Internet), Universala Kongreso (Universal Congress, the largest convention, normally with more than 1500 participants) and the Junulara E-Semajno (Youth Esperanto Week, a large New Year's Party in Germany or Poland).
Online
If you like to use e-mail, instant messengers or newsgroups, then you will have plenty of possibilities to use Esperanto to talk about anything and everything. In fact, the Internet and Esperanto go well together!
Or for those who prefer videos, there's this great series of introductory videos about Esperanto:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1yiQHymMRAQNow, while I'm not exactly a veteran Esperantist, I've been reading quite a bit about the language and the culture, so if you have any questions, shoot! I'll try my best to answer them!
And, once you learn the language, maybe you can join the
International Atheist Esperanto Organization 
Topic: Esperanto!