ESPERANTO: THE UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE

by Pallavi Bhattacharya

With over 140 languages being spoken in the world, is it possible for us to be able to communicate with everyone by learning few select foreign languages? Practically it’s quite impossible. Learning Spanish may help one to communicate in Spain, Cyprus and most Latin American countries but if he goes to France and other French speaking nations he’ll be searching for an interpreter again. The only solution to this problem would be if the whole world spoke the same language. Even in this world of globalisation we still have language barriers keeping us apart. The only solution is to learn Esperanto- a planned international language designed for the whole mankind.

Understanding the need of a common global language Polish linguist Dr. L.L.Zamenhof created Esperanto in 1878 when still in his teens. In 1954 the UNESCO officially recognized Esperanto. Original literary works have been penned in the language and there are many international families speaking it at home too.

Says Syamsundar Pal, teacher of Esperanto, “Esperanto is not the mother tongue of any country. It is an universal language giving all countries equal footing.” Adds Mr.Pal’s student Nilanjan Chakraborty, “It is quite easy to learn. It’s grammatical rules, spellings and pronunciation are simple and logical.” Moreover Esperanto has been carefully planned making it possible to build 12 words from a single root word, reducing the burden of learning a huge vocabulary. In fact the volume of the Esperanto dictionary is just 1/10 of any other language.

The practical uses of Esperanto are many- from pen friend exchanges to attending scientific conferences. Mr.Pal who has authored text-books on Esperanto and directed Tagore’s Khudito Pashan in Esperanto which was performed in India and overseas says, “The Universal Esperanto Organisation has members in over 100 countries. If one masters Esperanto there are lucrative jobs available for him specially in the travel, tourism and hotel industries are translators and interpreters.”