_{Click to read it in spanish / Clic para leerlo en español}

Reading these explanations is advised for beginners in order to clarify some aspects of Esperanto language. Since the internet makes an excess of information available, things could get confusing about the reality of the language and could drive students to wrong conclusions and attitudes.

Adding to that, it’s normal to feel some resistance being a beginner in any language, and thus ask yourself some questions. It was like that for many of us and the questions were exactly the same sometimes, and we even thought about giving up. Most people get over this phase easily, but some people get stuck because they don’t know or understand several aspects of the reality of the language or its community of speakers.

1. Esperanto has been working with no problem for more than 125 years.
2. It’s a language in use, not a game; neither a puzzle nor an unfinished project. Hence, you must to learn it in the same way you would with any other language, respecting its grammar and its use.
3. It isn’t perfect, it’s not going to be liked by everyone, neither everything of it it’s going to be liked by everyone. Nothing is going to change that. Just accept it.
4. Yes, you are going to encounter things that are difficult for you to learn, but neither the “success” nor the spread of the language depend on the language’s level of difficulty for learners. The spread of any language depends on the politic and/or economic influence of its speakers.
5. Maybe you have found some arguments in favour of Esperanto that haven’t a real basis. Most of those are just outdated, wrongly explained (or maybe misunderstood). And yes, most of us already realized it.
6. Knowing a lot about linguistics or being able to speak a lot of languages doesn’t imply that you can speak Esperanto or know its evolution, community, or any other aspect, if you have just begun to learn the language.
7. Not everybody who learns the language has the same reason to learn it. Even if it’s a surprise for you, not every Esperanto speaker wants the language as the most used internationally, and in the same way, not everybody want to learn other constructed languages.

To guarantee that the language evolution is not different in every region, which would be against the logic of the idea of Esperanto, it’s important to pay attention to these two things:

• The Foundation: It’s a part of the language no one can change. That is not a problem, it’s thought to let the language evolve. You can read the prologue of the Foundation at this link.
• The Esperanto Language Academy: It’s an institution with the purpose “to protect and preserve the fundamentals principles of the language. Investigate any kind of linguistic question. To create a dictionary having definitions in Esperanto. To create dictionaries having technical terminology, to check and approve this kind of terminology if it’s created by other authors”. This among other things, but its target is not to change the language. The website of the Academy is at: http://www.akademio-de-esperanto.org

Remember that these two things are what have maintained Esperanto alive, fully usable and easily learnable.

By Rev Ero