My story started at university. I studied at the department of foreign languages, and my love for languages sprouted there. I like to find connections and figure out how a language works, how it is similar to other languages, and what is unique about it. Once I came across a short video about Esperanto. It told a little bit of history and showed an exciting experiment. An Esperanto speaker went to a group of people and talked to them. They didn’t speak Esperanto but, nevertheless, understood him. That drew my attention. But the kindle was extinct as there was too much to study besides. That idea had been smouldering at the back of my mind for many years.
Then, years later, I stumbled upon an even: an Esperanto gathering at the place where it started for my country. It appeared to be my hometown. I met nice people there. One of them was a Guinness laureate, who can sing on twenty-two languages. It was a funny and radiant performance.
Then, my learning journey started. I downloaded Duolingo and got off with it. I attended a local speaking club. It was easy to understand people there, as I spotted word stems that come from other European languages. But I could not say anything, as I didn’t know the rules yet. So it was like a smooth start. For good or bad, I didn’t visit the club for a while, as I could not say much.
The second wave of inspiration came in spring. Everything flourishes under the warm sun. Since then, I have been using several apps to practice Esperanto. My daily routine consists of Duolingo, Drops, Clozemaster, and Memrise. I feel like it is suitable for vocabulary building and practising grammar.
From time to time I spend a couple of minutes on Lernu!. It is based on a story about a boy. Learning the language, you follow Philipo, and your curiosity pushes you forward.
Finally, I was up to talk to somebody. There is a Tandem app, a language exchange community. At first, I used Google Translate a lot, for being able to keep the conversation motivated me.
What I am adding now to my learning routine is listening. There are a bunch of Esperanto podcasts. I have chosen a few based on topics. Pronunciation is usually an easy thing for Esperanto learners, but vocabulary might be difficult sometimes. As Esperanto came from Poland, they say that speakers there have very broad and also tweaked vocabulary, and you’d rather start with something else.
My journey continues, and I am looking forward to new experiences and achievements.
P.S. I am curious how many of us here speak Esperanto? Let’s unite and have fun! Leave a comment below.