In our previous episode, we looked at the idea of a universal language.

One candidate was Esperanto, a language invented in the 19th century by a Jewish ophthalmologist

named Ludovic Lazarus Zamenhof.

Derived from various European roots, Esperanto was meant to be easy to learn and egalitarian.

The idea was not for Esperanto to supersede existing languages.

We would stand next to national languages and be a helping language to make bonds among

people who were not like one another.

A noble goal, surely, but alas, not quite attainable, at least not on the Scalzamenhof

desired.

However, as our producer Stephanie Tam learned, and as she explains in today's special

episode, there is a small global community of Esperontists who convene once a year to

revel in their bond.

So today you're going to meet people who are taking time off of work, who are spending

money to go and participate in this weird Esperantoio, as they call it, this weird Esperanto

land that only exists temporarily wherever all these weirdos meet together.

And today's episode, our producer Stephanie Tam takes a trip deep into Esperanto land.

Estimates for how many people speak Esperanto range, but the ethnologue, a comprehensive

language database, cites 2 million speakers spanning 100 countries.

Most 1000 of those are native speakers who grow up in Esperanto-speaking families and usually

also speak one or two other national languages.

The most famous of these is probably billionaire financier George Soros.

But for the vast majority, well, they might be the only Esperanto speakers in the area.

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