How I did it: I had a lot of time in summer, so I picked up a book from the local library about that interesting language I had heard about when I was too busy with highschool homework.

I just started teching myself Esperanto, which was not difficult, as it is very easy: no exceptions, fexible, regular spelling and easy vocabulary (when you don't know the word for something, you can create a word just using the roots and suffixes you already know). As I improved faster than studying other languages, I also motivated myself and in one month I found myself able to speak almost fluently to other Esperanto speakers.

Learning Esperanto 12 years ago (!) was also my first step to discover my interest in languages, which are today one of my passions. It was the gap I needed to fill between the hardly bilingual self I was and the multilingual self I am today.

Lessons & tips: Learn the very basics... and start using it! You really need less than you think to start communicating. You will learn the rest while using the language.

Just check your local esperanto group here: http://esperantoland.org/grupoj

I found local associacions just checking the last pages of the book I used. I remember my first contact with other speakers some 12 years ago, it was very exciting.

Resources: I used a textbook for Spanish speaking people, "Lernu E-on", by Fernández-Arroyo (which was available at public libraries in Madrid), but nowadays you can find lots of courses on internet. I have heard www.lernu.net is good, but I didn't try it myself.

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Sep 23, 2008, 12:36PM PDT | 2 comments | 5 cheers