What is Esperanto?
Esperanto is a neutral “international” language, a second language for everyone. It was designed to be quick and easy to learn.
So, if a New Zealander wants to speak with someone from Greece, or if someone from Mexico wants to talk with someone from Kuwait, there is no need to learn a lot of different languages. If we all could speak Esperanto besides our own mother tongue, then it would be so much easier to communicate and share ideas and friendship. Nowadays there are about two million around the world who speak Esperanto.
How did Esperanto come about?
Esperanto was created by Ludovik Zamenhof in Poland while he was studying medicine. He came up with a simple grammar and vocabulary and the idea just developed from there. He published the first book on Esperanto in 1887. Esperanto has now spread throughout the world and there around two million people who speak Esperanto in over 100 countries, from the deserts of Africa to the islands of Japan.
Further information can be found on many websites. Try:
Wikipedia
lernu.net
Australian Esperanto Association
International Esperanto Association
Freakonomics
Position of the Universal Esperanto Association on linguistic rights
Springboard to other languages
Learning Esperanto is a good foundation to help people learn other languages.