Esperanto

Learned: Monday night, while researching the English language for no reason.

Esperanto is the most widely spoken constructed international auxiliary(second) language in the world. In layman's terms, (which by the way comes from the term laity which means non-clergy. The term layman was established to differentiate between clergy and non-clergy members of society, and it was later defined to mean a person who is untrained or lacks knowledge of a subject) this completely made-up language was invented to create a neutral second language to be used between people of different native tongues throughout the world.

It was invented by L.L. Zamenhof in 1887 in the hopes of creating an easy and flexible universal second language to implement world peace and international understanding. He published a book in 1887 entitled Unua Libro which detailed the language.

The nature of the language itself is not related to any ethnic language directly. It is based on the Western European languages as a whole. It's considered fairly easy to learn and speak considering the exact pronunciation of every word. Many speakers of different languages will find that there are words in the Esperanto language almost identical to their own, which simplifies it quite a bit.

It is spoken by nearly 2 million people around the world and there are approximately 1,000 native speakers of the language.

• 1,000 have Esperanto as their native language
• 10,000 speak it fluently
• 100,000 can use it actively
• 1,000,000 understand a large amount passively
• 10,000,000 have studied it to some extent at some time.
  

There is even speculation of a new country being born with Esperanto as it's native language.

Here are some useful phrases for your enjoyment, along with the incredibly easy pronunciation:

• Hello: Saluton /sa.ˈlu.ton/
• What is your name?: Kiel vi nomiĝas? /ˈki.el vi no.ˈmi.ʤas/
• My name is...: Mi nomiĝas... /mi no.ˈmi.ʤas/
• How much (is it/are they)?: Kiom (estas)? /ˈki.om ˈes.tas/
• Here you are: Jen /jen/
• Do you speak Esperanto?: Ĉu vi parolas Esperanton? /ˈʧu vi pa.ˈro.las es.pe.ˈran.ton/
• I do not understand you: Mi ne komprenas vin /mi ˈne kom.ˈpre.nas vin/
• I like this one: Ĉi tiu plaĉas al mi /ʧi ˈti.u ˈpla.ʧas al ˈmi/ or Mi ŝatas tiun ĉi /mi ˈʃa.tas ˈti.un ˈʧi/
• Thank you: Dankon /ˈdan.kon/
• You're welcome: Ne dankinde /ˈne dan.ˈkin.de/
• Please: Bonvolu /bon.ˈvo.lu/ or mi petas /mi ˈpe.tas/
• Here's to your health: Je via sano /je ˈvi.a ˈsa.no/
• Bless you!/Gesundheit!: Sanon! /ˈsa.non/
• Congratulations!: Gratulon! /ɡra.ˈtu.lon/
• Okay: Bone /ˈbo.ne/ or Ĝuste /ˈʤus.te/
• Yes: Jes /ˈjes/
• No: Ne /ˈne/
• It is a nice day: Estas bela tago /ˈes.tas ˈbe.la ˈta.ɡo/
• I love you: Mi amas vin /mi ˈa.mas vin/
• Goodbye: Ĝis (la) (revido) /ʤis la re.ˈvi.do/
• One beer, please: Unu bieron, mi petas. /ˈu.nu bi.ˈe.ron, mi ˈpe.tas/
• What is that?: Kio estas tio? /ˈki.o ˈes.tas ˈti.o/
• That is...: Tio estas... /ˈti.o ˈes.tas/
• How are you?: Kiel vi (fartas)? /ˈki.el vi ˈfar.tas/
• Good morning!: Bonan matenon! /ˈbo.nan ma.ˈte.non/
• Good evening!: Bonan vesperon! /ˈbo.nan ves.ˈpe.ron/
• Good night!: Bonan nokton! /ˈbo.nan ˈnok.ton/
• Peace!: Pacon! /ˈpa.tson/