Esperanto made appearances in popular music at various occasions and this listing is not (and cannot be) complete. I know that there are more bands who used Esperanto or made songs about it, especially in France, Finland and Japan, but I need YOU to confirm the names before I post them on here. Drop me a message.

A lot of people all around the world have noted their observations as they started to learn Esperanto. Read for example what Marina Evdokimova, a 17-year-old girl from Russia wrote:

"I realized that it's actually not very 'normal' that I had been learning the language for just two months and already could express basically everything I wanted to, albeit looking up many words in the dictionary. I was so inspired that I read Gerda malaperis! to the end in three days :) Esperanto is addictive."

What others had to say:

When hearing about Esperanto, many people initially have objections to it. However, most of the criticisms are unfounded, as you can read below. Find out for example why Esperanto is more suitable than English as an international language, how Esperanto is not Euro-centric, why it is as easy as it should be and how it promotes language diversity.

There are many reasons to learn Esperanto. It's easy, expressive, neutral, fun and can help you in many respects.

Esperanto has certainly convinced a lot of common people, as you can read in the testimonials. But what about famous people? What is their stance on Esperanto?

Esperanto events are great, particularly Esperanto events for young people. There are usually lots of interesting people from foreign countries and the atmosphere is just awesome. During the event there are usually a lot of activities: free concerts, movie showings, excursions, intercultural exchanges, language courses, classes on useful skills like massaging, and don't forget the dancing and partying. Everybody is friendly and open to new experiences. Everybody makes new friends at Esperanto events.

While some people, such as Leo Tolstoy, report having successfully learned Esperanto just by reading Esperanto texts with the help of a grammar and a dictionary, most people will find it more enjoyable to learn Esperanto through a regular course, which gradually introduces grammar and vocabulary.

Online courses are a very good option when you want to learn Esperanto, as there are so many good ones out there and they are all free. Most of them come with free tutors (real people who check your exercises and answer your questions), too, something unheard of for other languages.

In almost every major city (and many smaller ones) there is an Esperanto club. Some cities even have more than one club, geared towards different people, for example one club for young people and one club for older ones.

While every club is unique, you can generally expect to:

• improve your Esperanto through conversation, games and translation
• meet foreign speakers of Esperanto
• learn about happenings in the Esperanto world
• enjoy Esperanto culture, such as movies, music and literature

Some people like self-study or tutored self-study, some do better in formal classes. As only few schools teach Esperanto, you will usually have to turn to the local Esperanto club or association - they regularly organize lessons. In order to locate the Esperanto club closest to you, try http://www.esperantoland.org/grupoj/ or write to your regional or national Esperanto association. These associations usually know better where clubs exist.