Do you want to learn Esperanto, but aren't sure how you can use it later? Or maybe you think that Esperanto isn't used anywhere? With this article, we want to prove to those who have doubts about the usefulness of the international language, that Esperanto lives and can be useful for a lot of things. Are you ready? So let's start...

Almost every person probably dreams about many interesting travels across the whole world. Travelling with Esperanto is very interesting, because you can contact local Esperantists and become friends with them. There is also a special service for people who like to travel, which is called Pasporta Servo. It is a booklet with many addresses of people all over the world. These people are ready to accept travellers in their homes for one or several nights, completely free of charge. If you travel without using Esperanto, you usually just visit a lot of scenic places and learn little about the true daily lives of the local people, but if you travel with Esperanto, you can become more deeply acquainted with a country and learn about the traditions and customs of the local inhabitants, with the help of local Esperantists. In that way, by knowing Esperanto, you have friends in every country, who are ready to help you. If you like to bicycle, you can contact the Biciklista Esperantista Movado Internacia [International Esperantist Bicyclist Movement] and travel together with other members of the organization.

Are you a timid person who finds it difficult to get to know other people? Or maybe you're very outgoing and have many friends, but want to have even more? In both cases, Esperanto is for you. With this language, any kind of person can easily find new friends. It's possible to do that, for example, by correspondence. In various Esperanto-language newspapers and magazines, and online, you can easily find addresses of people who want to correspond. So why not write to them? By corresponding with them, you will not only find new friends, but also find out a lot about their countries and traditions. In addition, it's fun to have a lot of friends and to be able to meet them later during various Esperanto events. We especially recommend the correspondence service of Edukado.net.

If Esperanto events have already been mentioned, we should tell more about them. Almost every day in various parts of our world, congresses, festivals campouts, and other large or small events for Esperantists take place. To understand how useful Esperanto can be, it's worthwhile to try to participate in at least one of these events. Imagine an event, attended by several hundred people from several dozen countries, and each person carries with them a piece of their culture. In all truth, it's hard to write about it, you really have to experience it for yourself. The largest Esperanto events are the IJK (International Youth Congress) and the UK (Universal Congress), which happen each year, in a different country each time. There is one other type of event - seminars, which are usually organized by TEJO (Worldwide Esperanto Youth Organization), and E@I (Esperanto at Internet). People who want to gain experience in various topics attend seminars. Usually 2-4 seminars happen each year, and by attending them it's possible to gain experience in topics like human rights, project management, active citizenship, internet techniques, etc. During these seminars ideas for new international projects are proposed. For example, the idea for lernu! was born during one of these seminars.

You can also try to become involved with organization of various events. You can organize an event in your country and invite Esperantists from other countries to it. By doing that, you gain unique experience, which you can make use of later in various aspects of your life. You can also try to participate in some international projects as a helper. For example, the lernu! project always needs help in translation or correction of errors.

Unfortunately, not everyone has the opportunity to participate in various events. But don't despair - find out about local Esperanto clubs in your country. It could be that even in your own city there is such a club. During the club meetings you can exchange news, improve your knowledge of Esperanto, chat, and pass some time with friends in other enjoyable ways.

Does your city not have a club? In that case, create one. :-) To achieve that, teach Esperanto to other people. Arrange a course in Esperanto and spread information about it in your city.

Read in Esperanto. It's very easy to do that, because Esperanto has quite a rich literature. There are a lot of interesting original works, which exist only in Esperanto. You can also read translations from national literature. Almost all famous works have already been translated into Esperanto.

Subscribe to publications in Esperanto. There are several dozen paper Esperanto periodicals that you can subscribe to, and in which you'll find a lot of interesting information. If you use the internet a lot, you can find magazines, bulletins, newsletters, and mailing lists online.

If you are interested in increasing the richness of Esperanto literature, you can start to compose or translate. Try to do that and perhaps thanks to Esperanto, you will discover in yourself yet one more skill - the talent of an author. And if you like to translate, you can also easily do that. You can translate from Esperanto to your national language, or vice versa.

Don't like to read much? In that case, try to listen to radio broadcasts. There are several radio stations which regularly broadcast their programs. With them you can not only learn something new, but also simply relax, listening to Esperanto music.

You can study with Esperanto. For example, in The International Academy of the Sciences in San Marino one of the official languages is Esperanto.

You can make use of Esperanto also in your profession. Simply contact Esperantists who have the same profession as you, or who are interested in the same topic, and exchange ideas and experiences with them. If you want to, you can even start up an international business. Learn about existing Esperanto organizations for various topics. It could be that an organization already exists that links together people who are interested in the same thing as you. In addition, there are many online mailing lists for diverse topics. Choose those, that interest you, and subscribe to them.

You and your friends can use Esperanto as a secret language. :-) Sometimes it's useful to be able to speak with someone so that no one else can understand you. However, be careful and make certain that no one around you understands Esperanto. :-)

Many Esperantists use Esperanto as a family language. That happens when two Esperantists meet, fall in love, and later get married, but each one speaks a different language. So which language should they speak within the family??? In Esperanto, of course. :-) In that way children appear, whose first language is Esperanto.

Not all of the uses of Esperanto are listed in this article, because it would be difficult to list and discuss them all. You can only be certain of one thing - with Esperanto you can have many new and interesting experiences, and in that way, enrichen your life. Using this language, you can do anything at all - have fun, be sad, fall in love, work, gain experience, travel, read, get married, etc.

If you need more detailed information, simply contact the lernu! tutor for your language.