A rather special congress is currently being held in Strasbourg: the European Esperanto Congress. 600 people gathered from Wednesday until Sunday to exchange views in this international language on the university campus. A simplified languagecreated 130 years ago, where there is only one definite article, one negative, no declensions, no irregular verbs, to be able to communicate worldwide with everyone.
“The idea is to bring populations together to have direct exchanges without barriers. Have an effective tool. Esperanto allows you to discover other cultures, people, visit countries” explains Bruno Flochon, the president of Esperanto France which organizes the event. “It actually allowed me to travel“confirms Didier, a Frenchman from Paris”We found ourselves talking as if we came from the same town while in the street around me, I didn’t understand anything“.
“It’s enjoyable, like a Lego game”
Antoinette came from Basel: “What’s quite amazing is that once you have the root of a word, you can make five or six words: the adjective, the verb, the noun, the opposite. I still have a little trouble speaking it, but I understand it“.”I like his logic” adds Didier,It’s a language without exception in which we add suffixes or prefixes, it’s enjoyable, like a game of Lego“.
A language which is not in decline, far from it according to Bruno Flochon: “Today, we are seeing progress thanks to social networks. There are a lot of videos online, there are applications, so all these new technologies simplify the distribution of Esperanto“.
The end of the congress, dedicated to peace, is scheduled for Sunday at noon, workshops are also open to beginners or people who would like to discover this language.
