I learned Esperanto when I was in grad school, just to support what I thought then (and think now) was a wonderful idea. It's easy, and it works -- in a few weeks you can have regular conversations with people who don't speak your native language, nor you theirs. To all the objections I've ever heard raised against the idea or use of Esperanto, some spurious and some valid, I have just this one reply: it's easy, and it works. I still don't really understand why it has never made much headway. - Bill Hooker