la loko on danish national radio

Art group wants to spread Esperanto

The international language Esperanto is not something one encounters much in one’s everyday—but the language manages on the other hand to create a community among those who actually speak it.

This says Olof Olsson, who together with his colleague Daniel Salomon will teach Esperanto to everyone interested on Sunday at Den Frie Udstillingsbygning in Copenhagen.

A cool feeling of community

Here the two of them will give a crash course in Esperanto, so that more people can participate in the Esperanto-speaking herd of women and men.

- The coolest thing about Esperanto is that when one uses the language together with other people. There is a strong feeling that this language is something we share.

In contrast to for instance French, German or Italian, one does not have to act French, German or Italian in order to speak the language perfectly. There is no nationality connected to the language, and therefore it is easier for people to relax when a conversation is conducted in Esperanto, Olsson explains.

- It seems like it is easier for people to be themselves when they speak Esperanto, than when they speak other foreign languages, he says to DR Kultur.

Esperanto in the field

Olof Olsson and Daniel Salomon have together founded the art group La Loko, which means ‘the place’ in Esperanto. The group certainly works in different ways to spread the international language—the two of them have both made a pilot for an Esperanto TV-series and formed an Esperanto football team.

[translated from Danish]

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