Esperanto is the most widely spoken constructed international auxiliary language and its tidy roots and suffixes are well suited to playing scrabble: for those of a certain mindset, playing in Esperanto is even more compelling. A recent game in London featured words like acajeto (a little bit of dirt) and artamehoj (echoes of the love of art).

“A language isn’t something you learn so much as something you join,” says Arika Okrent, author of a book on artificial argots. A language is in fact closely related to a person’s culture. The vocabulary and semantics of Esperanto are derived from European languages, so both the grammar and the ‘international’ vocabulary are difficult for many Asians, among others, and gives an unfair advantage to speakers of European languages.”

Esperanto has failed its founder’s aim to create a politically neutral language that would foster peace and international understanding between people. This is probably due to the fact that Esperanto doesn’t represent a specific ethnic culture, so nobody in particular has a strong interest in using it.

It seems then, cultural awareness and regional knowledge must still play a major role in communication across languages. Fortunately, experts can be found – to communicate effectively and translate properly you can rely on SanTranslate, your professional language service.