Kevin Burnette

 The wave of international communication continues to flow across the world with the multi-lingual language of Esperanto, according to local expert Betty Donoghue.

 Donoghue and her husband, Chuck, both of Boone, attended an International Esperantists Conference in Ludlow, Vt., where former United Nations interpreter and Esperantist Claude Piron spoke of the obstacles that Esperanto has had to overcome to become a universal language.

 Other than the plan for making Esperanto the international communication link, the conference offered the Donoghues information on world concepts and on the breaking of communication walls.

 The Donoghues hope to extend their interest in international communication by bringing their knowledge to the Appalachian State University campus.

 The Donoghues have been working with the foreign language department to organize an International Language Club.  The Donoghues hope to have the proper sponsoring and organization to begin meetings within the next two to three weeks.

 Betty Donoghue described Esperanto as the product of worldwide support for a universal language.

 The language itself is a marvel of linguistics, using all languages within its dialect, Donoghue said.

 It could be compared to English, in that the language has adjusted foreign words to make them a part of the language.  Esperanto does this with all languages, Donoghue said.

 Esperanto is based on Indo-European dialect with the mechanics of every word spelled just as it sounds, with no exceptions to the rules, said Donoghue.  That is how it can take in a multitude of languages and maintain its prime structure.

 "Anyone can learn to speak (Esperanto) because accents don't show up within it," said Donoghue.

 Donoghue and her husband, Chuck, both agree that the language is so simple, the rules and basics of it could fit on a postcard.

 Esperanto was invented in 1887 by a man named Zamenhof, and was first distributed in Russia.  Over the last century the language has had spurts of adoption and  persecution.

 The League of Nations adopted Esperanto after World War I but it never gained much momentum in the world.

 In more recent times, the United Nations has approached it several times, but has never done anything serious with it.

 Some Eastern European countries have made Esperanto their second language.

 "It was always adopted but never funded, which was what Esperanto needed desperately," said Chuck Donoghue.

 Esperanto has been appreciated enough for it to be found in some of the largest universities in the country and around the world.  San Francisco State and Berkeley Universities have Esperanto classes  within their foreign language curriculum, said Donoghue.
 

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