"Is anyone here familiar with this language? And is it still in use? And where exactly is it being used?" Its speakers are scattered all over the globe: Pakistan, Indonesia, China, Japan, Portugal and so on. I’ve made friends around the world through Esperanto that I would never have been able to communicate with otherwise. Over recent years I have had guided tours of Berlin, Douala, Yerevan and Milan in this planned language. I have discussed philosophy with a Slovene poet, humour on television with a Bulgarian TV producer. I’ve discussed what life was like in East Berlin before the wall came down and in Armenia when it was a Soviet republic, how to cook perfect spaghetti, the advantages and disadvantages of monarchy, and so on. I recommend Esperanto, not as a hobby but as a very practical way to overcome language barriers.