1. How did you get involved in Esperanto?
Internet rabbit trail . I was reading about Leonardo da Vinĉi on Wikipedia, and from there went to the Wiki on mirror-writing, and from there to the Wiki on boustrophedon. From there I followed a link to the webpage of a guy who made a program to make boustrophedon-formatted text. On that site I found some other things that somewhat interested me (I being the eccentric individual that I am), such as how to become ambidextrous (I had already done that long ago), and how to play the piano backwards (which is just the sort of thing I would try!). Well, this guy happened to be an Esperantist, and on the site there was a page about Esperanto, several parts of the site were translated into E-o, and there were animated ads for lernu.net everywhere! And I was like, "international language? What a crazy idea!" but I was curious, so I checked it out. And when I found that there are no irregular verbs, I went for it hook, line, and sinker .
2. How do you use Esperanto in your daily life?
Mostly online; here and in a few other places. I have a blog about essential oils and other Young Living products. I read stuff, like Vikipedio. I also write my journal in Esperanto (it keeps my brothers from reading it). And I listen to E-o music and stories on my mp3 player.
3. What is Esperanto doing for you?
To me, Esperanto is the oasis in the chaos of life. I remember as a kid often lying awake at night, disturbed by all the inconsistencies of English. I find it psychologically satisfying to be able to think and express myself without so many irregularities. Also, the way words are formed by putting together other words and the versatility of the roots and endings is so elegant; I love it! On top of that, there is the simple satisfaction of being able to express myself spontaneously in a different language, a thing that I always wanted, but never experienced until I learned Esperanto. I find that I can often think more clearly and better put my thoughts into words, than I can in English. In addition to all these psychological benefits, I also enjoy being able to communicate with people all over the world, who have different linguistic backgrounds.

[continued in next post...]

4. Do you feel like you're part of the Esperanto Community?
Definitely. Although I have never had the opportunity to converse in Esperanto face-to-face, I hope that I will sometime. In the meantime, I still feel that I am part of the community; it's "us," not "them," even when I'm talking about past events, where I myself wasn't there, I still say "we" or "us."
5. What does the Esperanto Community do for you?
We have very interesting conversations, and help each other with learning and understanding Esperanto. We tell each other about our culture; our ways of thinking. We are friends; that in itself is a very valuable thing.
6. What identities are formulated through your use of Esperanto?
I am an Esperantist. That gives me the identity, in some people's minds, of a freak or a weirdo, but I don't care about that. I am someone who wants a better way to communicate, and who wants to communicate with the rest of the world on a level playing field. I am someone who believes that all people are equally valuable, and not that Americans are better than everybody else. I am someone who wants to understand the world by talking to people outside my own little box, and seeing things from their perspective.
7. Why do you continue to use Esperanto?
I can't imagine life without it. My Esperantiĝo was one of the best things that ever happened to me. It makes me happy, helps me make sense of the chaos in my life and my own brain, and is the way to communicate with many of my friends. If I stopped using it, I wouldn't be able to talk to those people anymore. Besides that, it is a part not just of what I do, but who I am. Even if I learned 50 languages, Esperanto would still have a special place in my heart.
8. What does access to an Esperanto Chat Room or Forum mean to you?
It is my primary access to Esperantujo. It is where I connect with most of my Esperantist friends, and where I can get answers to my questions. Without it, I would feel even more isolated than I already do. Even the people I communicate with outside the forum, are people I originally met in the forum, or on another website such as lang-8.com.

American here (New England)

1. How did you get involved in Esperanto?
About 10-11 years ago a friend (he's a Star Trek fan) got the movie 'Incubus' on dvd. While I liked the movie it was the language used in it that intrigued me more. I'd never heard of Esperanto before that. I thought it would be neat to learn Esperanto then but never committed. After years of wanting to I couldn't wait anymore so I have started learning Esperanto for a few months now. I have an uncertain future health wise so its now or never.

2. How do you use Esperanto in your daily life?
Currently I do something Esperanto related virtually every day to help me learn it. Studying, reading, listening to music and browsing the forums here.

3. What is Esperanto doing for you?
It is really helping me relearn grammar. Its helping to keep the brain active and sharp. Esperanto should also be a great springboard to another more complex language which I'll start on next fall.

4. Do you feel like you're part of the Esperanto Community?
Not yet.

5. What does the Esperanto Community do for you?
It has made loads of great websites full of valuable information for free. Seems like everybody is willing to help at the drop of a hat.

6. What identities are formulated through your use of Esperanto?
None at this time

7. Why do you continue to use Esperanto?
I'm probably not qualified to give a useful answer yet. But currently I must use it in order to learn it.

8. What does access to an Esperanto Chat Room or Forum mean to you?
Access to the Esperanto forum here means a lot. Very helpful.

1. How did you get involved in Esperanto?
Back when I was first in college some random internet searching led me to the subject of human vocal interfacing with computers, whiich led me to Lojban, which led me to Esperanto. With so few Lojban speakers I figured Esperanto was likely to be more useful, so I dabbled in it for a few months. Then a year later I did a presentation over Esperanto in my communications class, which rekindled my interest but still didn't start the fire. Then one summer I got a postcard on Lernu from a user from Hungary. I replied and we had a nice conversation (with him correcting my many errors), and then I was hooked.

2. How do you use Esperanto in your daily life?
I usually read through the forums here and occasionally use the instant messenger to chat with others. I am also reading a few books and I listen to music sometimes in the car. I wear a green star lapel pin on my jacket/coat, but I have yet to find anyone who knows what it means. I also read some news sites in Esperanto.

3. What is Esperanto doing for you?
Esperanto is allowing me to become fluent in another language, something that is impractical for me as an American who has no use for foreign languages in his work. I studied Spanish for years in school, but I never got halfway to being able to use it in any meaningful way (and I always got As). It also connects me to a large group of "samideanoj", and also to people with very different backgrounds. It was a strange but nice feeling the first time I conversed with someone who knew no English. It is nice to hear perspectives from people on the other side of the world, and comforting to see how many are just "normal people".

4. Do you feel like you're part of the Esperanto Community?
Yes, even though I've been to no in-person events. I participate enough here to feel like a small part of the community at least.

5. What does the Esperanto Community do for you?
They give me good websites with good learning material and access to forums and other ways to practice its use. They organize events, such as the upcoming 100th UK in France which I plan to attend.

6. What identities are formulated through your use of Esperanto?
Esperantist, free-thinker, citizen of the world, etc. I suppose Esperanto would make me somewhat of an idealist as well.

7. Why do you continue to use Esperanto?
It is fun and engaging, and I'm constantly learning and meeting new people. It gives me the use of a second language to talk and think in, and most of my grammar knowledge is thanks to studying Esperanto (and formerly Spanish).

8. What does access to an Esperanto Chat Room or Forum mean to you?
Everything, since that is the only way I use it.

1. How did you get involved in Esperanto?

Am interested in languages, and have known about Esperanto for years. I had some books in the house, and started looking up stuff online.

2. How do you use Esperanto in your daily life?

Not at all. I have only just started learning.

3. What is Esperanto doing for you?

Stopping me going prematurely senile. However, I can't say very much in it at all.

4. Do you feel like you're part of the Esperanto Community?

No. But it's early days, so it's unfair to say.

5. What does the Esperanto Community do for you?

Teach me Esperanto.

6. What identities are formulated through your use of Esperanto?

None through Esperanto specifically. Otherwise I feel Scottish, but do not relate to "Britishness" at all. I consider myself European, but not in the sense that I necessarily support everything that happens in the European government.

7. Why do you continue to use Esperanto?

It seems interesting. I've not been at it long, so can't really say.

It would also be interesting to talk to people outside the context of English, which I have already done in German.

That and eccentricity.

8. What does access to an Esperanto Chat Room or Forum mean to you?

A lot in this context. It's helping me see it used in a more natural context, and it also means that I can get grammatical help etc.