BBC - Staffordshire - Barlaston in Staffordshire

BBC - Staffordshire - Barlaston in Staffordshire - the UK's home of Esperanto

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2005
Language sans frontieres

Esperanto House

How many people realise that, tucked away in Barlaston, a village outside Stoke on Trent, is the headquarters of a national association with links all round the world.
Paul Gubbins talks Esperanto....

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:: See Also»

Guide to Esperanto
All you ever wanted to know about Esperanto but were too afraid to ask!

Learn Esperanto
An online guide to learning Esperanto.

Esperanto House
A few more words, and a few more facts concerning Esperanto in Staffordshire

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I'm not talking about Barlaston housing the headquarters of some pottery company employing hundreds of people or, come to that, any other vast industrial concern.

What I'm referring to is the office and administrative centre of Esperanto-Asocio de Britio which, in English, is the Esperanto Association of Britain.

What is….?

Hold on. What's Esperanto … and why's it in Barlaston (in the grounds of Wedgwood Memorial College there)?

Well, quite simply, Esperanto is a language. Actually, it's the international language … much easier to learn than Spanish, French, German or even English.

And it's easier because it was designed to be easier (no irregular verbs or having to think if a word is masculine or feminine - remember all that nonsense from school?).

Designer language

People boast about designer jeans and designer shirts. Well, Esperanto speakers have a designer language … and are proud of it, because it gives them friends and contacts all over the world.

Fact file

A pub in Stoke on Trent has an Esperanto name. The Green Star at Smallthorne is also known as La Stella Verde

But wait a moment. I bet you believe that…. no-one speaks this language … it died the death, along with coal fires, black-and-white TV and soggy railway sandwiches…etc etc.

Wrong. Type the word 'Esperanto' into any computer search-engine and see how many sites come up.

I got over two and a half million when I tried … not bad for a language supposedly no-one uses.

Esperanto online

And, talking of the internet, it's entirely possible to learn Esperanto online (many new esperantists have discovered and mastered Esperanto in this way).

Check out a language course to get started or, for more information, try a site which will answer all your questions (and don't miss the fun introduction)!

Why North Staffordshire?

Okay. So what's Esperanto doing in Barlaston?

Well, the Esperanto-Asocio de Britio was based for many years in London.

A few years ago the association decided to sell its premises (the building was costing a lot to maintain) and use the money to convert an outhouse at Wedgwood Memorial College - in Barlaston.

The college was chosen because it has a long history - since 1960 - of running Esperanto courses.

Esperanto library

Now the association has a bright and cheerful office, with a bookshop, and a modern home for its large Esperanto library.

The library also doubles as a conference room, and above the office and library are three bedrooms bearing the names of eminent Esperantists associated with the college (including Horace Barks, former lord mayor of Stoke-on-Trent, who helped set up the first Esperanto courses at Wedgwood Memorial College).

That's why Barlaston - at least for British esperantists - is the centre of the world.

It's at the centre because, by joining Esperanto-Asocio de Britio, they have links to other Esperanto associations, including the international 'umbrella' organisation Universala Esperanto-Asocio which, among other things, arranges a major Esperanto gathering held each year in different country.

Estoril

If you're ever in Barlaston, call in at Esperanto House (it's next to the part of the Wedgwood College known as "Estoril).

You'll receive a great welcome from Viv O'Dunne, the office manager, who will tell you about Esperanto and give you details of courses and other information.

And, who knows, you might soon be exchanging emails with other Esperanto speakers in Austria, Hungary or Poland, or even further afield, such as Brazil or China, and making arrangements to go and visit them. Because, with Esperanto, you've got the world at your fingertips.