“MI ne scias pri kio vi parolas”, is probably what you’re thinking as you read this.

It translates as “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

But to a number of linguists in north Essex, this is a basic phrase from a world language they are more than familiar with.

Boydell’s Farm, in Wethersfield, is widely known as Britain’s only farm with Esperanto speaking staff.

This rural location is also proud to be the hub of the region’s Esperanto club, which is appealing for new members.

The farm’s semi-retired owner Roy Threadgold, 68, who is chairman of eastern region Esperanto group, first took an interest in the language when he was just 14.

He was looking through a dictionary his grandmother had given him when he came across the word Esperanto, and was fascinated when he read the definition. Esperanto is defined as a “universal artificial language”.

Twenty-five years later, Mr Threadgold took lessons in the language and since then he has not looked back.

He said: “I found it very easy to pick up, five to ten times easier than French or German.

“There are no exceptions to the rules, unlike English. It’s very regular and has a strong framework of 16 rules of grammar.”

Mr Threadgold explained the definite article is always la (‘the’ in English) and there are no indefinite articles (such as ‘a’ in English).

Nouns – words that refer to people, places or things – all end in ‘o’ and they take ‘j’ for the plural.

While all the present tense verbs (such as he sells, she goes, I say) end in ‘as’.

Grandfather Mr Threadgold said: “It’s a wonderful communication tool.

“It’s just sad there aren’t more of us. In countries like Brazil and China, Esperanto is very strong.”

Esperanto was created in 1887 by Lazar Zamenhof, in response to ethnic divisions in his native city of Bialystok in Poland.

It was hoped the universal language, which sounds similar to Spanish and Italian, would break down barriers between people from different cultures.

The language has 23 consonants, five vowels, and two semivowels.

In 2009, it was estimated about 160,000 to 300,000 people spoke the language actively or fluently throughout the world.

Mr Threadgold has put his Esperanto to good use with foreign visitors from Russia and China in the past.

In the Braintree district, the Esperanto club has about a dozen members and has been going for more than 20 years.

Fluent Esperanto speaker Bernice Scott, 83, of Sible Hedingham has read the Lord of the Rings and various Shakespeare plays in the language.

The music teacher, who speaks French and German, said: “I looked at Esperanto and didn’t like it at first. It didn’t look right.

“But, because my husband had been very interested in it, I carried on studying and eventually became embroiled in it and couldn’t leave it alone.”

To contact the Esperanto group, go to www.boydellsdairy.co.uk