Page "History of Esperanto" Paragraph 2

Zamenhof taught an early version of the language to his high-school classmates.

Then, for several years, he worked on translations and poetry to refine his creation.

In 1895 he wrote, " I worked for six years perfecting and testing the language, even though it had seemed to me in 1878 that it was already completely ready.

" When he was ready to publish, the Czarist censors would not allow it.

Stymied, he spent his time in translating works such as the Bible and Shakespeare.

This enforced delay led to continued improvement.

In July 1887 he published his Unua Libro ( First Book ), a basic introduction to the language.

This was essentially the language spoken today.