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A former Mayor of Conwy has learnt how to cook the perfect spaghetti in Italy and been invited to stay in a mud hut in Cameroon after mastering the 'world's second language'.

In 1967 Bill Chapman, who can also speak Welsh, French and German, was a young man of 17 who took up learning learned Esperanto in evening classes in Leicester .

Half a century later he is still fluent and uses is exactly as it was intended - to help people from all over the world communicate regardless of their native tounge.

Esperanto was first launched in Warsaw in 1887 by Dr L.L. Zamenhof who proposed Esperanto as the world's 'second language'.

(Image: Daily Post Wales)

In recent years, Bill has had guided tours of Berlin, Douala, Yerevan and Milan through the medium of Esperanto.

He has also discussed philosophy with a Slovenian poet and even examined humour on television with a Bulgarian TV producer.

Bill, 68, said: "It's about having real conversation with ordinary people, but would be impossible without Esperanto."

"Around two million people speak it across the world," he continued.

"It's more popular in countries such as Finland as their language is not so widely spoken in other countries.

(Image: Daily Post Wales)

"In Britain it's not so popular as obviously English is the second most widely spoken language in the world after Mandarin Chinese, we are a bit spoilt really."

Bill, who lives in Deganwy, has written a new book called 'The Early History of Esperanto in the United Kingdom'.

It has taken him a decade to write it.

"I just wanted to share my passion for the language," he said.

"Being able to speak Esperanto means I can go to virtually anywhere in the world and be able to communicate.

"It means I can have access to the ordinary lives of people in that country.

"Wherever I go I find out who speaks Esperanto in the area and will meet up with them, it's always a wonderful experience to be able to speak to another person in a language that is not your own."