>>In meeting Sephardi Jews over the years, I have found many who speak Esperanto fluently.

David, that's fascinating! Thanks for that. I guess Esperanto is more adaptable to neologisms than is Ladino, and could well serve as a lingua franca .
Now I have another question: is the Ladino spoken by Sfardis the same as the Ladino (Rhaeto-Romansch) spoken in parts of Switzerland?