Last updated: June 8, 2017
So you want to learn Esperanto? Well, there are lots and lots of tools and resources available – most of them absolutely FREE – that can help you along in your journey in Esperantujo.
Here are some of the resources that I and other Esperanto learners have found most useful. For the most part, these resources are only available in English. I will note any resources that are available in other languages.
Many of the resources I list here are also listed at www.afterduolingo.com. Just because you finished the tree doesn’t mean that you are done with Duolingo! Keep doing the “strengthen” exercises. You will encounter new vocabulary as well as longer and more challenging sentences to read and translate.
If your favorite app, book, YouTube channel or website isn’t included here, please send me an email and tell me about it. This page will be updated regularly as I find new materials.
Apps
Note: For many of the apps listed below, there are also web versions of the app that are available using a web browser, regardless of the platform you are using.
Duolingo – Available for Android, iOS, Windows 10 & OSX (via app & web browser,) Windows Phone (FREE)
Lernu! – Available for Android, Windows/OSX/iOS/Linux (via web browser) (FREE)
Memrise – Available for Android & iOS, Windows/OSX/Linux (via web browser) (FREE)
Blogs
La Verda Vero – News in Esperanto. Follow it on Twitter.
Pri Esperanto – My own personal blog. Please check it out and let me know what you think! In English, Spanish and Esperanto.
Teo kaj Libroj – A blog about politics, economics and religion. In Esperanto.
Books & Audiobooks
SPECIAL NOTE: There are several older books about Esperanto that are available via Project Gutenberg or Amazon.com. While these books are certainly great for historical reference, they are not suitable for the modern learner of Esperanto. These were written when Esperanto was still in its infancy, and many of the authors were themselves beginners when they wrote their books. Be especially careful when looking for e-books, as these older titles are no longer under copyright and some have re-packaged them and made them available for sale. They are no different from the originals, so do not be deceived by fancy covers. Check the actual publication date of the first edition of the book before buying it. There may be good information contained within them, but focus more on more recently published books and resources.
Make use of these titles instead:
Esperanto: Learning and Using the International Language (4th Edition) by
Rekta Metodo de Esperanto (in Esperanto and Portuguese) by Luis Guilherme Souto Jardim – a PDF version is available for free
Mastering the Correlatives in Esperanto: Learning from Examples – (Kindle e-book edition, US$0.99) by Sylvan Zaft – Available only in Amazon Kindle format.
Verkoj de Claude Piron – Claude Piron was a well-known Esperantist and author. This page lists his various books, some of which are available for free.
Additionally, the retbutiko at esperanto-usa.org offers several free Esperanto resources.
Note that there is a separate section for books and websites related to dictionaries and grammar.
Courses & Learning Tools
ClozeMaster – Helps to learn a language in context. There is a good Esperanto section for English-speakers. ClozeMaster is free, but there is a pro version available that has some additional features.
Duolingo – Over one million people have used Duolingo to learn Esperanto. (I happen to be one of them.) It is a fun and easy way to learn Esperanto, or any of the many other languages they teach. Users can access Duolingo courses using a web browser or using an app. There are apps for Android, iOS, Windows Phone and Windows 10. Best part? Duolingo is FREE!
Don’t forget to also join the Duolingo Esperanto Learners group on Facebook!
Lernu.net – A multi-lingual site providing free Esperanto courses. Lernu! is also available using a web browser and as an app for Android and iOS. The Lernu! website also includes a vortaro and a section on Esperanto’s grammar.
Memrise – Another free and very useful tool is Memrise, which is available using a web browser or an app for Android and iOS. It has many Esperanto-related “mini courses” that are like using flash-cards for rote memorization. A great companion to Duolingo, Memrise’s Esperanto courses help one drill on specific aspects of vocabulary and/or grammar.
Here are some of the Memrise courses that I have found to be more useful, in alphabetical order:
- Ace [Esperanto’s] Correlatives Like a Native
- Basic Esperanto Prepositions and Transition Words
- Country Names in Esperanto
- Esperanto Affixes
- Esperanto Alphabet Like a Native
TinyCards – A set of digital flash-cards containing 50 of the most common Esperanto verbs.
Dictionaries (Online, Apps & Print)
Note: Not all Esperanto vortaroj (dictionaries) are equal! Never assume that the definition you find is 100% accurate. I suggest cross-checking different vortaroj to make sure that the information you find is correct. Here is a list, in alphabetical order. (No endorsement is implied.)
Dict.Land English-Esperanto Dictionary – I use the app version of this vortaro on my Windows 10 PC, my Windows Phone and my Android tablet. (I was unable to locate a version for iOS.) I consult it first in most cases. There is also a web version of the dictionary, but I much prefer the apps’ interfaces. (Note that this is a user-contributed project, so there are potential errors in it. Be sure to cross-check against another vortaro.)
English-Esperanto-English Dictionary (2nd Edition, 2010), by J. C. Wells – I do not yet own this dictionary, but it has been highly recommended to me by several experienced Esperantists. The price is steep for a paperback, about US$30.00; hardback US$40.00, but it is of high quality. This book is available via the Esperanto-USA Retbutiko, with a 10% discount for Esperanto-USA members. It is also available on Amazon in paper format, but not in Kindle format. I hope that someone will produce an e-book version soon.
Esperanto Panorama Esperanto-English Dictionary – A free list of some of the most commonly-used words in Esperanto, with English translations. This is handy because it is presented in a single page, in an alphabetical list rather than using a search engine. In fact, the best way to use it is to use the browser’s own Find function. Using this method, it can be used as an English-Esperanto dictionary as well.
Glosbe English-Esperanto Dictionary – Free and very easy to use. I use it frequently, as it includes examples of actual usage. However, I do not consider it to be authoritative and will always compare translations with another vortaro.)
Komputeko – Free and useful compilation of computer and technology-related terms in several different languages, including Esperanto. Currently, the site has over 9,000 words in Esperanto!
Lernu.net – This is a free Esperanto-English vortaro, provided along with Lernu.net’s Esperanto course. This is a fairly trustworthy vortaro, but again I suggest that one always cross-check one vortaro against another one.
Reta Vortaro – A free, multilingual Esperanto vortaro. One can search in Esperanto or in a number of other languages. In my testing of this site, I searched using words in Esperanto, English, Spanish and Portuguese. Many other languages are also included in the search functionality, and entries in the vortaro have a section listing translations into many languages.
Vortaro.net – This is a free, online Esperanto vortaro. This is not an English-Esperanto vortaro; all definitions are presented in Esperanto. In my opinion, this is most suitable for a more advanced learner, not for komencantoj.
Esperanto Societies, Clubs & Associations
Esperanta-Societo de Metropola Atlanto – ESMA is the local Esperanto organization for people living in Metro Atlanta, Georgia and in North Georgia. ESMA holds monthly meetings – renkontiĝoj – and works to promote the awareness and appreciation of Esperanto. Find them on Facebook and Twitter, too!
Esperanto USA – “Esperanto-USA is the non-profit educational association of Esperantists in the United States who have a common interest in using and promoting Esperanto.” Note that anyone who has completed an introductory Esperanto course (such as Duolingo or Lernu.net) can join Esperanto USA for US$5.00 for the first year.
Events
NASK (La Nord-Amerika Somera Kursaro de Esperanto / The North American Summer Esperanto Institute) NASK is a summer study program for Esperanto immersion. It takes place every year in July at William Peace University in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Newspapers, Magazines & Journals
El Popola Ĉinio – Daily news source from China, in Esperanto. Their articles are written in an easy to understand style. It is a good source for reading material!
La Hodiaŭa Ĵurnalo – Collection of current news-related information. In Esperanto.
Libera Folio – Collection of Esperanto-related news items. In Esperanto.
Podcasts
kern.punkto.inf – Discussions of various topics. In Esperanto.
Social Media
Discord – Social media app targeting gamers, but there is a set of Esperanto channels where one can interact with other Esperantists. Free and fun to use. (I happen to be one of the moderators there.
Duolingo Esperanto Learners (Facebook group) – If you are learning Esperanto using Duolingo, be sure to join the Duolingo Esperanto Learners group on Facebook! There you will find lots of friendly people with experts who help answer your questions and patiently explain the ins-and-outs of Esperanto.
Facebook – The world’s most popular social media network is used by a surprising number of Esperanto speakers. There are many Esperanto-related groups, so check them out and meet some fellow Esperantists!
Google+ – As with Facebook, Google+ is another great social media network on which you can find many Esperantists.
Twitter – Literally thousands of Esperanto-speakers use Twitter and regularly tweet in and about the language. In fact, check out my Twitter account and follow me for my daily Esperanto tweets!
Useful Links
Listo de Rekomendataj Landnomoj – A list, in Esperanto, of official Esperanto country names.
Videos
Click here to view a list of Esperanto channels on YouTube (FREE)
American Esperantist (via YouTube) (FREE)
Five Reasons to Learn Esperanto (via YouTube) (FREE)
Lernu kun Logano (via YouTube) (FREE)
Websites
Lernu.net – “lernu! is a multilingual website that provides free courses and information on the international language Esperanto. With lernu!, you can learn Esperanto easily and free of charge.
Vikipedio – The Esperanto version of Wikipedia! It contains over 230,000 articles. It is a great source for reading material.
Pri Esperanto - About Esperanto 