Someone recently posted a comment asking about good ways to begin learning Esperanto. It’s a great question – after all, everyone must start at the beginning when learning a new language! I already posted a brief comment specifically for that person’s benefit, but since there might be more of you out there with the same question, I figured I would mention a few things about beginner’s content.

From my personal experience, I highly recommend any postal course you can find for Esperanto. I used the free course from ELNA (Esperanto League of North America), since I live in Usono. From what I’ve heard, there are similar courses offered the world over. One free course can be found here. You only pay the cost of the envelopes for sending in your responses, and for a return envelope. I found the pace of the postal course to be perfect. The sender paces your language learning over a series of 10-15 lessons, and the speed is quite casual – you simply send in for the next lesson when you’re done with your current set.

If you would rather not wait for the mail to come in order to learn more Esperanto, there are some products offered by Transparent Language that are particularly helpful for intermediate or slightly-above-beginner levels. Transparent Language’s products are phenomenal for learning vast amounts of new vocabulary. Once you learn the basics of grammar, a TL Esperanto program can greatly increase your skills.

Lastly, I can recommend lernu.net. They have a good deal of content for beginners, as well as online tests for when you feel you’re ready for them.

Once you feel confident enough in your Esperanto skills, move on to books and poetry! Immersion is the key to mastering any language. Bonan sxancon!