This is what Wikipedia.Org says about Esperanto's quotation mark usage:

Before computerized word processing, they reflected what the printer had available, which was often the national standard of the country where the printer was located. — Dashes, « guillemets » (often »reversed«), “double apostrophes” (also often „reversed“), and more are all found. (However, the 「East Asian」 quotes are not used, as they were designed to fit Chinese characters.) Very occasionally characters in a novel will be distinguished by individualizing the quotation marks used for them. Quotations are introduced with a comma or colon.

So, would it be okay if I were to use „these“ even though I live in the U.S.A.? I just like those better. Those and « these ». I've never seen anyone use anything different from "these".

It doesn't actually say what the standard quotation marks are for Esperanto, just what they used before.

Saluton kejos144!

I think it would be totally fine if you wanted to use „these“ even though you live in the U.S. I'm not an Esperanto expert, but I've seen all types of quotes. Just use whatever is natural for you. I come from Germany, and for that reason I like to use „these,“ despite the fact that I use "these" in my stronger/more used language. Anyway, I don't think there is a standard for Esperanto, like in many other languages...

I actually think «these» are kinda cool looking...

Randomly, Kevin

waxle:Erin or Kat? Somebody with a little more experience might be nice enough to comment...

I spend most of my Esperanto time online. Due to ASCII issues, you usually see "these" quotations online.

But I did a quick survey of my Esperanto books to see what they used. I found that my books from China, the UK, Spain, Finland, Sweden, and Germany had "these" quotes. But - an assortment of books from Switzerland, the Canary Islands (apparently at least, the publisher is listed as being in Tenerife), Germany, Switzerland, and the former Yugoslavia have an assortment of «these» and
„these“ quotes, with «these» being somewhat more prevalent. I think it has to do with the country where something was published rather than the nationality of the author, so that's what I looked at.

It's also worth noting that as far as quoting characters, a good 1/3 to 1/2 of my books used - this system instead, so there were very few quotes, only when character used sort of "verbal quotes" to indicate something.
-So the conversations are written like this. -Like how? - Just like this.

Personal opinion - use whatever quotes you want, the Esperanto language doesn't care. But be aware that if you're an American using European quotes, people will probably think you're a little strange - especially since online, pretty much everyone uses the standard American "quotes".

Erin

Hey,

Erin mentioned Esperanto books... Do you know where I could buy books in Esperanto online? Or maybe a location in Pennsylvania (I doubt there are any)?

pacepacapaco:Hey,

Erin mentioned Esperanto books... Do you know where I could buy books in Esperanto online? Or maybe a location in Pennsylvania (I doubt there are any)?

Your best bet is online.

In the US, www.esperanto-usa.org is your best bet (click on the book service link), especially since the descriptions of the books are in English.

In Europe, the UEA is your best bet. They have a much more extensive catalog and they ship their products worldwide. This is their catalog: http://katalogo.uea.org/

Unfortunately the descriptions are in Esperanto only. Also, you sort of have to know what you're searching for since they don't seem to have a list, only various search tools. But you can search by topic or whatever, you don't have to know a specific title.