As a budding Esperantist, it seems only fitting that I have a few decent books. I'll probably ask for one or two of these for Christmas.

Where could I obtain any decent Esperanto books, and which ones should I get? Which would you consider to be the best dictionary (either EO-only, or EO-EN) ?

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Kaj tie ĉi

This is actually a commonly asked topic here so by using search you should be able to get a healthy amount of answers instantly! (man I love the future! I should really stop living in the 90's though...)

Ah I also thought of this. I haven't actually read it but I've heard that it was pretty good and it was advertised on the top of this site not long ago.

Another good book which a fellow Esperantists gave to me is Colloquial Esperanto/Ĉiutaga Esperanto by Don Lord which has a vast collection of EO articles in a single book, one of the best foreign language readers I've ever read (by reader, I mean that it's designed for learners, not that it has bilingual texts and inline lessons - it does however give tips along the way with more obscure vocab).

Scalex:Where could I obtain any decent Esperanto books?

In the UK I recommend the EAB's online shop.

Scalex:Which ones should I get?

Since you are a beginner, I suggest the DVD film of Gerda Malaperis! (The book is also in print). You may also find useful Heather Amery's Mil unuaj vortoj to build up basic vocabulary. A biography such as Marjorie Boulton's Zamenhof: creator of Esperanto or the comic book version Zamenhof, bildrakonte by Ghislaine Tilleux is well worth considering. Among textbooks in print, Richardson has a good reputation and has a lot of practice reading material.

Scalex:Which would you consider to be the best dictionary?

The best dictionary for beginners is that by Wells, and my information is that a new edition may be out in a few months. Used copies can be bought over the internet. The next best one for beginners is by Andrew McLinen.

If I were you, I would not buy a dictionary until the new edition of the Wells comes out. It far surpasses any other En-Eo/Eo-En dictionary that I'm aware of. It will be out in the next year, though I'm not sure when.

In general, if you're looking for books written IN Esperanto, I recommend going for a book of short stories. It is so hard to get through a whole novel when your language level isn't very high, and it gets frustrating and you want to give up. With short stories, you only have to read ten pages or so to get a complete story. You feel a nice sense of accomplishment that you finished something. I like the story collections by Sten Johansson.

If you don't mind reading ebooks you could download the Esperanto Book Collection which is widely available over Bit Torrent. Search in Google for "Esperanto Book Collection" and you'll find endless download links.

I believe the copyright has expired on the collection so there should be no legal issues. Here's the listing of books included:

* Eo - Alos & Velkov - Tabuaj vortoj en Esperanto.pdf 0 Mb
* Eo - Andersen, Hans Christian - Fabeloj 1.pdf 1 Mb
* Eo - Andersen, Hans Christian - Fabeloj 2.pdf 2 Mb
* Eo - Andersen, Hans Christian - Fabeloj 3.pdf 2 Mb
* Eo - Andersen, Hans Christian - Fabeloj 4.pdf 2 Mb
* Eo - Arbes, Jakub - Rakontoj.pdf 0 Mb
* Eo - Baudouin, Charles - La Arto de Memdisciplino.pdf 0 Mb
* Eo - Baum, L.Frank - Doroteo kaj la Sorcxisto en Oz.pdf 5 Mb
* Eo - Baum, L.Frank - Glinda de Oz.pdf 3 Mb
* Eo - Baum, L.Frank - La Birdotimigilo de Oz.pdf 5 Mb
* Eo - Baum, L.Frank - La Eksterordinara Lando Oz.pdf 5 Mb
* Eo - Baum, L.Frank - La Magio de Oz.pdf 5 Mb
* Eo - Baum, L.Frank - La Mikscxifona knabino de Oz.pdf 13 Mb
* Eo - Baum, L.Frank - La Perdito Princino de Oz.pdf 6 Mb
* Eo - Baum, L.Frank - La Smeralda Urbo de Oz..pdf 6 Mb
* Eo - Baum, L.Frank - La Stana Lignohakisto de Oz.pdf 5 Mb
* Eo - Baum, L.Frank - La mirinda sorcxisto de Oz.pdf 17 Mb
* Eo - Baum, L.Frank - La vojo al Oz.pdf 4 Mb
* Eo - Baum, L.Frank - Ozma de Oz.pdf 4 Mb
* Eo - Baum, L.Frank - Rinkitinko en Oz.pdf 6 Mb
* Eo - Baum, L.Frank - Tiktoko de Oz.pdf 7 Mb
* Eo - Beaucaire, Louis - Kruko kaj Baniko en Bervalo.pdf 0 Mb
* Eo - Bengtsson, Frans G. - Orm la rugxa.pdf 2 Mb
* Eo - Bergman, Sten - Tra sovagxa Kamcxatko.pdf 8 Mb
* Eo - Bjornson, Bjornstjerne - Synnove Solbakken.pdf 0 Mb
* Eo - Borroughs, Edgar Rice - Princino de Marso.pdf 1 Mb
* Eo - Boulton, Marjorie - Ne nur leteroj de plum-amikoj.pdf 0 Mb
* Eo - Bronte, Charlotte - Jane Eyre 1.pdf 2 Mb
* Eo - Bronte, Charlotte - Jane Eyre 2.pdf 2 Mb
* Eo - Bukowski, Charles - Kie brulas, gxentlemanoj.pdf 0 Mb
* Eo - Bunin, Ivan - Facila spiro.pdf 0 Mb
* Eo - Cankar, Ivan - La domo de Maria helpantino.pdf 1 Mb
* Eo - Capek, Karel - La blanka malsano.pdf 0 Mb
* Eo - Capek, Karel - Libro de apokrifoj.pdf 0 Mb
* Eo - Capek, Karel - Milito kontraux salamandroj.pdf 1 Mb
* Eo - Capek, Karel - Nau fabeloj.pdf 1 Mb
* Eo - Capek, Karel - R.U.R..pdf 0 Mb
* Eo - Carlsson, Magda - Sveda poemaro.pdf 2 Mb
* Eo - Carroll, Lewis - La aventuroj de Alico en Mirlando.pdf 2 Mb
* Eo - Carroll, Lewis - La aventuroj de Alico sub la Tero.pdf 6 Mb

..Oops got cut off. Anyway there are dozens more.

erinja:If I were you, I would not buy a dictionary computer until the new edition of the Wells new Apple tablet comes out. It far surpasses any other En-Eo/Eo-En dictionary anything that I'm aware of.

A little joke for those keeping an eye on recent tech news.

But anyway I'm curious, in what kind of way(s) does it surpass other dictionaries? (I was going to say "what kind of features will it have" when I thought of the Apple Tablet joke)

Haha, I'm dedicated non-buyer of Apple products, so it's funny that it was my post that you edited in that way, because I will never, ever be purchasing an Apple Tablet (or whatever else that they come up with and charge a lot of money for because it looks pretty)

The Wells dictionary is not just a dictionary. It has a grammar guide in the front, with examples. The grammar guide has a list of all of the official and most of the unofficial affixes, with examples, so you can see how to use them properly. When I was a beginner, I referred to that grammar guide constantly, when I wasn't sure how to say something.

The other dictionaries are fine, but they are just dictionaries. The grammar guide is what makes the Wells dictionary really special, and invaluable for learners.

Haha well I personally like Apple products but only because they look nice and do stuff well as far as I'm concerned (it appeals to my minimalistic, messy and otherwise oximoronic self), but this speculation* about the Apple tablet has got me wishing that it doesn't come out just to spite everyone

Being a more experienced learner the Wells might not be the thing for me (price vs. need) but that would have been very nice to have one or two years ago - if I had a Mandarin dictionary with that I would be very very happy.

Anyway thanks for the answer! Heard that Wells was good, just wasn't sure what it was that was actually good

*Speculation as in magazines making "Apple Tablet" versions of their publications (e.g. Wired), even though Apple have not even hinted that they are even thinking of making a tablet. See why I want the tablet to end up being nonexistent?

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Since this is the English forum, please include an English translation with all messages posted here

There seem to be a lot of language errors on the page you cite, I wouldn't really recommend it to beginners.