Reading on Your Own
Esperanto Reading 1
Chapter 10 · Reading on Your Own
🧭 Reading on Your Own — Legi memstare
The first nine chapters gave you a method and a range of texts. This last chapter is about what comes next: the dictionaries to keep at hand, the places where Esperanto is written every day, a plan for regular reading and a review of everything you have practised.
Your toolkit: dictionaries
| Dictionary | What it is |
|---|---|
| Reta Vortaro (ReVo) | A free multilingual online dictionary launched in 1997. Each headword is defined in Esperanto, with examples, and has translations into various national languages. It grew out of the printed Plena Vortaro de Esperanto (1930). |
| Plena Ilustrita Vortaro (PIV) | The standard monolingual reference dictionary, first compiled in 1970 and freely consultable online since 2010. |
Both define words in Esperanto, so they double as reading practice. Because the definitions use the same word-building you know, you can often follow them: a lernejo is explained with words you can take apart. For quick translations you can also use a bilingual dictionary, but try the Esperanto definition first.
Where to read
- Free texts. Esperanto Wikisource (Vikifontaro) holds older texts, such as the poems and proverbs of Chapters 6 to 8. Project Gutenberg and Faded Page (Canada) also carry Esperanto writings.
- Magazines. Monato is a news magazine that also publishes some fiction; Literatura Foiro and Beletra Almanako are literary magazines.
- Books. The Universal Esperanto Association's book service offers around 4,000 titles. See Chapter 9 for authors.
- Your own writing. Write a postcard, a forum post or a short story (Chapters 3 and 5) and exchange it with another reader.
A reading plan
This plan is a suggestion from this course. It assumes about fifteen minutes a day:
| Week | Read | Focus |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Short notices and messages (Chapters 2 and 3) | Speed: get the point in seconds. |
| 2 | A graded story or novella (Chapter 5, Chapter 9) | Follow the plot without translating. |
| 3 | An article from Monato or another magazine | Participles and long sentences (Chapter 4). |
| 4 | A poem by Zamenhof, then one by a modern poet | Rhythm, rhyme and word order (Chapters 6 and 8). |
A last reading
Here is a text written for this course. It repeats the advice of the chapters, so reading it is also a review. Read it once without help, then check the list:
Kiel legi en Esperanto
| Esperanto | English | Esperanto | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| maltrankviliĝi | to become anxious, to worry | subjekto | subject |
| dividi | to divide | afikso | affix |
| bari | to block | vojo | way, road |
| rimarki | to notice | fariĝi | to become |
Show a translation
When you read a new text, do not worry. First read to the end of the sentence. Then find the verb and the subject. If you do not know a word, divide it into a root and affixes. Use the dictionary only when the word blocks your way. Read every day, even if only ten minutes, and after a few months you will notice that reading has become easy.
What you have learned
| Chapter | Skill |
|---|---|
| 1 Reading Strategies | Read the endings, take words apart, use known roots and context. |
| 2 Notices and Everyday Texts | Signs, adverts, timetables, menus and messages; the Bonvolu request. |
| 3 Letters and Messages | Openings, closings and forum posts. |
| 4 Participles in Real Text | The six participles and finding the main verb. |
| 5 A Short Story | Following a plot, and lia versus sia. |
| 6 Zamenhof's Own Words | Reading La Espero and a preface from the Dua Libro. |
| 7 Idiom and Style | Proverbs from the Proverbaro Esperanta, and formal and friendly tone. |
| 8 Poetry and Song | Stress, rhyme and free word order in verse. |
| 9 The Original Literature | Authors, works and where to find them. |
✏️ Try It Yourself — Ekzercoj
A review of the whole course. Say the answer first, then click to check.
1. Name the four steps of the reading method from Chapter 1.
Show answer
Read the endings; take unknown words apart into root and affixes; recognise roots you already know; use the context and keep reading.
2. A sign says Fermita. What does it mean and what ending does it have?
Show answer
"Closed". The ending -ita marks a passive participle of a completed action.
3. Which opening and closing suit a formal letter?
Show answer
Estimata sinjoro, to open, and Kun saluto, to close.
4. Make the active present participle of dormi and the passive past participle of skribi.
Show answer
dormanta and skribita.
5. Choose lia or sia: Petro perdis ___ ŝlosilon.
Show answer
sian: the key is the subject's own.
6. Complete the proverb: Komenco bona — laboro ___.
Show answer
duona.
7. Which syllable of familion is stressed, and what is the rule?
Show answer
li (fa-mi-LI-on): the second-to-last syllable.
8. Who first wrote the poem "La Espero", and what is it often used as?
Show answer
L. L. Zamenhof. It is often used as an unofficial anthem or hymn of the Esperanto movement.
9. Name one author and one book from Chapter 9.
Show answer
For example William Auld and La infana raso, or Claude Piron and Gerda malaperis!.
10. Write three sentences in Esperanto about what you will read next.
Show answer
One possibility: Mi volas legi novelon. Mi legos dek minutojn ĉiutage. Poste mi provos legi poemon.
Words used in this chapter
maltrankviliĝi worry · dividi divide · radiko root · afikso affix · vortaro dictionary · bari block · vojo way · rimarki notice · fariĝi become · subjekto subject · legado reading · frazo sentence · teksto text