The RICHARDSON textbook is back in print and i will be bringing copies of the book to the first class so you can buy them. But if you want an alternative, you can use my own web pages as a textbook. I don't have any fantasy that this is adequate, but i don't think it's totally unreasonable as a first step.

I would really prefer that you acquire the BUTLER dictionary (which is still in print and easily available) because it is the "bible", the "Cadillac", the "Esperanto" :) of dictionaries for Esperanto to English (despite its age).

Nevertheless, for those who want to be totally paper-free, there are some ranslation resources on the 'net. Unfortunately, the best of these is not anywhere near as good as the "not very comprehensive" WELLS dictionary listed on the materials page. I believe the 'net dictionaries will get better, but they are not really very good yet. Nevertheless, as a public service, here are some Esperanto resources (in the order of their value, in my opinion).

• ReVo (Reta Vortaro) This online dictionary has the most promise, despite the primitive look and methodology at this time. It starts in Esperanto, so just put a word to search for in the first box and press "Trovu", which means "find it". Once you search for a word it should become clearer how to use this dictionary. It's easy to get lost, so just click back here to restart. (2004 sep 27 - There is a new collaborative dictionary in progress at VikiVortaro which is a "wiki" website. As i write this there are only 154 words in it and the interface is ridiculously complicated. But i expect this to improve tremendously over time.)
• Picture Dictionary This is a dictionary all in Esperanto (although some definitions have the word translated into 9 national languages) but with pictures! So, if you don't know what to do when you get there, simply click on a letter and then a word and you'll get a picture. Not comprehensive, but understandable.
• Travlang Travlang has great resources in many languages. This dictionary is not very complete, but the workings are much better than ReVo. On the other hand, they don't seem to be putting any effort into it to improve it.
• Traduku This is a web version of the dictionary of words from the RICHARDSON textbook, but this web version goes from English to Esperanto AND back. Nevertheless, it's pretty limited and i don't believe the webmaster is working to increase the capabilities.
• EOXX Interesting translator of sentences. It's very simple, but may be useful.
• DMOZ The DMOZ project is great. There are lots of Esperanto to other non-English language dictionaries listed here.
• Specialized Dictionaries This is another DMOZ list of specialist wordlists: astronomy, botanical, Go (the game), etc.
• Shhh... here's a silly list of taboo words.

I have marked some things "easy" because they are familiar to you as readers of English. That doesn't mean the Esperanto in the reading is easy, just that you might have access to an English copy and therefore some reference for figuring out what the Esperanto is. (On the other hand, i, for one, don't usually read English works in Esperanto. Why should i? I already know English and can read the original. I prefer to read works originally written in Esperanto and/or works from other languages where they must be translated anyway. Why not read an Esperanto translation rather than an English one? There's almost no way to know which translation is "better", since i only know English and Esperanto, so i always feel that if someone from that culture bothered to translate it to Esperanto, then they would at least have some passion in their translation. Obviously, that is not necessarily the case, but for lack of a reviewer's notes, i still prefer reading it in Esperanto.)

Here are some ideas:
• Gerda Malaperis - This is a teaching tool that has been graciously released into the public domain by its author Claude PIRON. It is a "Mystery" story that uses easy vocabulary and grammar in the beginning and then progressively gets more difficult. We will be reading this in class after the lessons run out. This is listed as "intermediate" by every source i've seen, but frankly, i believe it is "easy" and then progresses to "intermediate" by the middle (i have yet to finish it - don't tell me how it turns out! :). - Don't forget to look at the dictionary file that accompanies the text. It has definitions for each of the words used, by chapter.
• Marked "easy" by it's publisher - i'm not so sure. Please let me know what YOU think. Karlo by Edmond PRIVAT (local copy in case the first link disappears)
• Don HARLOW's Esperanto Literature index. Just the index, which is in English and Esperanto, is worth reading by beginners. Intermediate students may find something that piques your interest there.
• Analects of Confucius - just the beginning, but if you have a copy in your own language, it might be a good beginning choice. (local copy)
• "Proverbs" - This is a nifty proverb server in Esperanto. They're not easy, but they're short. :) Try to figure one out. If you don't like that one, just hit the "Montru hazardan proverbon" link and it will give you another.
• Murder on the Orient Express - i haven't even looked at the file, so tell me if this is busted. It's in PDF format so you'll need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view it. And it's LARGE, over 400k! (local copy)
• Samumo - "Drama in the Desert" by Julio BAGHY, a famous Esperantist-writer. I have no clue about this one at all. Let me know what level i should list it at. (local copy)

There is now a considerable amount of effort going into online courses. For example, i have heard only good reports about lernu.net. So, if you can't come to my classes and/or want to supplement the class, please check out the online courses at the bottom of the Super Site Map.