Best free resources to learn Esperanto (2026)

The best free start is one structured course – our 12-lesson course, Esperanto12, lernu.net, Kurso de Esperanto or Duolingo – plus one way to talk to people, such as our conversation circles, other online meetings or a local club. Add a graded reader and a podcast once you know the basics. Almost everything below is free; paid textbooks are marked. How fast you will progress is discussed on How long does it take to learn Esperanto?

#Comparison at a glance

#Courses

#Esperantopedia

Our free course has 12 lessons of 30–45 minutes, each with an original dialogue, a word list, grammar tables and over 230 self-checking exercises in total. It links to the full grammar reference, the dictionary and the first 100 words. Everything works in the browser, also on a phone. What it does not offer yet is conversation practice, so add one of the speaking options below.

#Duolingo

Duolingo launched its Esperanto course for English speakers on 28 May 2015. Courses followed for Spanish speakers (beta from 26 October 2016), Portuguese speakers (beta from 14 May 2018) and French speakers (beta from 14 July 2020). By March 2020 the courses had about 2.8 million users. The volunteer team worked with the Academy of Esperanto's teaching-materials section.

Duolingo is good for building a routine and basic vocabulary. It explains grammar only briefly and offers little practice with real conversation, so pair it with a grammar reference and speaking practice. A closer look is on Is Duolingo enough?

#lernu.net

lernu.net is a free multilingual learning site run by the organisation E@I, online since 21 December 2002. It offers a full course built around the story La teorio Nakamura by Anna Löwenstein, a grammar reference, a dictionary, a library of texts and audio, and a forum. It had 320,000 registered accounts in 2018. The interface exists in about 40 languages, though some translations are incomplete.

#Esperanto12

Esperanto12 is a free web course with 12 lessons, based on the Zagreb method by Zlatko Tišljar, Spomenka Štimec, Ivica Špoljarec and Roger Imbert (website by Georg Jähnig), each with a text, a short grammar explanation and three exercises. It is the online edition of the Zagreb-method course, whose content is open on GitHub. It teaches the 500 most important words and needs no sign-up. It is the quickest way to see the whole language system; after it, move to a longer course or to reading. The 100 words you will meet most often are listed on our vocabulary page.

#Kurso de Esperanto

Kurso de Esperanto is a free computer program for Windows, Mac and Linux, written by Carlos Alberto Alves Pereira, a former president of the Brazilian Esperanto League. It has 12 lessons with pronunciation and listening exercises and songs, and offers a free tutoring service. It is available in more than 20 languages.

#Pasporto al la tuta mondo

This video course was produced for the Esperanto League for North America and released in 2002, according to Esperanto Wikipedia. It has 15 half-hour lessons, entirely in Esperanto, following the Bonvolo family and their guests. It now circulates free online. It suits learners who like the direct method and want to train their ear.

#Ana Pana

Ana Pana is a short beginner course in eight parts: greetings, Ana herself, family, hobbies, weather, studies, a long trip and languages. Its language was checked by a commission of the Academy of Esperanto. It was one of the beginner courses on the old lernu.net. Today the dialogues can be found on LingQ and in the archived version of lernu.

#Books

Our reading list sorts 18 books by level and shows which ones you can legally read for free.

• Complete Esperanto by Tim Owen and Judith Meyer (Teach Yourself, 2018) – a paid textbook that takes you from beginner to about level B1–B2.
• Gerda malaperis! by Claude Piron (1983) – a short mystery story full of simple everyday dialogues, written for learners.
• La teorio Nakamura by Anna Löwenstein (2018) – the lernu.net course story as an illustrated book for levels A1–B1; paid.
• PMEG (Plena Manlibro de Esperanta Gramatiko) by Bertilo Wennergren – a complete reference grammar, free online, written in Esperanto.
• Fundamento de Esperanto (1905) – the original grammar and word list, free on the Academy's website. Historic, not a course.

#Video, podcasts and radio

• YouTube: Evildea (Richard Delamore) was one of the most active Esperanto video bloggers until 2025, when he moved mainly to English-language videos on language learning; Pasporto al la tuta mondo is also on YouTube. Search for "Esperanto" plus a topic to find more.
• kern.punkto – a podcast by Johannes Mueller and Eva Fitzelová since 2014, about technology, travel and science, under a CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.
• Muzaiko – Esperanto internet radio since 1 July 2011; since 2022 mainly a 24-hour stream of music from its archive.
• Radio Verda – a pioneering audio magazine from Vancouver (1998–2013); many episodes are archived on YouTube.

Podcasts become useful once you know the basics. Start with topics you already know well, so context helps you follow.

#Speaking practice

• Our conversation circles are small online groups led by volunteers: up to 8 people, 45 minutes, for beginners (A1–A2) and for those who already speak (B1+); people aged 18 and over can take part. On the same page you can also ask an advisor – a volunteer who answers questions about Esperanto and the course in your messages.
• Amikumu is a phone app, launched on 22 April 2017, that shows people nearby who speak or learn the same languages. In 2022 about 60% of its members spoke Esperanto at some level.
• Pasporta Servo is a free hosting network run by the World Esperanto Youth Organization (TEJO) since 1974. In 2026 it listed more than 2,400 hosts in 121 countries. Guests and hosts speak Esperanto together. How it works: Pasporta Servo.
• Online communities: Telegram groups, Discord servers and the Reddit forum r/Esperanto are places to ask beginner questions and chat in Esperanto.

More ideas, including events and clubs, are on How to learn Esperanto.

#Reading

Vikipedio, the Esperanto Wikipedia, had 389,654 articles on 11 October 2026. Read articles on topics you know well, and use a dictionary for the rest – see our dictionary page. To pick one, compare the Best Esperanto dictionaries for online use, apps and print. For graded texts, start with Gerda malaperis! and the stories on lernu.net.

#Common questions

#What is the best app to learn Esperanto?

Our free Saluton course and flashcards work in the browser on any phone, with nothing to install. Among store apps, Duolingo is the most widely used, with courses from English, Spanish, Portuguese and French; it explains grammar only briefly, so combine it with a course that does.

#Is Duolingo enough to learn Esperanto?

No. Duolingo builds vocabulary and habits, but you also need natural listening and conversation. Conversation circles, online groups and events fill that gap.

#Can I learn Esperanto completely for free?

Yes. All courses above except the printed textbooks are free, and so are the main dictionaries and the reference grammar PMEG.

#What should I read first in Esperanto?

Gerda malaperis! by Claude Piron, written for learners, is the classic first book. After that, try short Vikipedio articles on familiar topics.

#Sources

• Vikipedio: Duolingo (course dates)
• Libera Folio: Kie estas la Duolinganoj? (31 March 2020)
• Vikipedio: lernu! and Wikipedia: Esperanto – Internet resources
• lernu.net
• Esperanto12 and the Zagreb-method course on GitHub
• Kurso de Esperanto and Vikipedio: Kurso de Esperanto
• Vikipedio: Pasporto al la tuta mondo
• LingQ: Ana Pana
• Hachette: Complete Esperanto
• Esperanto UK: La teorio Nakamura
• Vikipedio: Gerda malaperis!
• Vikipedio: Evildea, kern.punkto, Muzaiko, Radio Verda
• Wikipedia: Amikumu and Vikipedio: Amikumu (aplikaĵo)
• Pasporta Servo
• Vikipedio: Statistics