Dorothy
Learning Sanskrit.... Resources:

There are so few folks here learning Sanskrit that I thought I'd make a discussion where I, and hopefully others, can post resources that we come upon. 

 

Namaste

Aug 28, 2014 6:40 PM
Comments · 11
1

It's a UNESCO classical language as well, along with Arabic, Chinese, Greek, Latin, Persian, Sanskrit, and Tamil and it's mostly spoken by Hindu priests.

August 30, 2014
1

Yes Peter, there are only about 200,000 people that can speak Sanskrit well and only a couple of communities that use it as their language, yet Sanskrit is one of the 18 official languages of India because of it's massive importance in the culture. It is the language from which all Indo-European languages evolved so it called the "mother of all languages" and because it the language used in the sacred texts of India and because the language is supposed to incorportate within it the sounds connected to the spiritual meaning of all things, it is also called "The Language of the Gods". It is said that just to sound out the alphabet is cleansing and healing. It's an extraordinary language of great beauty.

 

I myself love Sanskrit chants called mantras. Mantras are traditionally said 108 times a day for at least a month. I would like to learn one mantra a month and would like to be able to say the mantras correctly and be able to write them out and understand them fully. The calligraphy is also stunning. Some people listen to songs in order to learn a language, I am learning a language in order to better understand the songs. If I understand enough mantras, along with some reading and a little studying, I will eventually know the language... if I live that long that is. It's not about the end goal of learning this language for me, it is about the process.  


 

August 30, 2014
1

Why do you learn it? I have just read that it is dying or even it is already dead in some ways.

August 30, 2014

This video is great because it gives you words in English that have the same sounds of the sanskrit alphabet. I copied the English words onto the back of my flashcards that have the romanization on them. Now I will really now how to pronouce each letter when studying by myself. 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=caf1HAXHhdA

August 31, 2014

These children's videos for learning pronunciation of the alphabet are cute and good for learning the strokes when writing the alphabet too. The other videos above I think are better to use first to really hear the sounds, but these are quicker so good for review. 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2gCmejgNeFI&feature=youtu.be

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jeyQyVQminc

 

 

August 31, 2014
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