Dear all,

Following the positive reactions to last year’s (and still ongoing) course, I will again be offering an online Sanskrit course based on my textbook, The Cambridge Introduction to Sanskrit.

- The course will start October 1.
- It will require about three hours of work per week and will take you through the book in about two years.
- Participants will receive weekly emails (sent through google groups) that set a certain amount of work and list the various resources that will take them through that material: in addition to the relevant pages of the book, each chapter comes with its own video and online flashcards as well as freely downloadable supplementary handouts.
- There is no fixed course time; anyone can do the work and access the materials at whatever time(s) during the week that best suits them.
- Exercises from the textbook will be assigned each week, and the Key to them provided.
- Each week concludes with a self-graded test; and every six or so chapters, there will be a more comprehensive exam.

There are no fees, no credits and no certificates; the course’s sole purpose is to help people learn Sanskrit. The only costs participants incur are the money for the textbook and the time they spend on their work each week.

If you are interested (or know someone who might be), please join the google group for the course:

cis-study-group-2018+subscribe@googlegroups.com

(You can unsubscribe at any time.)

There also is a Facebook group used for asking questions about each week’s material and anything else relating to the course:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/CambridgeIntroToSanskrit/

Any questions, please email me at cambridge.sanskrit@gmail.com. Feel free to forward this email widely. As attachments sometimes don’t make it through on mailing lists, I have simply added the text of the syllabus for the first term at the bottom of this email.

All the best,
    Antonia

PS: The ongoing course currently is on Chapter 12 of the textbook; get in touch with me if you'd like to join that.

The Cambridge Introduction to Sanskrit: An Online Course

 

Syllabus

 

General

This document gives you an overview of what material from the Cambridge Introduction to Sanskrit (CIS) will be covered each week.

 

Starting on September 28, there will be a new email and Facebook group update every Friday. This email will include details on (1) how to approach the coming week’s material and (2), from the end of the first week on, a test on the material you have just studied. Each test will come with a key to the answers and a grade scale, allowing you to check your own work, see what progress you have made and which material you may want to look over again.

 

Textbook

A.M. Ruppel, The Cambridge Introduction to Sanskrit (Cambridge University Press). ISBN: 978-1107459069 (international edition, paperback); 978-1108439152 (South Asian edition, paperback). (Both have identical content.)

 

Other Resources

For each Chapter, there is an accompanying YouTube video, the direct link to which will be included in each week’s email. For all new verb and noun forms, as well as for all Sanskrit characters and sandhi forms (relevant later!), there are flash cards on the CIS Brainscape account. There also are a variety of downloadable handouts. All of these can be accessed via the CIS website, www.cambridge-sanskrit.org.

 

Study Suggestions

Don’t try to do too much at once. When you read a new content section, do that for 30-45 minutes. But when you memorise new material, repeated sessions of no more than 10-15 minutes are best. (Google ‘Spaced Repetition’ and read the Wikipedia entry on this topic for some ideas on how to memorise new material.)

 

A Practical Point

Sanskrit isn’t easy. This course tries to make it easier by suggesting a pace that should allow you to digest new material before going on to the next chunk, and by providing a variety of resources that will hopefully offer something to everyone. Still, the material is challenging, so if you ever find yourself struggling, remind yourself the problem is not that you are not good enough. You’re finding it challenging because it is challenging. And if you have any specific questions, do post them in the Facebook group.

 

Overview of Assignments

 

Week 0 (now – October 1)

Read Chapter 0. (Yes, it’s just the introduction, but seriously, do it:-)! You’ll find it useful.)

 

Week 1 (Oct 1-7)

Chapter 1 p. 9 to middle of p. 12

Test: Reading and writing single devanāgarī characters.

 

Week 2 (Oct 8-14)

Chapter 1 p. 12 to top of p. 14

Test: Combining consonants and vowels, using anusvāra and visarga.

 

Week 3 (Oct 15-21)

Chapter 1: rest of chapter

Test: Reading (not writing) conjunct consonants; reviewing all the material of Chapter 1 (reading/writing devanāgarī).

 

Week 4 (Oct 22-28)

Chapter 2

Test: The new concepts from Chapter 2, more reading/writing revision.

 

Week 5 (Oct 29-Nov 4)

Chapter 2a, Chapter 3 pp. 29-30

(Note: Chapter 2a should be read, but will not be tested.)

Test: The new concepts from pp.29-30; more reading/writing revision.

 

Week 6 (Nov 5-11)

Chapter 3 pp.  31-end

Test: The new concepts in the rest of Chapter 3; the Vocabulary on p. 35 (I will give you the Sanskrit words and you will need to provide their English meaning).

 

Week 7 (Nov 12-18)

Chapter 4 p. 38-top of p. 40

Test: the present active indicative endings of verbs; how to form the present stem of Class I, IV and VI verbs; the present active indicative paradigm of √bhṛ.

 

Week 8 (Nov 19-25)

Chapter 4 p. 40-end.

Test: Chapter 4 vocabulary, present-tense forms of the verbs in Chapter 4 vocabulary.

 

Week 9 (Nov 26-Dec 2)

Chapter 5 pp. 43-48, p. 51

Test: The new concepts from pp. 43-48; the first half of Chapter 5 vocabulary (nagaram to devaḥ).

 

Week 10 (Dec 3-9)

Chapter 5 p.48-end

Test: The new concepts from pp. 48-50; the second half of Chapter 5 vocabulary (naraḥ to iva).

 

Week 11 (Dec 10-16)

Chapter 6 p. 57, 60

Test: The forms of deva-, the first half of Chapter 6 vocabulary (puruṣa- to yuddha-).

 

Week 12 (Dec 17-23)

Chapter 6 pp. 58-end

Test: The forms of vana-, the new concepts on pp. 58-59; second half of Chapter 6 vocabulary.

 

Dec 24-Jan 6: Winter Break (Summer Break for Antipodeans!)

Enjoy some time off! (Or if you prefer, use the time to start reviewing for the big January test).

 

Week 13 (Jan 7-13)

Revision week

Test: Chapter 1-6 material.

Questionnaire: What should stay the same about the course, what would you like to see changed?

 

(The week after, the course will continue with Chapter 7. The details for this will be available from around mid-December on.)

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