Learn Tibetan Language at CAS

Teaching endangered and less widely spoken languages is critical to maintaining native tongues, so CAS’s anthropology, geography, and religious studies departments are delighted to host the free online Beginning Tibetan course for students worldwide.

This Tibetan language and culture class is intended for absolute beginners as well as anyone who may already possess some prior knowledge of Tibetan. The course covers basic spoken and written Tibetan.

1. Get a good book

As political unrest in Tibet escalates, and discourse about the nation continues, those interested in practicing Dharma there must become acquainted with its culture and language. There are numerous books available to aid you in learning Tibetan, written by both students and teachers from Tibet themselves, that provide essential language lessons. All are designed as comprehensive courses.

As a beginner to Tibetan, one of the critical books for you is an accessible textbook that covers its fundamentals – pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, and cultural notes – quickly and succinctly. TLI Level I Workbook serves as an ideal partner.

For those interested in classical written Tibetan, there are numerous excellent textbooks on the market. Most are based on an exposition of the Summary of the General Path to Buddhahood from 15th-century Tibet; its language skills introduced can all be learned at your own pace from these volumes; each occurrence of words or particles in each text is also diagrammed with each explanation detailed; plus there’s an extensive glossary at the back for your reference.

Paul Hackett’s Expanded Tibetan Verb Lexicon is another superb resource for learning Tibetan. Not only can this work serve as a vital reference point for scholars and students of classical studies, but it is also an accessible introduction for beginners just beginning their study of this beautiful tongue. It contains a dictionary encompassing variants, an overview of historical development, as well as lists of useful dictionaries.

2. Listen to the language

Tibetan is an intricate yet melodious language with tones in both speech and writing, written using an Indian-derived script that uses orthography that mirrors its original pronunciation in Old Tibet. It is spoken by around 6 million people worldwide, with many dialects being spoken globally, as it plays an essential part in Buddhist culture, literature, and philosophy.

There are various programs around the world offering the study of Tibetan, both Classical and Colloquial styles. This includes colleges, dharma centers, and monasteries.

These programs can provide an ideal opportunity to delve into the rich textual tradition of Tibetan Buddhism and gain an in-depth knowledge of its canonical texts and practice books while simultaneously learning Tibetan. Furthermore, learning Tibetan can also serve as an excellent foundation for translation work – whether for further dharma study or greater awareness of world and Tibetan diaspora affairs, knowing it is well worth your while!

Start right by investing in a textbook designed specifically for beginning learners. These will guide you through the fundamentals and teach you how to pronounce words correctly.

Another helpful resource is podcasts or YouTube series offering lessons in Tibetan. These are free, can be accessed anywhere around the world, and usually come available in multiple languages.

Finally, there are numerous websites with resources for learning Tibetan. Some of these sites include:

3. Speak it

If you’re serious about learning Tibetan, getting practice speaking the language is critical. Luckily, there are various resources available to you to get you going – online communities of Tibetan learners offer great support, while you can also connect with native speakers via email or text chat for extra practice sessions. Just make sure to read up on our free guide: “How To Do A Language Exchange,” for tips and advice on getting the most out of language exchange programs!

Mastering Tibetan can be daunting. There is significant variation between dialects when it comes to pronunciation; each letter may sound differently depending on where they come from, and there may be multiple ways of pronouncing each sound. The syllable structure in Tibetan is similar to English, with seven separate components. To speak the language correctly, one must learn how to differentiate between four vowels and 30 consonants.

Note that Tibetan is distinct from Sanskrit in both spoken and written forms; Sanskrit is a classical Indian language often used in Hinduism and Buddhism, with Tibetan using an abugida syllable-based writing system from left to right that uses 30 consonants and four vowels arranged with symbols to indicate various sounds or separate syllables.

An intriguing feature of spoken languages is their lack of gender or number grammaticality, though definite human nouns may take suffixes for number. Furthermore, each syllable in each syllable carries either a high or low tone, where a high tone sounds sharp while a low tone sounds long and smooth.

4. Learn to write it

Tibet, an expansive mountainous region that spans China, Mongolia, India, Nepal, and Bhutan, is home to its own distinct culture and language – literary Tibetan is home to one of the richest collections of Buddhist texts ever composed, giving students access to profound spiritual teachings not available through translation alone. Furthermore, learning Tibetan can help develop spiritual discipline by giving learners access to scriptures and meditation seeds – mantras often repeated during practices such as chanting or visualization meditation – that help form part of its practice.

The written form of the language is highly complex and distinct from its spoken dialects, using an abugida or syllabic alphabet with 30 consonants and four vowels grouped into “syllables,” with each stroke order representing an individual syllable, while diacritics may also be added to indicate additional sounds. Furthermore, the language also incorporates an intricate system of verb tenses which distinguishes between intentional and non-volitional actions.

Language has its distinctive syntax with a subject-object-verb pattern and various honorific and polite forms; additionally, there are specific terms to represent concepts like animals, plants, and numbers.

Literary Tibetan provides an ideal foundation for advanced research and writing on Buddhist themes. Furthermore, its study can enable students to gain insight into Tibet’s rich spiritual traditions while simultaneously developing contemporary links to this rapidly growing region.

5. Practice it

At the core, practice is critical to learning a language effectively. Once familiarized with the sounds and grammar of a new tongue, your brain will adapt more readily to it, making speaking and understanding it much more straightforward than before.

Learning Tibetan can be a worthwhile goal if you’re fascinated by Tibetan culture and Buddhism, with various strategies available for starting your journey to learning it, such as textbooks and instructors (if that is within your budget); alternatively, there are free resources that may assist with this endeavor.

One of the best resources for learning Tibetan is an online textbook called A Comprehensive Course in Modern Tibetan. This resource covers all of the essentials, from listening and speaking to reading and writing, as well as helpful examples that illustrate it all. It makes an ideal resource for those studying independently as well as those learning with an instructor but looking for reinforcement.

The book begins by detailing all of the different varieties of Tibetan, as well as how they differ from one another, including written literary and spoken Tibetan, written literary translation, spoken pronunciation guide, and basic vocabulary list. Furthermore, an appendix describes grammatical distinctions among various Tibetan dialects.

There are various systems for romanizing or transliterating Tibetan script. They include THL, Wylie, and Tibetan Pinyin; however, Tibetan Romanization remains the most widely-used system, using an altered form of the Latin alphabet created in 1997.