General approach
- Steps to learning would be : listening, speaking, reading, writing .. Many options if you’re determined to learn.
- PS: Grammar translation method is a bad idea. Leads to myths about “Sanskrit is a tough language”.
- Approaches for learning grammar described elsewhere.
From zero to hero
Survey
- If you are a non-newbie : Please take time to fill this short survey: https://rebrand.ly/skt-zero-to-hero . It will help guide other Sanskrit learners.
- Skill levels observed: see here.
- Stories and advice here.
Top ways
- Samskrita Bharati conducts well designed structured programs to get you speaking in a few days. Great place to start. Find a beginners sanskrit class nearby - India, USA etc..
- Apps: language curry - sanskrit lessons designed by sampadAnanda mishra of aravindAshrama. Review awaited.
- “The best way to learn Sanskrit is by immersing in its poetic literature after some basic grammar (for me, Karnataka State Board 8th std - 10th std first language Sanskrit grammar 1989-1992 was more than enough to easily understand Shriharsha’s Naishadheeya).” - Dr R Shankar, Poet and avadhAnin
- Read 50 issues of https://sambhashanasandesha.in/ cover to cover. Take up SB correspondence course. Also read vAlmIki’s rAmAyaNa cover to cover.
- A friend use lessons from chitrapur maTha to learn the basics, and then started reading shAstra-s, stotras and kAvya-s that interested him.
- “Go to vyoma. Sanskrit from home. Join the Sura Saraswati sabha prathama. Completed videos, ppts etc are available. Similarly Samskrita Sri I and II. Subscribe and learn. Free courses. From varnamala (letters)” - rAmu
- पवनशर्मा (twitter: patangaH) - वैद्यः - संस्कृतेन भाषितुं स्वयं ज्ञातवान्। आदौ चित्रपुरमठजालक्षेत्रेण संस्कृतभारतीपुस्तकैर् ज्ञानसम्पादनम्। ततो लेखनाभ्यासः। दूरवाण्या स्वभाषणं परिचारकैर् धात्रीभिश् च सहापि भाषित्वा।
Sanskrit household
- How to raise a mutlilingual kid in an environment dominated by English?
- Use the “don’t/ won’t understand” policy.