9 Tips To Improve Your Sanskrit Vocabulary – MostUsedWords

The Sanskrit language is a classical language of South Asia belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late Bronze Age. Sanskrit is the sacred language of Hinduism, the language of classical Hindu philosophy, and of historical texts of Buddhism and Jainism. It was a link language in ancient and medieval South Asia, and upon transmission of Hindu and Buddhist culture to Southeast Asia, East Asia and Central Asia in the early medieval era, it became a language of religion and high culture, and of the political elites in some of these regions. As a result, Sanskrit had a lasting impact on the languages of South Asia, Southeast Asia and East Asia, especially in their formal and learned vocabularies.

Sanskrit belongs to the Indo-European family of languages.

1. Use authentic media.

Using authentic media is a fun and useful way to learn Sanskrit quickly. By using audio and video made for native speakers and listening to the Sanskrit language in context, you can more directly apply what you learn to real-world situations.

One great tool for learning Sanskrit with authentic media is Multibhashi. 

2.Learn common words first.

Learning the most common words first will ensure that you’re able to use your Sanskrit skills immediately. Getting fully fluent will still take some more time, but being able to communicate in Sanskrit right off the bat is like getting a running start on the road to fluency. After all, if you know the most common words, you’ll be able to hold basic conversations and listen to authentic sources, which will in turn lead to more learning.

To get started, you might try this guide to the 1,000 most common Sanskrit words from 101 Languages.

3.Immerse yourself in Sanskrit, at home or abroad.

Immersion is the quickest way to learn any language.

If you can go abroad to immerse yourself in Sanskrit, that’s terrific! If not, you can still immerse yourself at home.

Simple things like reading Sanskrit magazines, labeling household items with their Sanskrit names or watching Sanskrit movies will go a long way to improving your fluency.

To really benefit from home immersion, put together a plan. What will you do every day at home to surround yourself with the Sanskrit language? Think through your daily routine, and think about all the places you could insert a little Sanskrit. 

4.Practice your skills daily.

Regardless of which fast learning techniques you use, it’s important to practice your Sanskrit skills daily.

Daily practice is important to encourage your skills to keep moving forward, whether this is through immersion techniques or just studying daily. It can be tempting to study for hours one day and then wait a few days to study again. The problem with this is that your skills will backslide during your time away from learning, thereby slowing down your learning progress. If you make learning Sanskrit a daily activity, you won’t have to waste as much time relearning material.

5.Find a native speaker to interact with.

Interacting with native speakers is a quick way to improve your skills. Speaking with Sanskrit will improve your pronunciation, speaking and listening. A written pen pal relationship can also improve your reading and writing.

6.Use flashcards. 

A quick way to build a large vocabulary is to study a number of words via flashcards. In today’s digital age, a wide array of smartphone apps make flashcards convenient and easy to organize. Aiming for one new word a day is reasonable. You can always go for more, but it may not be reasonable to assimilate dozens of Sanskrit words every single day.

7.Practice using new words in conversation.

 It’s possible to amass a huge vocabulary without actually knowing how to use words. This means you have to take it upon yourself to put your personal dictionary into use. If you come across an interesting word in your reading, make a point of using it in conversation. By experimenting in low-stakes situations, you can practice the art of word choice and, with a little bit of trial and error, hone in on the right word for a particular context.

8.Read out loud 

If you’re listening to a lesson and reading along, read out loud. Then re-read and speed up your tempo. Do this again and again until you can speak faster. Try your best to pronounce the words correctly, but don’t obsess about it. Read swiftly, emote and put some inflection on the sentences. Reading aloud helps to train the muscles of your mouth and diaphragm to produce unfamiliar words and sound

9.Practice using Sanskrit with the people you have met.

Try to engage in actually speaking the language if possible. If you are doing this online, there are several voice chat programs out there that will help you communicate freely over the internet. You should ask other people online which programs will work best for them.

In the end, I just want to remind you that don’t be afraid to make mistakes. The more you speak, the faster you learn and that is why you’re learning Sanskrit. Don’t be discouraged if you make mistakes, even if people laugh when you mispronounce words or use the wrong phrases. One of the keys to learning a language is learning what mistakes can be made so that you don’t make them in the future. 

Also, you can join Multibhashi for language learning. Join today click here.