Introduction:
Sanskrit is one of the oldest languages of the world and it is the root of many of the languages spoken today. But today, the Sanskrit speaking population has diminished. There are about 14000 fluent Sanskrit-speaking people. The main reason being this language was spoken only by a particular class of people and the common people were not allowed to study and use this language in ancient times. So the Sanskrit speaking population has been always limited and small. But in modern times, learning Sanskrit has become a popular thing. Many schools and colleges have included Sanskrit courses and syllabus. This is the age of the revival of Sanskrit. To learn Sanskrit it is highly recommended to take the guidance of an expert. But you can also self educate and learn Sanskrit at home. So today we are going to discuss the five chilliest ways to learn Sanskrit at home.
You might have already heard that Sanskrit is one of the most complex languages and very difficult to learn. Take a deep breath, think that Sanskrit is just one of the many languages. There are two types of Sanskrit: the Vedic and the Classical. Vedic Sanskrit is the oldest form of Sanskrit and used in the Vedas while Classical Sanskrit evolved from Vedic and it is the modern standard form of the language.
Learn Sanskrit at your home
- The first and most important step is to buy and start studying a Sanskrit beginner’s textbook. You can only progress when you have known the alphabets and able to read the words. Start with a small set of words and keep your vocabulary limited. Until and unless you are familiar and fluent with the few set of words do not start with other new words.
- Once you are able to read Sanskrit words, it is now time for you to get a Sanskrit dictionary. Try to learn only a few words at a time. Lookup for the word, understand the meaning, and save it for a later conversation. You can gradually increase the number of words that you study at a time. Understanding the words is one of the most important knowledge to speak a language. You might have grammatical errors but you can try to make the listener grasp whatever you are trying to tell. After understanding words, use a phrase decomposition guide which is called Anvaya in Sanskrit. With the help of this guide book, you will be able to understand the agreement of the components of a sentence.
- Read a Sanskrit book, a single book and not many. Sticking to a single book will help you learn the language very easily without confusions. You can read the Gita or any other books. Going through again and again a single book will make you familiar with the text and you will definitely be able to memorize and understand the meaning. You can later use the words you have known from the book elsewhere.
- At your leisure time, listen to Sanskrit hymns, radios, and podcasts on your phone. Check how much you are able to grasp from the audios. There is a thrill when you can point out a lot of words from short audio. You can definitely measure your improvement with this method. Not only audios but videos are also very effective and one of the chilliest ways to learn. There are several YouTube videos that you can watch and improve your Sanskrit.
- Always try to have a conversation in Sanskrit whenever possible. If, unfortunately, there is no one to start a conversation in Sanskrit starts a conversation all by yourself. Chant the Sanskrit hymns and then interpret them. Explore other fun things that you can do all by yourself at home.
These are a few of the ways that will help you learn Sanskrit at home in a chilling way. As we know learning is very much effective when it is fun, we must try to explore and discover our own ways and methods. Somebody’s fun way might be or might not be effective to somebody else. Since we have abundant resources readily we must make use of it and discover new effective easy ways. And never forget, “Let thy step be slow and steady, that thou shall not stumble.”
