Recommended online Tibetan courses

[Schrödinger’s Yidam]

Does anyone have experience with online Tibetan language courses? Focus would be on Dharma language.

[puggily]

I have taken courses with Tibetan Language Institute with Lama David Curtis. He mostly just uses telephone calls, but specific books. He will also assign homework you can do and send in to him. He replies back with comments and such.

[Schrödinger’s Yidam]

I’ve heard of him before. Good idea.

Thanks.

[Charlie123]

Anything from Rangjung Yeshe Institute is good. They are putting more and more up online these days.

I have also heard good things about David Curtis. Word on the street is he is able to get students up to speed very quickly.

[Punya]

I have similar aspirations and have decided on the Rangjung Yeshe's Classical Tibetan course.

The lecturer in the videos accompanying the course is an American woman, who looks like a very inspiring teacher. The YouTube video 'Spiritual Lives at Lawrence: Connie Kassor' tells a little of her background. I mention this, because the approach that is being taken is pretty important. I've done several intro courses with Tibetan teachers, but the Tibetan teaching methodology doesn't work so well for me.

You can take the RYI courses in self-study, interactive or full credit mode. RYI have confirmed that part 1 of the interactive version will start in mid September. You can drop back to self-study mode if the pace is too fast.

One of our sangha has completed the course and is now doing part 2. I haven't had a detailed discussion with them yet, but they are aware I'm interested and they haven't raised any red flags.

Because I'm looking for courses based on a western style of teaching I've also considered Esukhia. They have an immersive format supported by Tibetan tutors. Two friends have completed courses with them, which they recommend highly. But my preference is for a focus on classical Tibetan.

Two other possible self-study courses are
http://samyeinstitute.org/course/tibeta ... ctitioners and http://sakyakachodcholing.org/classical-tibetan_2018.

David Curtis looks good and I have some of his study materials, but his interactive mode doesn't allow for students outside the USA. I suspect he's the best option for you, but I'm just posting this info so you are aware there are other options and in case it's of benefit to someone.

[Schrödinger’s Yidam]

....but the Tibetan teaching methodology doesn't work so well for me.

Lol, I think we all can agree with that!

[White Sakura]

....but the Tibetan teaching methodology doesn't work so well for me.

Lol, I think we all can agree with that!

what is it that does not work for you so well?
I have not come very far, just learning to read single words, I mean to decipher the "hieroglyphics".
And I really like following the rhythm of such videos:



the teacher says in Video 15: "Don´t think too much." Maybe that is difficult for me. since some questions came up, parts of the system seem to be not logical to me. But I will just continue to learn the first videos by heard.
Sorry if you are much further than me. In this case I might not get what you mean and maybe will understand it later.

[Punya]

....but the Tibetan teaching methodology doesn't work so well for me.

Lol, I think we all can agree with that!

what is it that does not work for you so well?

My experience is that the Tibetan teachers follow a more traditional style of teaching, which involves a lot of repetition and memorisation. The Esukhia blog summarises traditional and modern methods of reading this way:

Traditional Reading
•Aim: To upload, in full resolution, the words of the author into the brain of the reader
•Features: Reading is (relatively) slow; out loud; focused on each word, word-by-word; the more work the reader does, the better (to activate long-term memory); a single text is repeated again and again
•Output: Reader can recall precise passages, exact quotes; access to the text in full, word-for-word

Modern Reading
•Aim: To compress the text into essential ideas, and to intake those ideas rapidly
•Features: Reading is rapid; silent; focused on the comprehension of ideas; the more work the text does, the better (spaces, punctuation, pictures, graphs, etc.); a single text is read once for ideas (not words)
•Output: Reader can recall general ideas; can intake more total texts, and use abstract & critical thinking, imagination, to combine, assess, and apply information

I just find modern methodologies make it easier for me to learn.

[White Sakura]

•Output: Reader can recall precise passages, exact quotes; access to the text in full, word-for-word

I think this output is a good goal for Dharma teachings. Could be an interesting discussion.

But the question how to learn Dharma best is different the question about the best approach to the Tibetan language. Maybe I will like both methodologies. At least for learning to decipher a word I like learning by heard from some native Speaker videos. But I also need Lama Curtis´videos.

[SilenceMonkey]

Esukhia's the cheap option, and mostly pretty decent. I think it's something like $5 USD/hr for a skype. Sometimes they have teachers with knowledge of Dharma (ie. philosophy, etc...) so you could request for that. I don't know if people there would know much about tantra, but basic dharma language I'm sure they would know.

Another cheap and good option from Dharamsala is Lotsawa Rinchen Zangpo Translator Program. They have a number of teachers connected with the school, so if you email them they could hook you up. Probably same price as Esukhia. And at Lotsawa they are more likely to know Dharma. But again, tantra might be a stretch.

[puggily]

As an update TBI is now using Zoom. The quality of the classes has increased dramatically.