Our Pāli beginners’ class starts exactly 4 weeks from today. Most of you who indicated your interest have no Pāli learning experience at all, while just a few have a little De Silva or G&K self-study.
For those of you in the first group with no experience, I would like to remind you all that it is essential that you read through the first 8 chapters of Lily de Silva’a Pāli Primer before the classes start (I think I said 10 before, which is fine, but 8 is essential so you have some familiarity with the basic noun declensions and their uses from the get-go).
If I have recorded everything correctly, then we have 13 of you signed up @JiminBC (Jim), @ARS25 (Aparna), @Moo (Moo), @Balthazar (Jason), @ausername (Q), @josephzizys (Joseph), @SamK (Sam), @ClearPath (Rod), @BhimEkchai (Bhim), @HuiLing (Hui Ling),
… to be continued in following post, since 10 names is this forum’s limit in any one post.
If I’m missing anyone, or your plans have now changed, please let me know.
I look forward to meeting you all online soon!
John
I decided not to take the class this Feb. I started working on the primer - and I feel I need a lot of time just to do this well, let alone the class. I will attempt to take the class the next time it is offered (hopefully I will be comfortable with the primer by then).
Hi Aparna,
Well, whatever you decide is fine by me. But I would urge you to give the online classes a try, even if only for a few lessons. It’s much easier to learn in a group with a teacher and other students, and all the material we will be covering in the Gair and Gunatillake book encompasses what’s in the Primer, and more.
There is no need for anyone to have covered the first few chapters of the Primer in depth beforehand - it’s just to get familiar with the concept of cases and noun declensions.
All the best,
John
Thank you for offering another iteration of this class. If there is space available I would like to participate.
My name is margaret. I am located in CST, UTC-6.
I have minimal prior Pāli learning experience. I have worked with the De Silva and Warder primers, however only in limited spurts of continuity. I have not yet made it through either and had set my pāli studies aside in the past two years. In the past I have sporadically attended in-person Pāli classes at monasteries when they were available and timing allowed.
I will take the upcoming weeks to review chapters 1-10 of the De Silva Pāli Primer as recommended. Looking forward to having a supportive structure and community to learn with.
Welcome to the class, Margaret. Of course there’s space available in the class - it’s via Zoom! The more the merrier.
To you and everyone else who has signed up to join the class, let me just say that it makes me very happy that people like you all want to learn Pāli. Sādhu, sādhu, sādhu!
See you all online soon. I’ll post the Zoom link here about a week before the class begins.
