Sanskrit Academy offers seven levels of sanskrit courses.
Each one of these courses is equal to a semester of the University language course. These courses offer step by step exposure and introduction to the divine language. Depending on the student's interest and background, after about 2-3 years, the student should be able to translate and understand texts like the Bhagavad-gita.
There are two course options:
- correspondence/online
- in-person in San Jose, CA, USA
The following is a brief overview of each of level:
- Level 1
- With this, one can read and write correctly; the student will be able to read perfectly any text in Sanskrit. The focus of exercises is according to the major interest of the student: Yoga, Ayurveda, or general.
- Level 2
- This gives fundamental knowledge of major concepts of Sanskrit language, such as verb, noun, pronoun, adjective and also about case, gender and others. The student will be able to construct atleast 750 simple sentences in Sanskrit.
- Level 3
- Readings include interesting stories and memorable Slokas. The main emphasis here is on Sandhi, euphonic combination. With fifteen exercises of Sandhi, the student gets a solid foundatiion in the so called problematic aspect of the language. Sandhi exercises are selected from the Gita.
- Level 4
- Lessons include stories and Subhashitas . Students apply their knowledge of Sandhi in order to decipher the lessons; exercises concentrate on Sandhi and different aspects of the verb and its use.
- Level 5
- Readings include selected text from the original Ramayana. Students get a deeper feel of the holy language with exercises from a broad selection of Sanskrit literature. They also gain strength in translating authentic texts.
- Level 6
- Readings include selections from challenging Sanskrit prose works; the main focus here is on compounds.
- Level 7
- Readings include memorable Slokas from literature and anthologies (Subhashitas). Here the main focus is on meter (Chandas): how to scan the meter and fully feel the force of the Slokas. This course helps the interested student even to write some simple Slokas (metrical compositions).