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Read Classical Tibetan

Individualized Language
Learning via Skype

 

 

 
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   | Craig Preston | cpreston@giganticom.com | (607) 351-8744
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Personal Video Classes Using My Books for Tibetan Students

HOW TO READ CLASSICAL TIBETAN, Volume Two: Buddhist Tenets,
by Craig Preston. Published by Snow Lion Publications, Ithaca, NY

The Perfect Combination of Book and Video Classes for the Intermediate to Advanced Student

Welcome to the latest incarnation of the Nagarjuna Language Institute. I’ve gone virtual – Now I can reach across time zones, countries, even continents to deliver personalized tutoring in the wonders of the classical Tibetan language with the free video conferencing software Skype. If you have a Windows or Mac OS computer with a webcam, microphone, and broadband internet access, we can get together for personal classes.

Personal Classes Over Skype

It is no secret I like teaching people how to read classical Tibetan. The more motivated the student is, the more I like teaching. There are students of classical Tibetan in this wonderful world who are serious, motivated, and diligent. I know this because these are the students who have found their way to me over the years. Now I can make the task of learning to read Tibetan accurately easier by removing the biggest needless obstacle to successful student-teacher collaboration: geography.

For Students

My experience shows there are three groups of people trying to learn to read classical Tibetan who benefit from studying with me: students, translators, and practitioners. Students need a systematic presentation of how Tibetan signifies meaning. I write books for these students. I teach two-month intensives for these students. Now I am available through Skype for these students on an individual basis. Not that there's anything wrong with group classes, but sometimes students want individual attention. Now you can get it without leaving your home or office.

For Translators

I say to those of you who answer Saraswati’s call and courageously venture into the vast unknown of untranslated texts, way to go! Want some help? Here I am. Don’t know where to begin? Are you in the middle and need to standardize your work? Have you translated a text into something that is not quite English? I’ve been there and I definitely can help. Ring me up – let’s see what you’ve got.

For Practitioners

I’ll admit I was resistant to doing my prayers and practice texts in Tibetan. I think in English, so I should practice in English. I felt there was a danger I would turn the sound of Tibetan into music to listen to rather than a map to aid my exploration of the profound. As with many things, over time I came to change my view, and with it I opened myself to unseen benefits. While I naturally think in English, it just isn’t all that hard to learn to think in Tibetan too. Once I stopped insisting to myself that I couldn’t think in Tibetan, I found the beauty and meaning could bathe my mind with meaning if I just gave it a chance. The same methods that unlocked the secrets of philosophical Tibetan work just as well with practice texts. It’s that simple!

 
 

 
HTRCT-Vol 2: Buddhist Tenets

Testimonials

 "Teachers and students of Classical Tibetan were empowered when Craig Preston introduced Volume One of his "How to Read" series. This year, Preston again favors intermediate Tibetan students, this time with How to Read Classical Tibetan, Volume Two: Buddhist Tenets. Volume Two is, surprisingly, even better than Volume One, with complete grammar, lists of vocabulary, elegant translation, and cogent discussions of difficult points of doctrine."—Bill Magee, Assistant Professor of Tibetan Studies, Dharma Drum Buddhist College, Taiwan, and co-author of Fluent Tibetan

"Craig Preston has followed his extremely helpful How to Read Classical Tibetan, Volume One with a new book that takes the reader to the next level, analyzing a book on Buddhist philosophy. New students of written Tibetan, as well as many who are more experienced, will find his method of unpacking Tibetan sentences into their tiniest parts, using nested boxes, to be the key for which they have been searching."—Daniel Cozort, Associate Professor of Religion at Dickinson College and co-editor, Journal of Buddhist Ethics

"Craig Preston should be congratulated for this outstanding contribution to Tibetan language learning materials. This book and its predecessor are invaluable resources for intermediate students who know the basics, but are not yet reading and translating on their own. This is the type of book I wished was available when I was learning Tibetan."—James Blumenthal, Associate Professor of Buddhist Philosophy, Oregon State University