OL TLAN 102: Classical Tibetan II

Please note that these online courses are self-paced and differ from the online courses that we are currently offering while the campus has closed due to the pandemic which consist of live classes. The self-paced Online Learning courses differ in that the classes are pre-recorded which means the student can decide on their own schedule. The Online Learning courses offer varying levels of interaction, the formats you can choose from are Self-Study, Interactive and For-credit.

Start studying Classical Tibetan II with a moderator as an interactive or for-credit student any time from September 15 – March 15.

Applications for For-Credit and Interactive courses are accepted starting September 15.  The duration of this Classical Tibetan course is 15-weeks long.

However, students will have access to the course for one year, with access to the moderator limited to September 15 – June 15. Students may register and begin courses in the self-study format at any time.

In Classical Tibetan II, students will continue with an introduction to the classical Tibetan language and its grammar, and gain more experience and confidence reading and understanding classical Tibetan texts. After completing this course, successful students will be able to approach Tibetan texts by themselves with confidence.

Students will use their knowledge of basic Tibetan grammar and vocabulary to move into the world of Tibetan literature in a guided way. The focus of the course is on learning by doing, so the primary means of instruction is through guided readings of Tibetan classics such as The Jewel Ornament of Liberation (དྭགས་པོ་ཐར་རྒྱན་) and Thirty-Seven Practices of a Bodhisattva (རྒྱལ་སྲས་ལག་ལེན་). Students will also read the highly regarded Mahāyāna Heart Sutra as part of the course. Students are guided through these texts sentence-by-sentence in recorded visual lectures. The readings in the lectures are interspersed with explanations of the grammar found there, which sometimes includes aspects of grammar as explained in the traditional Tibetan style. The course also focuses on the expansion of students’ vocabulary.

The prerequisite for this course is either to have completed RYI’s Classical Tibetan I, or to have a comparable level of knowledge (i.e. a semester of classical Tibetan study).

Students taking this course on either an Interactive or For-credit basis should expect between six to nine hours of course work per week, and the course will take one semester to complete. 

Students in the Self-Study course have up to twelve months to complete the material and proceed at their own pace. Course material is presented as video and visual lectures given by Joost Palenstijn in English and also includes web-based resources for study and practice such as vocabulary guides, quizzes, and PDF handouts.

The self-study format, where students work at their own pace, is available to begin year-round. Students in the Interactive or For-credit formats progress through the online course materials together with guidance and instruction from a moderator, and must begin the class at certain designated times, usually in September and January (June or July for the online summer version). Those who study in the For-credit format will receive three academic credits upon successful completion of the course. Please see the descriptions below for explanations of the available course formats.

Students will navigate the course material via Moodle, an open source e-learning environment, and will occasionally access other online environments. Internet access is a requirement for studying this course. Students will have access to this course in Moodle for one year from their date of registration.

 FAQs 

Prerequisites

TLAN 101: Classical Tibetan I