Resources for learning classical and colloquial Tibetan Language
I am a student at Maitripa College in Portland, Oregon. When I first began studying Tibetan as part of my degree program, I was surprised to find so few resources available. No podcasts, no online dictionaries, no searchable textbooks?! As I continued the learning, however, I slowly began to discover that there is a rich web of people learning Tibetan and quite a few resources–if one digs.
I’m hoping to create a list of those resources here so other people won’t have to dig so much to find them.
If you know of something that should be on this list, use the contact form below to let me know. Or email me at andrewcarterhughes at gmail.
You can also read some of my thoughts on what makes Tibetan an exciting and challenging language to learn.
Tibetan consonants and their sounds at pum-ba-mi-dak-ba.site
Tibetan consonants flash card style game at pum-ba-mi-dak-ba.site
Dr. Chok Tenzin on Tibetan pronunciation (super helpful!): video 1 and video 2
Dr. Chok Tenzin on writing the Tibetan alphabet on youtube
Lama David Curtis on the Tibetan alphabet on youtube
Geshe Michael Roach explains the Tibetan alphabet on youtube
More of Michael Roach explaining the Tibetan alphabet on youtube
See the listing for Fluent Tibetan below. The first volume of the series has extensive drills that are great for learning the alphabet and how to pronounce the composed ligatures (consonant clusters or stacks of symbols that constitute a Tibetan sound unit–essentially a core consonant and vowel plus any number of prefixes, suffixes, superscripts, subscripts, and secondary suffixes).
pum-ba-mi-dak-ba.site Monlam Dictionary — Searchable dictionary that contains the Monlam colloquial Tibetan dictionary.
Monlam Mobile app – Android and iOS app containing the Monlam Tibetan-English dictionary
Venerable Lobsang Monlam is a Tibetan monk from Sera Monastery in India. He has kindly made his Tibetan-English dictionary and apps open source. Check out the GitHub page.
Memrise Tibetan for English Speakers — I haven’t used any of these (I’m more of an Anki-man myself), but there does appear to be a good collection of resources on Memrise for both classical and colloquial
Sarah College — college for Tibetan studies in India near Dharamsala that offers Tibetan language and Buddhist studies for foreigners
Esukhia — immersion-based Tibetan language school in Dharamsala
Sarnath International Nyingma Institute – they are running an on-line course is based on Franziska Oertle’s innovative text, The Heart of Tibetan Language. Starts July 2021!
Lotsawa Rinchen Zangpo Translator Program (LRZTP) – is currently running online colloquial Tibetan classes, their Foundations in Tibetan Language Online program.
The Heart of Tibetan Language: A Synthesis of Indigenous Grammar and Contemporary Learning Methodology, Franziska Oertle — Nice book (used by the LRZTP translator program) for learning colloquial Tibetan available as an ebook on google books
Audio and a really well done Anki deck (with audio!) is also available from Franziska Oertle’s website
Manual of Standard Tibetan: Language and Civilization, Nicolas Tournadre — Classic textbook for learning Tibetan language and grammar–kinda the standard for classical Tibetan. See it on Shambhala Publications.
Anki deck for Manual of Standard Tibetan available on Anki web
Fluent Tibetan, Volumes 1-3, Dr. William Magee, Dr. Elizabeth Napper — A three-volume series developed by the Tibetan studies department at the University of Virginia that emphasizes repetitive drills and natural language acquisition. I found the first volume particularly helpful when I was learning the alphabet and how to pronounce syllables.
Audio for drills from Fluent Tibetan available on the Shambhala Publications website.
Spoken Tibetan Basics, Tenzin Tharpa, Sangye Tsultrim — free ebook on Google books
Tenzin Tharpa from Sera Jey Monastery, Bylakuppe, India, actually has a large selection of free dharma ebooks available. Check out his website.
The New Tibetan-English Dictionary of Modern Tibetan 2nd Edition, Goldstein — A good Tibetan to English dictionary
English-Tibetan Dictionary of Modern Tibetan, Goldstein — English to Tibetan dictionary (not as complete as the Tibetan to English dictionary)
The Tibetan Phrasebook, Fassassi — Phrasebook intended for people wanting to learn conversational Amdo Tibetan. According to the description, “the emphasis is not on the classical didactic grammatical approach, but the practical acquisition of the colloquial language.”
Maitripa College — Maitripa College in Portland, Oregon, offers classes in classical Tibetan language and Buddhist studies, including a world-class Tibetan intensive summer program
The Dharma Farm — A Zoom-based school founded by Dr. William Magee (graduate of the Hopkins UVA Tibetan Studies program, vice president of UMA Institute) dedicated to teaching Tibetan language and Buddhist philosophy, with an emphasis on a rigorous approach to Tibetan grammar.
Tibetan Language Institute — Non-profit founded by Lama David Curtis dedicated to preserving Tibetan language and culture that provides learning materials and classes
Rangjung Yeshe Instititue — Located in Kathmandu, Nepal, founded by Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche, provides a wide range of Tibetan language and Buddhist studies classes, both throughout the year and as summer intensive programs
Lotsawa Rinchen Zangpo Translator Program (LRZTP) — FPTM-affiliated, two-year Tibetan language translator program that takes place in Dharmashala, India, on a rotating basis
UMA Tibet — Institute founded by Jeffery Hopkins to support long-term translation of texts and oral teachings from Tibetan Buddhist traditions. Lots of Buddhist texts translated into English with Tibetan and English.
UMA Archives — Audio and video from teachings given by Tibetan Geshe’s during Jeffery Hopkin’s time at UVA.
Memrise Tibetan for English Speakers — I haven’t used any of these (I’m more of an Anki-man myself), but there does appear to be a good collection of resources on Memrise for both classical and colloquial
pum-ba-mi-dak-ba.site Yangsi Rinpoche reciting The Foundation of All Good Qualities with Tibetan and English and context highlighting that matches the audio so that the listener can follow along easily.
pum-ba-mi-dak-ba.site UMA Tibet and Rangjung Yeshe Dictionary — Searchable dictionary that contains UMA Tibet and Rangjung Yeshe classical Tibetan language and Sanskrit terms.
Christian Steinert’s Tibetan Dictionary — Another Tibetan dictionary that has entries from a long list of different sources.
THL Tibetan to English Translation Tool — A very useful tool (with a slightly dated interface) from the Tibetan and Himalayan Library that will break a Tibetan sentence into words and look them up for you.
THL Wylie and Unicode Converter — converts Wylie and Unicode (don’t know what Wylie is yet–oh, man, are you gonna love-hate-love-hate it)
Translating Buddhism from Tibetan: An Introduction to the Tibetan Literary Language and the Translation of Buddhist Texts from Tibetan, Joe Wilson – The big red book on Tibetan grammar. Only book that systematically attempts to explain Tibetan grammar using the system developed by the Hopkins team from Tibetan and Sanskrit grammar. Not flawless, but an indispensible resource for classical Tibetan grammar.
My Anki deck on Ankiweb.net for Joe Wilson’s Translating Buddhism from Tibetan
Memrise deck with vocabulary from Wilson’s Translating Buddhism from Tibetan
A Tibetan Verb Lexicon: Second Edition, Updated and Expanded Illustrated Edition, Paul Hackett — “Yellow Hacket”, the only book that breaks down classical Tibetan verbs
Learning Classical Tibetan: A Reader for Translating Buddhist Texts, Paul Hackett — “Blue Hackett,” provides parallel English-Tibetan translation for a number of texts with very helpful translation hints
How to Read Classical Tibetan, Vol. 1:: Summary of the General Path, Craig Preston — Teaches classical Tibetan language and grammar and vocabulary by walking the reader through a complete translation of a famous Tibetan Buddhist text, Summary of the General Path to Buddhahood
How to Read Classical Tibetan, Vol. 2: Buddhist Tenets, Craig Preston — Similar to vol. 1, teaches more advanced classical Tibetan grammar and vocabulary by walking the reader thought a complete translation of a translation of a text on Buddhist Tenets
Tibetan Debate Primer, Tenzin Tharpa — An English-Tibetan primer on Tibetan debate, free ebook on Google books
The Tibetan and Himalayan Library has a TON of video and audio in Tibetan from different regions and dialects. Everything from folk songs and parables to all the audio from Manual of Standard Tibetan.
Tibetan Audiobooks is a great YouTube channel with readings of Tibetan books in Tibetan with text shown along with it.
Beri Prince (བེ་རི་རྒྱལ་སྲས་) is a monastic from Drepung Monastery that has put up a lot of videos teaching Tibetan language and grammar. They are entirely in Tibetan. However, for more advanced students interested in learning Tibetan how the Tibetans teach it, they’re great.
Know of a resource that should be on this list? Let me know.
One might ask, why learn a surprisingly difficult language spoken by only a couple million people? And especially, why learn a technical medieval variant of this language that basically nobody speaks and Tibetans study for decades to earn degrees to understand? Before we speak about why one might learn Tibetan, let’s look at what makes it challenging. First, the alphabet and spelling are...