Ven Bodhi's "A Course in the Pali Language"

[Ben]

Hi all

I'm just wondering whether anyone has done Venerable Bodhi's "A Course in the Pali Language": http://www.bodhimonastery.net/bm/progra ... nline.html
He recommends Stephen Collins "A Pali Grammar for students", "A New Course in Reading Pali: Entering the Word of the Buddha", by James Gair and W.S. Karunatilleke.

If so, what did you think of it?
Thanks for your feedback.
Metta

Ben

[pt1]

Hi Ben, I haven't done the Bodhi course, but I started reading Gair&Karunatillake recently and I really like it - it starts with passages from the suttas straight away, so by the end of the first lesson you have a feeling like you can actually read suttas in pali, which feels very nice. So it's a bit different than Pali Primer for example, which starts with some very basic and seemingly unrelated stuff like "uncle brings rice", etc. Haven't yet started reading the Collins grammar, but from what I can see it's fairly compact (200 pages only) so it shouldn't feel overwhelming for a beginner.

Best wishes

[Ben]

Thanks pt, I appreciate your feedback!
metta

Ben

[mud]

Hi Ben
I started it, only on 2nd chapter. I found it pretty helpful. I like the book "A New Course in Reading Pali: Entering the Word of the Buddha". It is understandable with Bhikkhu Bodi's comments (without them, it might be a bit dry and have unnecessarily difficult grammar explanations).

A while ago I started using, I think it was called an elementary pali course, or something like that, it a fairly old book. So I had some idea about the grammar.

Once you get your head around how the 8 declensions work you’ll be fine

[Ben]

Thanks very much, mud.
For the first time in many years I;m about to have enough free time available to be able to work towards my long-held aspiration of learning pali. I think I'm going to go ahead with ordering the books associated with Ven. Bodhi's online course. I've got a great deal of respect and confidence in Ven Bodhi, personally, and as a scholar and translator.
Of course, if anyone else has any feedback or comments, good or bad, regarding Ven Bodhi's course and the books that he is recommending - please feel free to make them here. As the old adage goes 'fore-warned is fore-armed'!
Metta

Ben

[jcsuperstar]

you know i got his course on CD then bought the book, then married a Thai girl so my priority became learning Thai not pali, so I'm no help here but I'm pretty good at useless posts!

[mud]

Pali is a fairly easy language for an English speaker. It helps if you have learned another language before, simply so you can break out of the English language mindset.

The structure of English is generally Subject Verb Object
I like you
You like me

You can think about why these are incorrect English sentences.
You like I.
Him like she.
He an apple eats.


Here are some sentences to help with the Pali declensions. (I hope they are correct, as I have not fully mastered the language, if someone can do better please help)

Nom: Dhammo is great.
Acc: I like Dhamma.m.
Gen: Dhammassa founder was the Buddha.
Dat: Monks keep strict vinaya [for the sake of] dhammaaya.
Inst: The Buddha subdues the beast [with] dhammena.
Abl: The beginning of peace comes [from] dhammaa.
Loc: The heart of the path is [in] dhamme.
Voc: Dhamma! You are the best.


Good luck

[suanck]

I'm just wondering whether anyone has done Venerable Bodhi's "A Course in the Pali Language": http://www.bodhimonastery.net/bm/progra ... nline.html
He recommends Stephen Collins "A Pali Grammar for students", "A New Course in Reading Pali: Entering the Word of the Buddha", by James Gair and W.S. Karunatilleke.

At the same page, Bhikkhu Bodhi also recommended to learn Pali from Lily de Silva's "A Pali Primer" first, then, learn Pali reading from his course.

"... I therefore now recommend that students who wish to learn Pali on their own first work through a Pali primer. My personal recommendation is Lily de Silva, A Pali Primer, which is available as a printed book from Pariyatti and on the Internet from the Vipassana Research Institute. I suggest that you do the exercises of translating Pali into English, but pass over the exercises of translating English into Pali (unless, of course, you wish to acquire proficiency in Pali composition). Once you have gained familiarity with the building blocks of Pali grammar, learned from the primer, you can then move on to the Pali reader, which is explained in the lessons recorded here. "....

Suan.

[Richard]

I listened to this course up through Lecture 16, but have since been going through the book on my own. The class sessions seemed to be getting very slow-paced, with questions and discussions that were difficult to hear. I appreciated hearing the pronunciation and learning some grammar points, but what we really need is a more professionally recorded set of lessons. As more of us learn Pali I hope there will be more books and recordings available.