Monday, May 30, 2005
A site http://www.saice.org/sanskrit/ for Sanskrit at Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Pondicherry. shrI aravindAshrame sa.nskR^itam. Read the comments by Sri Aurobindo and Sri Mata about Sanskrit. "The Sanskrit ought to be the national language of India," Mother, April 19, 1971. Excellent site with audio and video lessons. The songs in surabhArati sections are sung clearly with catchy tunes and with orchestra. The text of the songs is displayed. These songs are simple and very useful to teach children for performing in a public function or as a group song. The zipped video files, under the category of "A New Method of Learning Sanskrit," are relatively large and can be easily downloaded if your computer is equipped with cable modem connection. There are fourteen song files in Audio-Balageeta section in addition to the songs in lessons. The lessons and, in general, Sanskrit teaching in Aurobindo Ashram follows guidelines by Mother: 1) Make Sanskrit a truly living language. 2) Teach simple Sanskrit, not simplified - simple by going back to its origin. 3) Speak Sanskrit. Do sufficient oral work in the class. 4) Teach logically. The student should know the why and how of the rules of grammar. 5) Your method should be most natural, efficient, and stimulating to the mind.
The Ashram publishes Sanskrit books to "Read, Write and Speak Sanskrit," "Literature for Beginners (Conversations, Shlokas, Stories, Plays)," among many others, and a quarterly magazine Lokasamskritam.
