Elementary Sanskrit I
12-Week Online Course
(May 23 - Aug 12, 2022)
with Dr. Antonia M. Ruppel
Enrollment will re-open in Spring 2023.
Cutting-edge online Sanskrit curriculum
Join renowned teacher Dr. Antonia M. Ruppel, and a global cohort of students, for this unique opportunity to study and receive world-class training in Classical Sanskrit—from the comfort of your own home.
Dr. Ruppel is an excellent teacher! She is able to explain the complexities of Sanskrit so even someone like me, with no prior knowledge of classical languages, can understand them. I am overwhelmed with gratitude at having the opportunity to learn this beautiful language with Dr. Ruppel and a cohort of international students.
– Previous SKT 101 Student
Three 12-week terms
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SKT 101 | Elementary Sanskrit I (May 23 - Aug 12, 2022)
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SKT 102 | Elementary Sanskrit II (Sep 19 - Dec 9, 2022)
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SKT 103 | Elementary Sanskrit III (Jan 9 - March 31, 2023)
SKT 101
This is the first of three terms for our renowned online Elementary Sanskrit program with Dr. Antonia Ruppel.
9-month Sanskrit Curriculum
In this three-term sequence spanning 9 months, you will be introduced to all regular Sanskrit grammar, will acquire a vocabulary of around 500 words, and will gather plenty of experience reading original Sanskrit texts.
The SKT courses will have a dual emphasis: they will help you memorize what you need to know, but more than that, they will help you understand the many structures behind the Sanskrit language, thus minimizing the need for rote learning as much as possible.
The courses will follow The Cambridge Introduction to Sanskrit (2017), written by the instructor herself, and will progress at around one chapter per week. Using the book’s various supplementary resources (a dedicated video per chapter, electronic flash-cards for all verb and noun forms, vocabulary introduced by the book, and various other downloads), students will get to know each week’s new materials through a variety of pedagogical approaches.
Course Structure
- Two 90-minute live lessons will be held per week on Zoom.
- These live sessions will address all student questions, go over exercises and readings together, as well as personalize the learning experience with your Sanskrit teacher.
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There will be weekly written homework, optional quizzes to test yourself, as well as a “take-home” mid-term and a final.
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The grading will be such that anyone who puts a regular solid effort into the weekly homework will pass; those aiming for a B or an A will also need to perform accordingly on the two exams.
Live Zoom Sessions for SKT 101 (90 min)
May 23 - Aug 12, 2022
Mondays @ 10-11:30am Pacific (California)
Wednesdays @ 12-1:30pm Pacific (California)
*ALL LIVE SESSIONS WILL TAKE PLACE VIA ZOOM, AND WILL BE RECORDED FOR LATER VIEWING.
Each SKT course offers students:
- 24 Zoom live class sessions + recordings (90 min)
- 5 YSACP Credits
- Up to 36 Hours of CE credit with YA
- Yogic Studies Certificate upon completion (PDF)
- Access to the private Yogic Studies Online Community Forum
Your Instructor
Dr. Antonia M. Ruppel
Lecturer in Sanskrit, Institute of Indology and Tibetology, LMU, Munich, Germany
Antonia Ruppel is a Classicist by training who came to Sanskrit through a series of fortunate accidents. She learnt the language as an autodidact, and one of her reasons for writing her textbook, The Cambridge Introduction to Sanskrit (2017), was to make the experience of studying Sanskrit easier and more pleasant for others. She has recently published the followup volume, An Introductory Sanskrit Reader: Improving Reading Fluency (2021), designed to help students gain reading fluency in an enjoyable and straightforward way.
Language pedagogy is at the heart of her life. She has been teaching Sanskrit for 15 years at universities such as Cornell, Oxford and now the LMU in Munich, Germany, as well as offering courses in variety of formats online.
Listen to our interview with Dr. Ruppel on the Yogic Studies Podcast.
Enrollment now closed.
Sign up with one of the following tuition options:
Bundle Tuition
$800
ONE-TIME PAYMENT
• Lifetime access to SKT 101, 102, and 103.
• Save $325+ by enrolling in all three terms up front!
5% of all course proceeds will be donated to the Shanti Bhavan Children's Project.
Shanti Bhavan is a U.S. 501(c)(3) and India 80-G non-profit organization based in Bangalore, India, that operates a pre-K-12 residential school in Baliganapalli, Tamil Nadu. Shanti Bhavan empowers children from India’s lowest socioeconomic class to break the cycle of generational poverty through education, leadership, and compassion.
Yogic Studies is proud to be able to support their efforts.
Frequently Asked Questions
No! Students are not expected to have any background knowledge prior to study. That said, Sanskrit can be a challenging language. Having some background study can only help, especially having some experience already with the Devanāgarī script.
For this we recommend our SKT 100a | The Devanāgarī Seminar and SKT 100b | Sanskrit for Yogis courses as excellent for preparation.
Not to worry! All live sessions with Dr. Ruppel will be recorded and posted to the course website within 24 hours. Students will have lifetime access to them.
So while live attendance is strongly encouraged to get the most out of the course, you can still participate by watching the recordings.
You are also encouraged to participate in the online Community forum, and have the opportunity to send questions in ahead of time, especially if you cannot attend live.
No not necessarily. You are welcome to only register for a single course and see if the program is right for you, before committing to the full 9-month curriculum.
However, you will only be able to proceed to SKT 102 and 103 if you have completed SKT 101, or successfully taken the SKT 102 or 103 placement test.
Students who wish to be considered for SKT 102 or 103, who have not taken SKT 101, may take our online placement exam, at any time: https://www.yogicstudies.com/sanskrit-placement
Yes, we will be using The Cambridge Introduction to Sanskrit (Cambridge University Press, 2017), written by our instructor, Dr. Antonia M. Ruppel herself!
Each student will be responsible for purchasing a copy of this textbook. No other texts or purchases are necessary.
Dr. Ruppel will be utilizing a variety of pedagogical approaches to make Sanskrit learning fun and tangible for online students.
Each week students will utilize the textbook’s various supplementary resources (a dedicated video per chapter, electronic flash-cards for all verb and noun forms, vocabulary introduced by the book, and various other downloads).
We will then gather twice a week on Zoom to discuss the grammatical material, go over questions, and further examples together.
Unfortunately, SKT 101-103 are the only courses that are NOT included in the YS Membership Program. The reason behind this is we need to open/close enrollment at set dates and create unique Sanskrit cohorts to better serve the learning environment for both instructor and students.
However, both SKT 100a | The Devanāgarī Seminar and SKT 100b | Sanskrit for Yogis are available to students in the YS Membership Program.
Yes! Upon completion of each SKT course in the series, you will be eligible for an official Yogic Studies certificate of completion.
Upon completion of the entire Elementary Sanskrit series, you will be eligible for an additional certificate.
Each course also earns you 5 credits towards the Yogic Studies Advanced Certificate Program (YSACP).
If you have any further questions about the Sanskrit curriculum, please email us at [email protected]
"Dr. Ruppel is without a doubt one of the finest teachers I've ever encountered, in any subject. SKT 101 was superbly organized and I'm immensely grateful for the ease of use and especially the recordings which allowed me to attend classes I otherwise could not have done."
Jeffrey Kahane
Professor of Keyboard Studies, University of Southern California; PhD Student Classics, USC
"This is an exceptionally well written and presented course. Dr. Ruppel has an infectious enthusiasm for the material, and firm command of the subject. Not only will you learn a lot about Sanskrit, but you will also learn a lot about language in general, and will think about your own mother tongue in new ways. She is good at integrating students with various levels of experience in languages, including beginners. I spent a lot of time each week on the course, but I was happy when I worked out each exercise, like a puzzle. If you have ever thought about learning Sanskrit, grab this opportunity."
Michael Essex
M.D., Vista, CA.
"This course was much more than I expected it to be. I was so happy that the content was rich and in-depth. The textbook is packed with information, and there is a ton of resource material to support learning. Dr. Antonia Ruppel is without a doubt one of the best teachers I've ever had. Her passion for Sanskrit is electrifying and contagious. Her support is encouraging. Her ability to convey concepts clearly and precisely is superb. I don't believe that I would have learned so much from this course if it had been taught by anyone other than Dr. Ruppel. And I surely know that I would not have had such an enjoyable learning experience!"
Kevin Sharpe
Educational Consultant Georgia, USA
"Antonia Ruppel knows how to teach! All the challenges are met with encouragement and positivity. No one is more surprised than me that I am reading, writing and understanding Sanskrit after just 12 weeks! I am grateful for Antonia’s interest and commitment to my success."
Previous SKT 101 Student
Job Title
"This course is an excellent and very accessible introduction to Sanskrit. The material is made very "digestible" by "bite-sized" chapters with many resources to appeal to varied learning styles - a recorded video for each chapter, community forum, digital flashcards, live class twice a week and a variety of practice exercises. Antonia is amazingly knowledgeable and passionate about the subject, very patient with questions, thoughtful and receptive to requests about the course. I'm thrilled with how much I've learned. I highly recommend this course."
Audrey Harpe
Yoga practitioner and instructor Hemlock, NY USA
"It is an incredible course! Antonia is one of the most helpful and considerate teachers I have ever had the chance to learn from. Her method and sequencing of materials (in her book) is quite unique and every subject makes more sense each passing week."
Gülnihal Özdener
Translator / Yoga Instructor, Istanbul Turkey
"Antonia is a professional with a capital P! She is a great linguist. She has patience and a very rare gift of explaining complex things in a digestable way. I learnt a lot and cannot wait to start SKT 102! "
Małgorzata Szczypińska
PhD, Wrocław, Poland
"Looking back it is amazing to see how much ground we covered in just 12 weeks! Antonia is a great teacher who is always willing to help and explains things very clearly. Her textbook is a marvelous resource. Overall it has been a fun and fulfilling experience."
Aram Tavitian
Nicosia, Cyprus
"My expectations were exceeded on this 12 week course. Dr. Ruppel is a considerate and mindful teacher, presenting sometimes difficult subject matter in an accessible manner. Looking forward to further Sanskrit courses."
Lauren
Yoga Teacher Hawai’i USA
"I expected to drop out after the first or second week but I was inspired by an excellent teacher in Dr. Antonia Ruppel. Each week I had my doubts as we began a new chapter but somehow Dr. Ruppel made challenging concepts understandable and I was able to learn a great deal in this course. If you want to learn Sanskrit, this is the course to take!"
