The Micro-Certificate in Spoken Samskritam (MCSS) is a 4-quarter, 6 Credit-hour leisurely paced exploration of the Samskritam as a spoken language. It prepares beginning students that know the Samskritam (aka “Sanskrit”) / DevanAgarii script, but no fluency in conversational aspects, to achieve a level of Conversational Proficiency using simple real-life scenarios and skits.
At the Hindu University of America, Samskritam is approached as a living language that informs and enlivens a civilization and culture, its wisdom and worldview, its philosophy and spirituality. And taking Samskritam up as a living language, the MCSS course focuses on several dimensions of the Sanskrit language including reading, writing, speaking, listening, and understanding. Accessing Samskritam will enable students the ability to speak fluently and comprehend easily. The MCSS is a foundation for students of all ages ranging from High School onwards.
There is a great joy associated with mastering a new language, regardless of what that language is. Every new word acquired gives rise to a new sense of accomplishment, and as students successfully memorize vocabularies, acquire the basic rules of grammar, and start to form full sentences, each is a milestone achievement akin to leveling up in a game. Every quiz and test completed successfully, can stimulate a self-perpetuating virtuous cycle, leading the student on to further accomplishment. When that language being acquired is Samskritam, the joy of learning is multi-fold, because it provides direct access to the master-key of the living Hindu Civilization, to the texts and narratives of its rich traditions of dharma, yoga, jnana, art, music, dance, song, and the various cultural and spiritual traditions.
The MCSS is targeted at beginning students with a passion to learn and speak in a new language, and those who are keen to engage with the texts and literature of the Hindu and Indic world and its numerous derivative knowledge systems. No prior knowledge of Samskritam is assumed, and the medium of teaching is initially English. As the students advance in their proficiency, the language of instruction will shift gradually to Samskritam, at a pace that is comfortable and easy to the students.
The 4-quarter Program of Study is structured in three successive phases as follows:
(1) Beginner Phase – 1 Quarter, 1.5-Credit hour. This will be up to 15 hours of instruction and 30 hours of self-study. (Course Fee: $300)
(2) Intermediate Phase – 1 Quarter, 1.5-Credit hour. This will add up to 15 hours of instruction and 30 hours of self-study. (Course Fee: $300)
(3) Proficiency Phase – 2 Quarters, 1.5-Credit hours each. This will add up to 30 hours of instruction and 60 hours of self-study. (Course Fee: $600)
Students are encouraged to register for all 4 quarters to get a 25% discount on the total course fees. Course fees do not include any books and shipping charges.
At the completion of the program of study, students will be able to achieve proficiency in the Sanskrit language across the following six dimensions:
(a) Reading with correct pronunciation (i.e., alphabets, words, and sentences); paThanam (b) Writing without errors (Forming comprehensible sentences and paragraphs); lekhanam (c) Listening (Comprehending Sanskrit speech when someone else is speaking); shravaNam
(d) Conversing (Being able to speak grammatically accurate Sanskrit in a way that others can comprehend the meaning); sambhAShaNam, and
(e) Comprehension (Being able to engage with complex sentences, both spoken and written, and discover their meanings without assistance. avagamanam
At the completion of these 3 phases, or in parallel, students will have the option to take up further advanced studies in Sanskrit through the Certificate Program in Samskritam Proficiency (CPSP), also offered by the HUA. In any case, students will be participating in a “Higher Education” ecosystem that supports and enables advanced learning in Hindu studies as well as Sanskrit literary studies. Both the MCSS and the CPSS are structured innovatively using a high-quality curriculum.