संस्कृतम् — reading, grammar, and the language behind Vedānta study.
This page provides information about free online Samskritam classes for adults, along with a curated collection of Sanskrit learning resources for students.
CLASS SCHEDULE (listed in *USA east Coast time*)
The classes are free and online. Interested to learn? Fill out the interest form
| Learn Devanagari Lipi | Fridays | 8:00-9:00 pm ET |
| Practice Sanskrit Sambhāṣṇaṃ (for those who have learned one or two years of spoken Samskritam) | Saturdays | 7:00-8:00 pm ET |
| *NEW* Learn Sanskrit Chanting (Shankara Shlokas, Suktams, and more) | Saturdays | 8:30-9:30 pm ET |
| Gita Home Study (Using Poojya Swami Dayananda Saraswati’s Gita home study books) *If interested, send message to 480-277-5839* | Sundays | 10:00-11:30 am ET |
| Understand Sanskrit-vyAkaraNa (Grammar) | Sundays | 8:00-9:00 pm ET |
| Improve Sanskrit Reading Fluency | Mondays | 8:00-9:00 pm ET |
Note: Class times are listed in USA East Coast times. Example, 8pm ET = 5pm PT = 7pm CT
About the शिक्षिका (śikṣikā)
Dr. Deepa Aier, Ph.D., CCC-SLP
I’ve taught Samskritam to both adults and children with Samskrita Bharati USA (SBUSA) since 2012, and have completed Samskrita Bharati’s Praveśa, Paricaya, Śikṣā, and Kovida exams. I’ve also taught Samskritam at Arsha Vidya Gurukulam during Swami Viditatmananda ji’s Bhāṣyam Camp.
Since 2017, in a voluntary leadership capacity, have been serving as Division Director, Children’s Education, Samskrita Bharati. With our team, coordinate & support national efforts in curriculum development, teacher training, and the publication of Samskritam books for children. As a speech-language pathologist with a Ph.D. in early intervention, I bring more than 25 years of experience in language development and education to this teaching.
Outside of Samskritam teaching, I work in early childhood systems and speech-language pathology — you can read more about that work on the main RTA Pathways website.
Resources Shared in class
These are resources shared in our classes.
| Devanagari Lipi Class (Fridays) | Class resources |
| Sambhāṣaṇaṃ Practice (Saturdays) | Class resources |
| Sanskrit Grammar (Sundays) | Class resources |
| Sanskrit Reading Fluency (Mondays) | Class resources |
General Sanskrit resources
This is an ongoing collation of useful tools and resources students can use to gain confidence and proficiency in Samskritam.
Dictionaries & word lookup
- Ashtadhyayi.com An ocean of Sanskrit resources — grammar tools, dictionaries, and reference material in one place.
- Sanskrit Kosha A Sanskrit dictionary for quick word lookup.
- Arsha Drishti — Sanskrit Tools A curated collection of Sanskrit dictionaries and grammar tools from Arsha Drishti’s Vedanta and Sanskrit program.
Learning sites & courses
- Samskrita Bharati USA An amazing space to learn spoken Samskritam in person and find like-minded people.
- Central Sanskrit University — Distance Learning Formal distance-learning programs in Sanskrit from Central Sanskrit University.
- Samskrit Tutorial Digitized textbooks and other self-study resources.
Reading Fluency, Vedanta resources, & magazines
- Shlokam.org A repository of shlokas.
- Sambhashana Sandesha A Sanskrit magazine to help build reading fluency.
- Chatravani A Sanskrit magazine with audio recordings and quizzes.
- Story Weaver (Pratham Books) An incredible collection of simple illustrated stories.
- Sanskrit Sahitya An authentic website to see word meanings of itihāsa texts like Ramayanam, Mahabharata and Sanskrit literature like Kalidasa kāvyās etc
- Gita Home Study Books Online – Arsha Vidya Gurukulam – Swami Dayananda Saraswathi
- Vedanta Adhyayana Sahakari – A github website resource with Vedantic texts with grammar support
Spoken samskritam Immersion
- Spoken Samskritam Tutorials 120 videos of systematically learning spoken Samskritam
- Samskrita Bharati USA You Tube Channel An easy way for language immersion on a variety of topics
- Podcasts in Samskritam Samskritam immersion on the go!
- Simple stories by Gurukula.com
- Sanskrit News Radio and Samskritam News Youtube Channel
Devanagari lipi, sanskrit Phonetics & transliteration typing tools
- LaksIyer Github – Excellent website to learn & practice pronunciation & writing of Devenagari Lipi
- Medha Michika ji Write Alphabet Videos – Series of videos showing how to write Sanskrit alphabets & pronunication
- UBS Resources – University of British Columbia collated resources for phonetic and other topics.
- IAST/ITRANS to Devanagari Transliteration represents a word from one script using the characters of another while preserving its pronunciation.
- For example: बालकः → baalakaH (ITRANS) → bālakaḥ (IAST)
- IAST and ITRANS are commonly used in Samskritam books and resources. Use this transliteration tool to convert accurately between scripts. With practice, you will soon be able to transliterate independently!
- Lexilogos – Devagarai typing tool
- Google Input tools – Devanagari typing tool
- Choose Sanskrit as the language and type the word phonetically using English letters—it will automatically convert to Devanagari. A great way to practice typing the Samskritam words you have learned!
Questions about the class?
Reach out via email deepa.aier@gmail.com or send a message via WA
