Sanskrit captivated Western scholars from the eighteenth century onward, when its deep kinship with Latin, Greek and English first came to light as part of the Indo-European language family. It's also the ancestor of north India's modern languages, including Hindi and Gujarati. Its literature spans an immense range — from the Vedic period (1500BC onward) to the present day — including the Rig Veda, the great epics Ramayana and Mahabharata, major prose, poetry and drama, philosophical and scientific texts, and even fairy tales and animal fables.
Both options cover the same course content — the difference is how and when you learn.
Single session
Book individual 1-hour sessions with Nigel. No commitment — start whenever you're ready.
$40 / session
Book a sessionBundle — best value
Save with 4 sessions. Use them however you like — one topic or several.
$140 / 4 sessions
Book a bundleInterested in a group class? Classes of up to 5 students can become available with a minimum of two students — students have access to 8 group classes for the price of 4 one-on-one sessions. Tick the group class option in the booking form to let Nigel know.
What you'll learn
Read and write the Devanagari script
Understand the fundamentals of Sanskrit grammar — one of the most systematic structures in any language
Read short passages from Sanskrit texts with guidance
Understand Sanskrit's central role in the Indo-European language family
See the deep connections between Sanskrit and Greek, Latin and English
Who this course is for
You're drawn to Indian philosophy, Hinduism or Buddhism and want to access the original texts
You've studied Indo-European and want to go deeper into the most revealing branch of the family
You're interested in the history of linguistics and Panini's extraordinary grammatical system
You want a rigorous language challenge — Sanskrit is demanding but deeply rewarding
Your teacher
Nigel spent seven years attending degree-level classes across every branch of the Indo-European language family. He now teaches from Auckland to students worldwide via Microsoft Teams.
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