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प्रवेश: [Praveśaḥ]
A book for learning Samskrita through correspondence (English Medium) Level 1 - Pravesha
278 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2014
21 people are currently reading
245 people want to read
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Samskrita Bharati
11 books19 followersLibrarian's Note: There are many books published by Samskrita Bharati which don't have an author mentioned. This list contains all those books. Please add the respective author names if present.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
October 22, 2025
I currently finished Lesson 4.
The Praveśa course is amazing. One wouldn't think that such a little book could contain so much knowledge. But it does. Each level, so far, has been around a month of very intensive learning. In my case I can't memorize the ślokas unless I understand the meaning of the vocabulary. Thus memorizing verbs, subhaṣitāni, literature, etc., it's a lot. I would say it's around 150 word per lesson, easy. The course is also fast paced. By lesson 4, you already learned laṭlkāraḥ and laṅkāraḥ, paramaispadī and ātmanepadī verbs, not mentioning the verb tenses and participles, etc., that appear in the ślokas. As a self-study course, you need a good dictionary, vibhakti tables, and conjugation tables in order not to get lost.
As I have arrived at Lesson 6, I can only say it gets really hard. This chapter is brutal. Now I find myself with the memorization of the future tense, which isn't so hard when you know the present tense well. However, some roots change, some add an -i, etc., which makes your memorization a one-on-one experience. Not only that, I think there's around 150 new words (I'm still not done with my excel-sheet, so it's just a bulk number), which also need to be memorized. Verbs are hard because you need the memorize the stem for the future, and the present tense form (I advise to memorize their roots as well. Something like: भु - भवति - भविष्यति । गम् - गच्छति - गमिष्यति । मुद् - मोदते - मोदिष्यते । लिख् - लिखति - लेखिष्यति. I also need to recite the past tenses learned in order to keep them memorized. And you have to memorize the vibhakti tables provided in Chapter 12 (in order to be able to be done with them at the end of chapter 11). Note: I don't have time to review the vocabulary of the past 5 lessons. And I did neglect to master Lessons 5 vocabulary which is proving really sad now.
I definitely recommend spending at least one month with each chapter, and memorizing the lesson's vocabulary without entering the next chapter because if you don't you will get lost as you advance. You may want to spend more time with lesson 6 due to its overwhelming volume.
I should also mention that I wanted to take the exam in November 2023. I don't think it will be possible anymore. I'm planning to take the exam in February or May 2024.
I finished the 6 weeks and I'm still in lesson 6. As I said, it is a very, very difficult lesson, which makes me feel truly deflated. The translation of sentences is brutal (I'm making mistakes non-stop), especially because I instinctively go to my childhood languages to find a way of expressing myself, only to realize that you can't translate like that into Sanskrit.
I wrote a note to myself, which I'm posting here for all: "The sequence of the words in English is the reverse in Sanskrit. That’s why we don’t translate into Sanskrit using the structures used in English. First, you need to understand what it is you’re trying to say. Then you have to adapt it to the structures used in Sanskrit. This is what’s hard. Because the way of expressing an idea is so very different. It’s like developing a whole new mindset."
2024/08/23
It's been so many months since I was able to advance with the studies os this beautiful book. My advice? I spent months trying to re-memorize all the vocabulary and विभक्ति-tables, and everything else that I had already forgotten. Thus I fell back in my studies. At this point I'm moving forward (disregarding re-memorization) because otherwise I will never finish this level.
2024/12/19
I've been advancing, memorizing the current lesson a priority, at a very slow pace. This has allowed me to re-memorize the Intro, L1, and L2 vocabulary while studying Lesson 9. I've stopped competing with time. Rather, I won't go to the next page unless all the vocabulary is learned. This has allowed me to understand most of the sentences (excepting those with new vocabulary). I don't think the pace is important. Rather, making the vocabulary your own.
2025/02/17
I just finished page 190. I have to say the content increase up to this point is overwhelming. I still have more grammar to learn. But after this, it's time to memorize... a lot, a lot, a lot! Since there's a tremendous amount of vocabulary I've forgotten a lot of it. I recommend creating a memrize level for each chapter and memorize as you go. Otherwise you will be crushed by the amount of vocabulary you have to master. I thought I was going to take the exam in February 2025, but I can't without reviewing the material for at least 6 months. If I pass, whenever I pass, I will post it here.
2025/03/23
I finished the book today! Yay! I still have much to study for the test, but I finished the book just now!
...2025/08/14
Studying non-stop. parīkṣā date: 2025/08/23
2025/08/23
The tests are getting harder and harder. That sentence that is buried somewhere that you'll find perchance... They will test you on that. Absolutely no comparison to those easy-peasy tests in 2010-2016. If you access those released by SB on archive.org, please beware that SB will not include what you find there. They will word it differently, they will present it in a table you must fill, etc. The instructions are also very hard to understand: All those grammatical terms that you know well in English; you need to master them perfectly in Sanskrit as well...
The exam was excruciatingly hard...
But don't despair. If you love Sanskrit (and you do, since you're studying hard), "just keep swimming," like precious Dory advises us to do... Smile, take a breath, walk off the disappointment, and come back to studying. The worse thing that's happening, is your strengthening your knowledge in this amazingly beautiful language... And isn't that what we're pursuing?
Si las cosas que valen la pena se hicieran fácilmente; cualquiera las haría...
2025/10/21 I passed.
The Praveśa course is amazing. One wouldn't think that such a little book could contain so much knowledge. But it does. Each level, so far, has been around a month of very intensive learning. In my case I can't memorize the ślokas unless I understand the meaning of the vocabulary. Thus memorizing verbs, subhaṣitāni, literature, etc., it's a lot. I would say it's around 150 word per lesson, easy. The course is also fast paced. By lesson 4, you already learned laṭlkāraḥ and laṅkāraḥ, paramaispadī and ātmanepadī verbs, not mentioning the verb tenses and participles, etc., that appear in the ślokas. As a self-study course, you need a good dictionary, vibhakti tables, and conjugation tables in order not to get lost.
As I have arrived at Lesson 6, I can only say it gets really hard. This chapter is brutal. Now I find myself with the memorization of the future tense, which isn't so hard when you know the present tense well. However, some roots change, some add an -i, etc., which makes your memorization a one-on-one experience. Not only that, I think there's around 150 new words (I'm still not done with my excel-sheet, so it's just a bulk number), which also need to be memorized. Verbs are hard because you need the memorize the stem for the future, and the present tense form (I advise to memorize their roots as well. Something like: भु - भवति - भविष्यति । गम् - गच्छति - गमिष्यति । मुद् - मोदते - मोदिष्यते । लिख् - लिखति - लेखिष्यति. I also need to recite the past tenses learned in order to keep them memorized. And you have to memorize the vibhakti tables provided in Chapter 12 (in order to be able to be done with them at the end of chapter 11). Note: I don't have time to review the vocabulary of the past 5 lessons. And I did neglect to master Lessons 5 vocabulary which is proving really sad now.
I definitely recommend spending at least one month with each chapter, and memorizing the lesson's vocabulary without entering the next chapter because if you don't you will get lost as you advance. You may want to spend more time with lesson 6 due to its overwhelming volume.
I should also mention that I wanted to take the exam in November 2023. I don't think it will be possible anymore. I'm planning to take the exam in February or May 2024.
I finished the 6 weeks and I'm still in lesson 6. As I said, it is a very, very difficult lesson, which makes me feel truly deflated. The translation of sentences is brutal (I'm making mistakes non-stop), especially because I instinctively go to my childhood languages to find a way of expressing myself, only to realize that you can't translate like that into Sanskrit.
I wrote a note to myself, which I'm posting here for all: "The sequence of the words in English is the reverse in Sanskrit. That’s why we don’t translate into Sanskrit using the structures used in English. First, you need to understand what it is you’re trying to say. Then you have to adapt it to the structures used in Sanskrit. This is what’s hard. Because the way of expressing an idea is so very different. It’s like developing a whole new mindset."
2024/08/23
It's been so many months since I was able to advance with the studies os this beautiful book. My advice? I spent months trying to re-memorize all the vocabulary and विभक्ति-tables, and everything else that I had already forgotten. Thus I fell back in my studies. At this point I'm moving forward (disregarding re-memorization) because otherwise I will never finish this level.
2024/12/19
I've been advancing, memorizing the current lesson a priority, at a very slow pace. This has allowed me to re-memorize the Intro, L1, and L2 vocabulary while studying Lesson 9. I've stopped competing with time. Rather, I won't go to the next page unless all the vocabulary is learned. This has allowed me to understand most of the sentences (excepting those with new vocabulary). I don't think the pace is important. Rather, making the vocabulary your own.
2025/02/17
I just finished page 190. I have to say the content increase up to this point is overwhelming. I still have more grammar to learn. But after this, it's time to memorize... a lot, a lot, a lot! Since there's a tremendous amount of vocabulary I've forgotten a lot of it. I recommend creating a memrize level for each chapter and memorize as you go. Otherwise you will be crushed by the amount of vocabulary you have to master. I thought I was going to take the exam in February 2025, but I can't without reviewing the material for at least 6 months. If I pass, whenever I pass, I will post it here.
2025/03/23
I finished the book today! Yay! I still have much to study for the test, but I finished the book just now!
...2025/08/14
Studying non-stop. parīkṣā date: 2025/08/23
2025/08/23
The tests are getting harder and harder. That sentence that is buried somewhere that you'll find perchance... They will test you on that. Absolutely no comparison to those easy-peasy tests in 2010-2016. If you access those released by SB on archive.org, please beware that SB will not include what you find there. They will word it differently, they will present it in a table you must fill, etc. The instructions are also very hard to understand: All those grammatical terms that you know well in English; you need to master them perfectly in Sanskrit as well...
The exam was excruciatingly hard...
But don't despair. If you love Sanskrit (and you do, since you're studying hard), "just keep swimming," like precious Dory advises us to do... Smile, take a breath, walk off the disappointment, and come back to studying. The worse thing that's happening, is your strengthening your knowledge in this amazingly beautiful language... And isn't that what we're pursuing?
Si las cosas que valen la pena se hicieran fácilmente; cualquiera las haría...
2025/10/21 I passed.
February 9, 2024
Wonderful book for learning Sanskrit, chapters are arranged in proper order and the complex topics are broken down in simple modules so it becomes easier to grasp. Also exercises given at the end helps strengthening the chapter learnt. Also various subhashits, stories and riddles makes learning much more fun and breaks monotony.
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August 5, 2020The review will be after I read
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews