[.ca] Samskrta-Subodhini: A Sanskrit Primer (ISBN 089148079X)

Methodical, patient, clear:
This is a very well thought-out text. The author states that it is not intended for self-study, but if you have a facility for languages, have studied an inflection-driven language such as Latin and have had a year of a modern language that uses the Devanagri writing system, you should be ok. The format is similar to that of Moreland and Fleischer's Latin text, with brief lessons covering single-serving chunks of morphology, followed by vocabulary and exercises in translation and composition.

An excellent book:
Given that the book is a part of the "Michigan Papers on South and South-East Asia", I was a bit apprehensive about it being too scholarly and unsuitable for a beginner like me, but I was pleasantly surprised to find it otherwise. The author has the rare combination of an authentic grooming in the traditional Sanskrit learning and a long experience of teaching the language in the West to western students, and this shows in the book to the reader's advantage. Nevertheless, it is a book that demands diligence and effort from the reader. I liked the way the book provides a set of relevant words in every chapter which are used immediately afterwards in the exercises, for this allowed me to quickly refer to them for their meanings. The exercises are also very well thought out, though I wish the author had provided answers to them so that a student could bolster his confidence by verifying his answers immediately, but all in all, the book is well worth the money I spent on it.

An excellent book:
Given that the book is a part of the "Michigan Papers on South and South-East Asia", I was a bit apprehensive about it being too scholarly and unsuitable for a beginner like me, but I was pleasantly surprised to find it otherwise. The author has the rare combination of an authentic grooming in the traditional Sanskrit learning and a long experience of teaching the language in the West to western students, and this shows in the book to the reader's advantage. Nevertheless, it is a book that demands diligence and effort from the reader. I liked the way the book provides a set of relevant words in every chapter which are used immediately afterwards in the exercises, for this allowed me to quickly refer to them for their meanings. The exercises are also very well thought out, though I wish the author had provided answers to them so that a student could bolster his confidence by verifying his answers immediately, but all in all, the book is well worth the money I spent on it.

An excellent book:
Given that the book is a part of the "Michigan Papers on South and South-East Asia", I was a bit apprehensive about it being too scholarly and unsuitable for a beginner like me, but I was pleasantly surprised to find it otherwise. The author has the rare combination of an authentic grooming in the traditional Sanskrit learning and a long experience of teaching the language in the West to western students, and this shows in the book to the reader's advantage. Nevertheless, it is a book that demands diligence and effort from the reader. I liked the way the book provides a set of relevant words in every chapter which are used immediately afterwards in the exercises, for this allowed me to quickly refer to them for their meanings. The exercises are also very well thought out, though I wish the author had provided answers to them so that a student could bolster his confidence by verifying his answers immediately, but all in all, the book is well worth the money I spent on it.