Namgyal Monastery Linguistic Studies
The Study of Tibetan Language
Namgyal Monastery is the personal monastery of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and over the past centuries, the monastery has been assisting in both spiritual and temporal activities of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. The monks from the Namgyal not only provide the services on ritual activities, but they also serve in administration of Tibetan Government. In Tibet, the Namgyal monks had the rank of a Government Secretary “Tse-Drung†and many of the monks had worked in the Tibetan Government offices at Potala Palace.
In Exile, the Namgyal monks have been continuing their services and many of the monks are serving in the private office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Beside the monks also have to handle the administration works of the monastery and therefore, by keeping in view the importance of Tibetan knowledge, the monastery provides five years-intensive courses on Tibetan Language apart from the monastery’s ritual curriculums for the young monk students in both writing and reading.
At the present, the monastery is having two different classes for the junior monk students and they are having their daily classes in the morning and for the elder monks, they have three months intensive courses on Tibetan Language during the three months summer retreat. We have two Tibetan teachers, namely Ven. Lobsang Drakpa, a Geshe la from Gaden Monastery at South India who also teaches Buddhist philosophy and Ven. Thupten Yarphel, who is the monastery’s Tibetan secretary.
The monastery honored the Degree of “Rigne Rabjampa†equivalent to the Master Degree of Tibetan Language to those monk students who have successfully passed in the following Tibetan Language courses.
Courses are:
- Tibetan Calligraphy
- Tibetan Grammar
- Tibetan Lexicography
- Tibetan Poetry
- Clear Explanation of Terms
- Buddhist History
- Letter Writing
- Tibetan History
The Study of English Language
Namgyal Monastery provides the modern studies of English Language apart from the monastic ritual curriculums to the monk students. The study of English Language at the Monastery was started in year 1982 with the first volunteer English teacher, Mrs. Joyce from New Zealand. She had taught English for many of the monks for several years followed by the volunteer teachers from Gap Foundation at England: Mr. Mark Stevenson, Mr. Tom, Mr. Michael, Mr. James, and Mr. Nikhil. The monastery really appreciates each of these volunteer teachers for their great contributions.
At the present, we are fortunate to have a very good volunteer English teacher, Miss. Joe, from England who has been teaching for the last two years. The Knowledge of English is an important skill for the Namgyal Monks who often have to provide helping hand to foreign visitors and tourist. Further, many monks are required to travel abroad as part of their duties to assist His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Additionally, as the second official language of India, a knowledge of English is extremely useful in everyday life and travel within India itself.
The junior monks have daily classes in English and they study all aspects of the language, – speaking, reading and writing – using a textbook from England. There is a voluntary evening class for senior monks which meets three times a week. During the Summer Retreat senior monks follow a special curriculum of intensive study, and English classes are offered as an option during this time.