the information you provide are interesting and useful. Thanks.
Personally, I feel a good way of learning a new language is through practising and interacting with a group. A group likes ours may suffice for the learning of Pali since its restricted usage is reading and writing only. For other languages, I would suggest a group that can meet up and practise speaking and listening skills.
I agree that it is hard to memorise the declensions, I believe that it is due to a lack of practise. My observation is that most books try to introduce noun declension and verb conjugation along each other. That may be difficult for most people. I prefer to focus on one "noun group" first (usually masc noun ending in a), build up a good understanding and uses of the different cases, work on the tenses and conjugations, then go back to the other "noun groups" and the other aspects of grammar. (By the way, is there a technical word for "noun group"?)
I understand that most of the Pali nouns are masc-a, so knowing the declensions of the group by heart is important. Furthermore, declensions of other groups are based on the "masc-a" group. As for the rest, I think we can memorise or familiarise them slowly as we practise. In this case, a self-prepared table will be useful for quick reference.
metta,
Yong Peng.
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