Dear Rahula

You have made the right decision (sammaa adhimokkho) to learn Pali.

With one or two years of serious dedicated learning of Pali grammar,
you could begin reading Pali with a good dictionary.

My experience with Pali (and Sanskrit) tells me that sandhi (joining
of words) is vitally important for proper analysis of Pali phrases.
That is to say, unlike English, you need to be able to first analyse
and separate the joined words and phrases of Pali, and this is before
you are even able to use the dictionaries because they usually give
the definitions of already separated words.

It is the most wonderful experience to read the words of the Buddha
in his original natural spoken language that is Pali.

Because Pali is a natural spoken language, you, as a new student,
need to be very patient with many variants of case-endings and the
like.

So, as a beginner's strategy, do not be intimidated by those variants
that look chaotic and random. Just concentrate on simpler, regular
forms and move on to get the whole picture of the Pali syntax.

Once you get your Pali syntax right, you have plenty of time to work
on chaotic-looking variant forms gradually later.

After one or two years of Pali learning, you could visit the
bodhiology website to read some rare or fresh Pali translations with
some degree of complexity to perform "Syntax Walkthrough".

With kind regards,

Suan Lu Zaw

http://www.bodhiology.org

--- In Pali@..., "rahula_80" <rahula_80@...> wrote:

Hi,

I am a Buddhist. I read about Buddhism (including attend lectures
etc.)

Reading some books and surfing the internet, I have found
translations
of the Pali Text which challenge what I learn about Buddhism in
English. Now, I began to doubt whether what I have been taught and
read is the correct presentation of Buddhism.

For that reason, I am starting to learn Pali. I just get a copy of
Pali Primer by Lily Silva. But it would be years before I can really
read and understand Pali.

So, I hope this group can help me solve my doubts while I am learning
Pali in the meantime.


Thanks,