Objectives and Evaluation - Why learn Tibetan?
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I really like Tibetan people!
Early in my life, I was surrounded by many different language speakers, including Tibetans. My mother valiantly and determinedly managed to become an interpreter of Geshes who were teaching from Classical Tibetan Buddhist texts. I set myself the challenge of learning the colloquial language first, which she continued to struggle with, not having many immersion opportunities. So I have been trying to learn Tibetan for a very long time, but materials for learning that have an easy interlinear translation to support understanding the inner workings of Tibetan had proven impossible for me to find. As a result, I started making them for myself.
I was helped greatly by Tsetan Chonjore's book on Lhasa Tibetan to understand the functioning of "to be" in Tibetan, and this was supplemented by Franziska Oertle's excellent continuation of that revelation. It was enough to get me started with stubbornly trying to work out the actual meaning of the words in the many phrasebooks that I had collected. The THDL translation tool has also been an invaluable friend in this work, now joined by the Tibetan Dictionary by Phurba that I use on my iPhone.
In early March 2022, I was asked a question about pronouncing Tibetan, and thus began my adventure with YouTube. I supposed that many more people might have a similar struggle even just getting started with pronouncing the many prayers that they read along with at ceremonies in Buddhist Temples. And subsequent videos allowed me to explain the things that I was fairly sure of that might help beginners.
In mid-2023, I think it was, I had a further breakthrough when I realized that my interlinear translations would be much easier to maneuver if I started using the "-ing" form of verbs instead of the tense-based forms. Knowing that so many well-meaning translations and phrasebooks would relate "I , Mary being" as "I am Mary", or, "My name is Mary", I decided to revise my earlier interlinear translations with this new perspective in mind, in the hopes of benefitting many of my beginner students and fellow lovers of Tibetan language.
My goal in providing these "-ing"-style learning materials is to enable meaningful communication that doesn't take learners years of frustration to unpack, and allow for a lively conversation to take place between Tibetans and foreigners that I believe has felt sadly inaccessible for many. I wrote Grammar and Sentence Structure articles about these that you can have a look at. A good example of my using it fully is the YouTube video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMdkROUoPtk&list=PLetUaJh0l0aQZa5S1wfqIaQi7mp-_Wu7j
An academy is a school that teaches a particular subject. This is an ecosystem of online and in-person learners and they are all supported by the materials and resources provided here.
Why ManjuTib? It is a blend of Manjushri, the buddha of wisdom, and Tibetan. It is a name you can search for online and you will always find your way here because it is unique.
I truly hope that you are encouraged to gradually let the beauty of Tibetan communication enrich your life and your practice.
ManjuTib
ManjuTib's mission is to make Tibetan language learning accessible to independent learners of all ages.
I believe that anyone with curiosity and dedication should be able to explore Tibetan culture, spirituality, and thought without barriers. That is why I am creating clear, learner-friendly materials that empower autodidacts to teach themselves, while also coaching individuals and small groups in person and online.
Drawing from years of teaching experience, I am building a living ecosystem of learning, where evergreen materials, one-on-one guidance, and cultural context come together to support learners on their unique paths.
My vision is not only to help Western learners engage meaningfully with Tibetan language and Dharma, but also to support Tibetan speakers in their dialogue with global communities. In doing so, I seek to demystify and reveal the value of Tibetan heritage while opening new pathways of understanding for generations to come.
2025-09-30: revisiting Esukhia and CTA resources for beginner materials. I finally found the Esukhia user guide and am planning materials that will support newbies' progress. I'm also learning what I can in a fresh way as I review the materials again. Ideally, I am creating a pipeline here for newbies to gain some confidence and start working with native Tibetan-speaking teachers and language exchange partners to make progress toward fulfilling their mutual goals.
2025-08-26: working on interlinear interpretation guides of the dialogues in Speak Tibetan the Tibetan Way, which I am studying myself and have started using with my in-person students. Planning to finish it and then tackle the Geshe Jinpa dialogues again and then start the Geshe Sopa book. This work has now also (29 August) inspired some phonetics-only introductory work, and plans to generate future courses in four tracks: Practical Life, Cultural, Spiritual, and Science & Dialogue. I have also updated the Mission section below and added Grammar and Higher learning sections to the Resources page. Apologies for the radio silence on YouTube and Patreon.
2025-08-01: further cleaned up the navigation at this website to favour readability on a mobile phone, since that seems to be how most of my viewers watch the videos...
2025-04-16: cleaning up the existing OCR of the Handbook of Colloquial Tibetan from 1897 https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.31488/page/n1/mode/2up
2025-04-12 update: posted eight videos using the kindergarten slides from the CTA weekend school educational materials.
2025-04-08 update: created the psychological strategies and reflection articles using an initial draft requested from ChatGPT.
Discovered (again thanks to ChatGPT) the pdffiller.com annotation tool, which I will use for making interlinear notes on pdf files such as the CTA books, since Adobe does not allow me to type in Tibetan on pdf documents.
Spelling practice page - typed version of the Tibetan Primer of Current Hand Writing with plans to finalize it and then add interlinear translation.
Evolution of the first few pages of the textbook in progress at the Translation practice exercises page with plans to keep adding dialogues and notes there over time. I may also transform the footnotes into text boxes instead.
2024-09-22 update: translation notes of CTA books. You can find more details and current work in progress at the "Books with my translation notes added" section of the Links page.
I am passionate about learning Tibetan and enjoy devoting time to it, and your feedback and encouragement helps me do that.
If you would like to support my work, join my Patreon or make a one-time donation by buying me a book or a coffee at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/manjutib
I also made a Cafe Press site where you can buy book bags, mugs, etc. with the ManjuTib name or logo at https://www.cafepress.ca/shop/manjutib/products
Sharing with interested friends and acquaintances on social media is always welcome. The most central point for finding anything ManjuTib related will always be the LinkTree page at https://linktr.ee/manjutib
If you find yourself going to an event or venue where you think people might like to learn about the site and the lessons, below is a flyer that you can print out to share with people. I would very much appreciate you helping to get the word out.
Flyer with QR code for the Manjutib Linktree
Letter-sized poster version.
Leave a comment on one of the ManjuTib YouTube videos.
For email inquiries, you can send a message to manjutib108 <at> gmail.com.
Everything I do can be found at my LinkTree: https://linktr.ee/manjutib
Welcome to viewers from one more country as of August 2025! Portugal. That brings us to 52 countries on the map.
