Welcome to the University of Colorado Boulder online Tibetan language learning course!

Access this free, online course here! 👇
https://canvas.colorado.edu/courses/8...

Tibet and the Himalayan world are extremely diverse in terms of culture, geography, ethnicity, and faiths, but it is the Tibetan language and writing system that really hold this entire region together. Prior to the 20th century, Tibetan language was the lingua franca, or bridge language, of the entire region starting from Baltistan (a region in Pakistan) in the West to Mongolia in the East. From Buddhist prayers to literary, grammatical, and historical works, communities across this region composed everything in the Tibetan language.

Why learn Tibetan?
The largest and the most comprehensive repository of Buddhist philosophy and practices in the world are in this language
Tibetan intellectuals over the course of fourteen hundred years have translated and composed thousands of volumes on various topics such as medicine, grammar, arts and crafts, literature, poetry, and philosophy. 
Several Tibetan dialects are classified by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as endangered languages.
Tibetan is not one you will find in Google Translate.
And a fun weird fact—Ewoks, the furry teddy bear-like creatures in the Star Wars films, they speak a form of Tibetan.

The 20th century was a particularly tumultuous period for Tibet and the Himalayan region, and this has greatly affected access to learning and preserving the language.

We are excited that you are joining this free, online beginning Tibetan language course, hosted by the Anderson Language and Technology Center (ALTEC) here at the University of Colorado Boulder. 

This project was made possible with funding awarded to the CU Boulder Center for Asian Studies from the US Department of Education Undergraduate International Studies and Foreign Language Program grant.

Finally, this project is licensed under Creative Commons, so folks are free, with proper citation, to reuse the material for other courses and projects.

Enjoy!