LANGUAGE COURSES
Colloquial Tibetan Language Courses
The Heart of Tibetan Language at Sarnath International Nyingma Institute offers innovative and engaging online colloquial Tibetan language courses for students worldwide. Our pedagogical approach is learning-centred, student-focused, and joyful. ཕྱག་ཕེབས་གནང་བྱུང་། Welcome!
Beginner Colloquial Tibetan provides a solid foundation in the Central/Exile dialect, offering deep insights into Tibetan thought and language, including profound indigenous concepts and categories. Upon completion of our progressive program, students can engage in simple conversations on everyday topics such as school, family, and weather, while expressing themselves across various tenses.
As you advance through our Intermediate Courses, you'll delve into new conversational topics like travel, clothing, animals, and housing and more while mastering essential intermediate grammatical tools such as reported speech, comparison, modal verbs, superlatives, and relative clauses, etc.
Our innovative program, based on Franziska Oertle’s comprehensive and engaging text The Heart of Tibetan Language, Volumes 1-3 (THoTL) has been described by students as “an unlocking of the secret code of learning Tibetan.”
Whether you're planning to engage with Tibetan communities, deepen your understanding of this rich culture or aim at understanding the Dharma in Tibetan one day, our online courses make this unique language accessible through holistic teaching methods and supportive community learning.
Resources
To take a look at the running courses and get a sense of the pedagogical approach, please click here.
If you are already learning Tibetan elsewhere but would like to supplement your study materials, here you find a whole treasure of engaging and innovative language resources, all based on the Heart of Tibetan Language Volumes 1 & 2.
You can take a glimpse of them through this short video.
Colloquial Tibetan 101
Instructor: Colloquial Language Team
Learn basic modern spoken Tibetan through our innovative program based on The Heart of Tibetan Language Volume 1 – Lessons 1-5. Begin to grow your first conversational skills and gain insight into Tibetan thought, grammar and culture. You’ll also begin to grow your metacognitive skills, “learning how to learn”.
Colloquial Tibetan 102
Instructor: Colloquial Language Team
Dates: Sun, Jan 11 – Sun, Jul 19, 2026
Continue to grow your basic language skills of listening, reading, grammar and conversation based on The Heart of Tibetan Language Volume 1 – Lessons 6-10. You’ll learn how to conjugate verbs and have basic conversations about everyday topics. Cultural as well as intra- and inter-personal skills are also being fostered.
Colloquial Tibetan 201
Instructor: Colloquial Language Team
Continue your journey of studying colloquial Tibetan by engaging in intermediate grammar and conversational topics based on THoTL Volume 2 – Lessons 11-15. Based on a variety of resources and assignments, you’ll continue to grow your speaking, listening, grammar as well as the soft skills (caring, human dimension and meta-cognition).
Colloquial Tibetan 202
Instructor: Colloquial Language Team
Dates: Sun, Jan 11 – Sun, Jul 19, 2026
You’ll continue to familiarize yourself with important intermediate grammar topics, such as reported speech, comparison, nominaliser and more. The conversational topics include ལོ་གསར།Tibetan New Year, pilgrimage, health and more. This course is based on THoTL Volume 2 – Lessons 16-20.
Colloquial Tibetan 301
Instructor: Colloquial Language Team
Begin to familiarize yourself with relevant Dharma vocabulary and topics, such as the life of the Buddha, the Three Turnings of the Wheel, refuge and more, uniquely blended with colloquial language, based on the yet to be published THoTL Volume 3 – Lessons 21-25.
Colloquial Tibetan 302
Instructor: Colloquial Language Team
Dates: Sun, Jan 11 – Sun, Jul 19, 2026
Grow more comfortable hearing and reading Dharma vocabulary blended with colloquial language, you’ll explore more Dharma topics, such as The Four Seals, bodhicitta, meditation and more, all while still deepening your insight into Tibetan language and culture as well your path of learning. Based on THoTL Volume 3 – Lessons 25-30.
Tibetan Language Programs Team
SINI's Tibetan Language Program includes an international team of dedicated native and non-native speakers delivering both Classical and Colloquial Tibetan courses through innovative teaching methods.
Franziska Oertle
Director
Paul Wobig
Assistant Teacher
Tenzin Ghegay
Teacher
Ania Sambroska
Assistant Teacher
Tzoe Wong
Registrar
Nat Thammamitr
Assistant Teacher
Lhakpa Tsering
Teacher
Bhargavi Viswanath
Assistant
Alexandra Sukhanova
Teacher
Melissa Katz
Assistant
Pema Woeser
Assistant Teacher
Juan-Felipe Garcia Peña
Online Learning Developer
Volunteer with Us
Preserve Sacred Wisdom Through Service
Join our Classical Tibetan program team and help preserve one of the world’s most precious literary traditions! We welcome volunteers to support the administration and teaching of this sacred language program. Help bridge ancient wisdom with modern learning by assisting with course coordination, student support, and educational activities while working alongside dedicated instructors and scholars in the sacred setting of Sarnath. Your contribution will help students access millennia of Buddhist philosophy, meditation, medicine, and poetry in their original form.
Ready to make a meaningful impact? Apply today by contacting us.
