Covered are the basic uses of Classical Sanskrit's 8 cases; paradigms for 9 nominal declensions; a small list of verbs showing present, imperfect, future, and gerund forms; tables for external sandhi, and coverage of two internal sandhi rules.

The introduction to the Devanagari script is excellent. It goes beyond other primers and shows you how to actually write the characters. Plus, the text is large and very easy to read.

It is well-worth the price.


Introduction to Sanskrit--Part One   July 14, 2000
 32 out of 32 found this review helpful

This was an excellent introductory book on Sanskrit. It was obviously written by someone experienced in teaching Sanskrit, and sensitive to student input. It was easy to follow and repetitive enough to give the beginning student a certain sense of mastery as each new piece of information would build on the last. I highly recommend it for any beginning student who may have found the Colson text entirely too overwhelming and confusing.


clear and simple   May 10, 2000
 25 out of 25 found this review helpful

Originally I had picked up Coulson's intro sanskrit book. I found it very difficult to understand, and as a result I gave up on learning Sanskrit. When I received Engenes book, I felt releived and motivated because it was so clear and simple. When your learning a new language, it is important to keep things simple and to work in baby steps. Engens book is simple and clear!


Confused   March 21, 2000
 15 out of 16 found this review helpful

I bought this book a few months ago. I have found it to be very clear and well organized. I'm enjoying learing Sanskrit very much. I also bought Coulson's book and I am a bit confused as to the differences in the devanagari scripts used in the books. Both claim to be teaching Classical Sanskrit so I don't understand why there are such huge variations. I've tried to find explanation for this on the Internet and other places, but I can't seem to find one.