Web Resources

I am not so familiar with all of the new online developments for Tibetan language, but I have put together a little bit here from my limited knowledge.

Continuing Education Texts

The Jewel Ornament of Liberation (Tibetan)
This has been recommended by many translators as a great first translation project. Available in PDF, TibetDoc, and Unicode. Download provided thanks to dharmadownload.net.
Free

The Jewel Ornament of Liberation (English)
The Jewel Ornament of Liberation is a masterwork of Tibetan Buddhism. For more than eight centuries, this text has provided a complete foundation for Buddhist study and practice-covering the initial entry into the path and continuing through to the achievement of Buddhahood. It includes teachings on Buddha-nature, finding a spiritual master, impermanence, karma, the cultivation of bodhicitta, the development of the six perfections, the ten Bodhisattva bhumis, Buddhahood, and the activities of a buddha.
$18.36 US (Also available used from amazon.com for those who have less $$)

Calling the Guru from Afar (Tibetan)
This is a beautiful song full of longing writed by the first Jamgon Kongtrul RInpoche meant for those seriously stuck in samsaric patterns. The first section is praises of the gurus and deities,
Free (Also available in TibetDoc format.)

Calling the Guru from Afar (English)
This song, Intensifying Devotion in One's Heart: The Supplication "Crying to the Gurus from Afar," has been very well translated and nicely published by the Nalanda Translation Committee. There are also plenty of free translations on the web such as this one.
$9.00 CAN/US

Colloquial Tibetan: A Textbook of the Lhasa Dialect
by Tsetan Chonjore with Andera Abinanti.
I highly recommend this book for anyone wanting to learn colloquial Tibetan! This book acted as my main teacher for the first couple of months of my Tibetan learning. Mr. Chonjore has been an instructor if Tibetan language for the University of Wisconsin's College Year in Nepal Program since 1983. There are 15 lessons, each presenting in-depth many different aspects of Tibetan grammar such as the personal/impersonal perspective, the evidential categories carried by verbs and conjugations, the time-based aspect of the language, etc.
$10 US

Lectures on Tibetan Religious Culture
If you already know some basic colloquial Tibetan, this is a good entry point for classical. Each chapter starts with an interview with a Rinpoche, which is then followed by vocabulary, notes, translation, and exercises. A key for the exercises is given. This is a very good book for anyone wanting to read Dharma texts.The audio can also be found online at THDL here.
£12.95

Dictionaries

Tibetan Translation Tool
This is an excellent tool, especially for beginners as you can input a whole phrase in wylie, and the tool automatically translates groups of words together. It is not foolproof though; you still need to use your common sense and inquisitive intelligence!
Free

Wylie Glossary and Dictionary
This is a combination of the Rangjung Yeshe (Erik Pema Kunsang), Ives Waldo, James Valby, Jeffery Hopkins and Richard Barron's glossaries. This is not exactly a dictionary, so it is difficult to use as a beginner, but is good for providing lists of terms. It also includes the Tshig Mdzod Chen Mo in wylie (the TIbetan-Tibetan dictionary--definitely the best to use once your TIbetan improves). This version is for Windows but there are also other platforms and programs to run this glossary outlined at the Rangjung Yeshe website. To install, simply extract the files to your prefered directory. Run the .exe file, go to "Options" and "Edit Glossary File List" and direct it to the .txt file you extracted.
Free

Dharma Dictionary
DharmaDictionary.net contains free resources for the "circle of lotsawas" involved in the translation of Buddhist texts and teachings from Tibetan into Western languages.
Free

Illuminator Dictionary
This is definitely the best dictionary for verbs & there tenses, in-depth explanations, and ease of use.
"The Illuminator Tibetan-English Dictionary. Our flagship product. The first, modern and complete dictionary by a Western scholar-practitioner, Lotsawa Tony Duff. A large and authentic dictionary which is not a compilation of translations from other sources. Windows, Macintosh, and TomeRaider versions available."
$59 US plus the updates (see website for more detail).

Tibetan Fonts and Inputs

Unicode fonts by CTRC
Yay for unicode (definitely the future of all Tibetan fonts)!China Tibetology Research Center has developed four Tibetan OpenType fonts based on Unicode. The fonts are called CTRC-Uchen, CTRC-Tsumachu, CTRC-Betsu and CTRC-Drutsa. Currently, these fonts are prepared for Microsoft Windows Vista (but they work for me in linux). Get yourself an input method (Tibetan keyboard layout or wylie input) such as a TISE (for Windows) or Wylie and Dzongkha Input Methods (for Mac) and you can type in Tibetan in any document, chat, email, or even label your folders in TIbetan!
Free

Tibetan Machine Unicode
This is the unicode version of the Tibetan Machine (see below). For more information about these fonts and different inputs, including Wylie Word, please visit The Tibetan Himalayan Digital Library
Free

Tibetan Machine/Tibetan Machine Web
The TibetanMachine typeface is suitable for Windows only. Its variant, TibetanMachineWeb, is suitable for Windows and the Macintosh. Both typefaces were put into the public domain under GNU public licence some years ago and are available free. For more information about these fonts and different inputs, including Wylie Word, please visit The Tibetan Himalayan Digital Library
Free

Unicode Document Processor
A Free Unicode Word Processor and Database UDP is a stand-alone document processing program that works with European, Tibetan, Dzongkha and many other languages in the Win/98/ME and Win/NT/2000/XP/Vista environments. It supports not only word processing and databases in multiple languages, it also supports faxing and "one-click" e-mailing. It can convert a large variety of documents formats to/from Unicode. It is freeware and is available for FREE download. It also works well with CrossOver Mac for Mac/OS X and WINE for Unix/Linux.
Free

Pecha Maker
PechaMaker is a program to help you easily create pecha style documents. It integrates the following three functions:
- A simple editor that allows you to enter text with the keyboard or import it from RTF files.
- Automatic formatting of your text into pecha pages or regular pages.
- A layout tool that allows you to specify how your pecha pages will appear and print.
Free

Sambhota Fonts
These fonts put out by Nitartha are very nice for use in Microsoft Word and can be inputed either with a Tibetan keyboard or with wylie. They also have a Mac version. They require a conversion tool to convert between the various fonts. *NEW* There is now Unicode Sambhota font available.
$60-160 US

Tibetan Calligraphic
This font is a beautiful font from the Tibetan Computer Company (Tony Duff) designed for use with TTC's TibetDoc, a Tibetan pecha word-processor.
$120 US

TibetDoc

Tibetan Language Programs

Rangjung Yeshe, Kathmandu, Nepal
The program is designed to allow a student with no prior knowledge of Tibetan to become an oral translator in 12 months, capable of serving as an interpreter for a Tibetan Buddhist teacher. We will hear more about it from Daniela!
$4000 US/trimester (with scholarship)

Thösamling, Northern India
The purpose of this two-year course is to get a good basis of Tibetan language, to be able to speak Tibetan fluently and read Buddhist texts in the future. We will practice colloquial language in order to communicate directly with our teachers and Dharma vocabulary/literature to enable us to follow the texts and prayers in Tibetan. We will hear more about it from Holger!
$120 US/month (first year), $50 US/month (second year).

Other Online Resources

The Tibetan Language Student

Tibetan Portal
Software tools, language resources, and descriptions
on current Tibetan information technology.
Maintained by Christopher E. Walker. A great site full of good links for all things digitally Tibetan.

Dharma Download
Great collection of Karma Kagyu texts both in TibetDoc and PDF format available freely for downloading the monks at Karma Leksheyling monastery in Nepal. Here is where you can find texts in Tibetan such as "Calling the Guru From Afar"
Free (You could consider making a donation though, as they have been working very hard!)

Manual of Standard Tibetan Practice Exercises

More Resources

• More books on learning Tibetan from Rangjung Yeshe
• A Tibetan beginner's course from The Tibetan Language Institute (David Curtis)
• Diagrams for how to write the Tibetan alphabet from Chris Fynn at Tibetan Calligraphy
• Many more links at WWW Virtual Library