“Studying Tibetan language at the textual level is one of the best ways to learn the practice and philosophy of Tibetan Buddhism…” — José Ignacio Cabezón, PhD
Dictionaries, Grammars, Tools
- Calendar Converter — Tibetan-Western
- Classical Tibetan Language Lab — Classical Tibetan language instructional (University of Toronto)
- Classical Tibetan Wiki — resources for Classical Tibetan grammar (Andrew Hughes)
- Digital Tibetan — Information and tools for working with digital Tibetan
- Online Transliteration Converter – Unicode-Wylie (Tibetan & Himalayan Library)
- Rangjung Yeshe Dharma Dictionary — Tibetan-English dictionary, Dharma glossaries, Resources
- Tibetan-English Dictionary (Christian Steinert)
- Tibetan Classical and Colloquial Translation Dictionary (Hughes)
- Tibetan to English Translation Tool (THL)
- TISE – Tibetan Wylie Input Utility for Windows
- Tsadra Foundation Resources & Tools
- Wylie Transliteration Overview (Steinert)
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- Hackett Paul G. 2019. Tibetan Verb Lexicon: Second Edition Updated and Expanded. Shambhala. JABL
- Magee, William and Elizabeth Napper. 1993. Fluent Tibetan: A Proficiency Oriented Learning System. Snow Lion Publications. JABL (audio files)
- Preston, Craig. 2005. How to Read Classical Tibetan. Snow Lion Publications. JABL
- Wilson, Joe. 1992. Translating Buddhism from Tibetan. Snow Lion Publications. JABL (audio files and guide)
Buddhist Texts: Databases, Catalogs, Digital Libraries
- 84,000 — Kangyur
- Adarshah — Kangyur, Tengyur, Sungbum, and Yungdrung Bon works
- Asian Legacy Library Portal — Catalogs, scans, input, and translations for Himalaya and Inner Asia, South Asia, and East Asia Collections
- Buddhist Canons Research Database (AIBS and Columbia University) — Bibliographic information and full-text search 5,000 texts
- Buddhist Digital Resource Center (BDRC) — Digitized, cataloged, and archived over 17 million pages of Buddhist literature
- Digital Library of Library of Tibetan Works and Archives (LTWA) – Digitized collection of 3000+ rare and sacred manuscripts from the LTWA collection
- Digital Sanskrit Buddhist Canon – Original Sanskrit scriptures, over 600 texts
- Darma Downloads – Text collections, puja texts, audio, teachings
- Jangchub Lamrim Texts — Critical editions of all 18 Lamrim texts (5 vols), which His Holiness the Dalai Lama gave His discourse on during the Jangchup Lamrim Teachings.
- Lotsawa House — Tibetan texts and translations
- Tsadra Foundation Digital Resources – Publications and catalogs
- UMA-Tibet — Annotated translations of textbook literature in English and Chinese
Translation and Translating
- Cabezón, José Ignacio, chair. “Translating the Dharma.” 2010 International Conference on Tibetan Buddhism, Emory University. – Jeffrey Hopkins and Thupten Jinpa, keynote speakers; Gerardo Abboud, Sarah Harding, Timothy McNeill, and Geshe Dadul Namgyal, panelists.
- Doboom Tulku, ed. 1995. Buddhist Translation: Problems and Perspectives. Manohar. (Includes chapters by Cabezón, Napper, Ruegg, Wilson, and other noted scholars) (archive.org, JABL)
- Hackett Paul G. 2019. Learning Classical Tibetan: A Reader for Translating Buddhist Texts. Snow Lion. JABL
- Jinpa, Thupten. [n.d.] Thupten Jinpa on The Art of Translating Tibetan. A Wisdom Masterclass. (wisdomexperience.org)
- Ruegg, David Seyfort. 2016. “On Translating Buddhist Texts: A Survey and Some Reflections.” In Wangchuk Dorji, ed. Cross-cultural Transmission of Buddhist Texts: Theories and Practices of Translation. Department of Indian and Tibetan Studies, Universität Hamburg. (academia.edu)
- Translation and Transmission (Tsadra Foundation) — Meetings and conferences themed around the transmission of Tibetan Buddhism.
Tibetan Language Programs
- Dharma Farm – Classical Tibetan translation school founded by Bill Magee and Craig Preston
- Library of Tibetan Works and Archives Language Courses
- Lotsawa Rinchen Translator Program — Colloquial and Classical Tibetan
- Rangjung Yeshe Institute – Colloquial and Classical Tibetan, Sanskrit, Nepali
- UBC Sanskrit Learning Tools — University of British Columbia
- Tibetan Language Institute – David Curtis
Tibetan Language Teaching Tools and Class Exercises for Maitripa College Students
- Resources to support students of Classical Tibetan classes at Maitripa College, including recordings of Yangsi Rinpoche pronouncing the alphabet, suffixes, prefixes, superscribed and subscribed letters, as well as short glossaries of terms with definitions, phonetics, and audio recordings of Yangsi Rinpoche pronouncing each term. Special access to Maitripa College translations are also available.
- Click here for details and access to these resources
