Courses in the Kalmyk Language and the “Todo Bichig” Script

The Kalmyk language is one of the few languages in the world capable of conveying in full the most subtle meanings of the Buddhist Teaching. This language was shaped over many hundreds of years by several generations of outstanding Buddhist monks, who honed the nuances of every term almost to perfection. And this language must not now disappear. It is precisely this motivation that is the main one for the monks of the Central Khurul, who for 9 years now have been organizing courses for teaching the Kalmyk language. At the opening of the courses, the participants were addressed by the teacher of the Kalmyk language courses, candidate of philological sciences and lecturer at Kalmyk State University Sergey Nikolaevich Artaev, and the translator and researcher Badma Viktorovich Menyaev. Sergey Nikolaevich recalled that the first Kalmyk language courses open to all were organized at the Central Khurul of Kalmykia in 2010 thanks to the initiative of the Shajin Lama of Kalmykia Telo Tulku Rinpoche, and have been held annually ever since. Sergey Nikolaevich also urged the students to attend classes actively, and if it becomes difficult, to show willpower and nonetheless complete the entire course of study. Class schedule: Kalmyk language — Monday, Thursday (group 1) 16:00–17:30 (group 2) 18:30–19:30 Todo Bichig — Tuesday, Friday 18:00–19:30 Todo Bichig textbook Todo Bichig table Kalmyk language lessons B.D. Muniev Kalmyk-Russian dictionary Ilishkin Russian-Kalmyk dictionary 1964