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| Title: | SAMS201: Intermediate Samskritam I |
| Placement: | Fall semester |
| Pre-Requisites: | SAMS103 |
| Course Website: | https://www.safl.org/ |
Course Overview:
SAMS201 is an online course designed to enable students to further their speaking, reading and writing skills in Samskritam (aka Sanskrit). The course focuses on increasing the student’s reading comprehension and developing the student’s ability to express his/her own ideas through writing in Devanagari script. Students are introduced to basic grammatical concepts in Samskritam as well as cultural information about India.
Course Objectives:
- Understand, recognize and use the first four cases of nouns in the singular, dual and plural forms of the masculine, feminine and neuter genders.
- Understand and use correctly the present, past and future tenses in the singular, dual and plural forms.
- Continue to build vocabulary base in order to increase language skills.
- Compose short descriptive paragraphs on a variety of topics in Samskritam using new vocabulary words.
- Write about current-day scenarios and situations in Samskritam.
- Hear, read and understand simple stories in Samskritam with the help of a dictionary.
Core Content – Topical Outline:
Part 1:
- Listening & Speaking
- Conversations related to daily routines.
- Declensions of selected masculine, feminine, and neuter nouns and pronouns.
- Reading & Writing
- Conjugation and usage of the present tense in the singular, dual and plural
- Declension and usage of vowel ending nouns in first and second cases.
- Vocabulary: Classroom objects, food items and new verbs
- Simple stories and proverbs
- Reading and comprehending simple prose
- Brief introduction to the history of Sanskrit literature and Ramayanam
Part 2:
- Listening & Speaking
- Conversations related to daily routines.
- Declensions of selected masculine, feminine, and neuter nouns and pronouns ending in vowels.
- Reading and Writing
- Conjugation and usage of the future tense in singular, dual and plural.
- Conjugation and usage of the imperative mood in the singular, dual and plural
- Declension and usage of vowel ending nouns in third, and fourth cases.
- Brief introduction of an ancient Indian treatise on the performing art and Mahabharatam
- Vocabulary: Extended family, entertainment, health related.
Grading Plan:
5% - Class Attendance
15% - Weekly Conversations
20% - Homework Assignments
20% - Midterm Exam
20% - Final Project
20% - Final Exam
Grading Scale:
A = 90-100%
B = 80-89%
C= 70-79%
D= 60-69%
F= 59% and below
Course Assignments, Exams and Projects:
1. Class Attendance (5%):
This course includes a mandatory, once a week, 1.5 hour contact class by video conference. A Samskrita Bharati trained teacher will lead this session. The time will be used to practice conversational skills, introduce new topics, and answer any questions. The only excused absences are those due to sickness or family emergency. In such cases, an email from a parent of the student must be sent at least 24 hours before the start of the class in order to excuse the absence.
2. Weekly Conversations (15%):
Students are assigned a simple topic to speak about every week. These topics are intended to cover concepts taught in previous classes, and enable the students to put theoretical knowledge into practical use, by employing those concepts in simple Sanskrit sentences and conversations. Every student is expected to record his or her oration as an audio file , and submit this through the website. Students who fail to do so will not only not receive credit for that week, but also miss out on a valuable opportunity to familiarize themselves with using Samskritam as a means of communication.
3. Homework Assignments (20%):
Homework is assigned as indicated in the weekly syllabus on the course website. Students are expected to complete the homework before the contact class of each week. All homework assignments are to be submitted via the course website. 5% per day late will be deducted from assignments submitted late. Extensions must be requested at least 24 hours before the deadline for any assignment.
4. Midterm Exam (20%):
The midterm exam will be administered during the seventh week of the class as indicated on the course calendar. The exam will include a written and oral portion. Both portions of the exam will be administered and proctored by the course instructor during class time. Students are to complete all exams without the aid of any textbooks, notes, or other people.
5. Final Project (20%):
This project allows students to exercise their translation skills. In groups, students are expected to choose a five-minute scene from a movie and translate it into Samskritam. The final draft of the translated scene will be read out during class, and submitted to the course website. The project will be graded on the accuracy of the language, pronunciation, intonation, and fluency. There will be multiple deadlines during the course to ensure that students are working on the project throughout the semester. Further guidelines are available at the course website.
6. Final Exam (20%):
The final exam will be administered during the final week of classes as indicated on the course calendar. The exam will include a written and oral portion. Both portions of the exam will be administered and proctored by the course instructor during class time. Students are to complete all exams without the aid of any textbooks, notes, or other people.
Course Expectations:
Students are required to have access to a computer, scanner, webcam, microphone and the internet for this course. Teachers primarily use email to contact students and it is imperative that students respond in a timely manner.
Apart from the weekly class, students are expected to spend ample time studying the course material and completing the homework. Students are expected to honor academic integrity when completing all assignments and exams.
Required Texts and Materials:
The following texts and materials will be required for this course and their use may even extend into the subsequent levels.
Second Year SAFL Text Book [Kusumam]