First Cultural Post: What is your interest in 'your' language and what do you hope to accomplish this semester?
I have a personal interest in my language (Sanskrit). I have a strong interest in Hinduism and South Asian culture, and Sanskrit is central to understanding these beliefs. Sanskrit contains so many words from a religious origin that have almost no direct translation into English. For example, the Sanskrit word 'maya' means something like the chaos or illusion of the world. This translation is really not enough though, since it's a really complex religious concept. I was inspired to learn Sanskrit after being frustrated with English translations of Sanskrit concepts that I found incomplete, inaccurate, or too hard to understand. By the end of the semester, I hope to have a firmer grasp of Hinduism overall by understanding the langauge itself
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