Tibetan Language for International Students

July 2024 admission is closed, please include following personal information for July 2025 application

Please download the Tibetan Language Admission form and send us the completed form. DOWNLOAD HERE Admission Form

1. Preference will be given to the complete beginners and committed students who can maintain strict class attendance and willing to be part of the larger CHTS, Sarah community. We don’t accept students who are half tourist or pilgrims.

2. Room allotment will depend on the availability, students willing to share rooms are appreciated.

Please DO NOT SEND money without confirming your admission. Paid fee is NON-REFUNDABLE and NON-TRANSFERABLE. Check the revised Fee!!!

Tibetan Language course for beginners:

1. Beginners Tibetan Language course  – 10 months
2. Pre-Intermediate Tibetan language – 10 months (Preference will be given to students who studied in CHTS, Sarah beginners program)
3. Intermediate Tibetan language – 10 months (Preference will be given to students who studied in CHTS, Sarah pre-intermediate program)

The College for Higher Tibetan Studies located in Sarah village, Dharamshala, offers tertiary-level programs in the Tibetan language, Buddhist Philosophy and teacher training. Students from around the world come to Sarah College’s quiet and peaceful campus to earn a degree in Tibetan studies or spend a semester immersed in language and cultural exchange.

The Tibetan language course for international students is offered to interested students every year. This course has evolved slowly to become one of the major program offered by the college and many foreign students have graduated successfully. The course is offered at beginner’s level, pre-intermediate level, intermediate level and advanced level. The beginner’s, pre-intermediate level and intermediate level are designed specifically for non-Tibetans students while the advanced course is targeted mainly to the Tibetans having Tibetan language qualification equivalent to that of high school graduate.

Admission:

Admission into Tibetan language for beginners is fairly simple. Students will write an email (principal@chts.in or chts.sarah@gmail.com) stating their interest. There is no formal due date for submission of application, however admission is based on first come first serve basis. Students are required to fill up the registration form at the time of their arrival by paying Rs. 500.

Students can start applying to the intended course throughout the year but final decision will be reached after mid-January. Admission will be confirmed only after making advance payment for three months. Fees once paid are non-refundable.

Course Fee:

The total fee for one month is Rs. 7500 with effect from July 2023, inclusive of double room with common bath, three time meal in the common dining hall and tuition fee. The room and food are fairly simple and basic. Students can apply for single room; single room with bathroom by paying some extra money depending on the availability of rooms.

Indian, Nepali and Bhutanese students interested to join this course will get 25% fee waiver from the common fee of Rs. 7500. Additional facility charges will be applied as indicated on the fee structure. However, admission confirmation is strictly based on availability of seat.

 One on one conversation sessions will be held for the beginners course for the first few months. CHTS, Sarah students will be assigned as your conversation partner and every international student will pay Rs. 80 per session to the language partner. This is outside of the above monthly tuition fee.

Tibetan origin students from North America, Europe and other continents will get admission into this program anytime during the year as a special case. They can also choose to leave anytime depending on their convenience where as non-Tibetan international students must stay for months or paid fees paid will not be refunded if a student chooses to withdraw within the first three months.

Students attending Tibetan conversation class for the beginners level will pay Rs. 80/- per session to the student language partner through the teacher. This session is ideally for the beginners but students in the pre-intermediate and intermediate can participate in this class in consultation with the class teacher. However, it must be understood that the conversation session will be relevant to the lessons covered in the beginners’ class and not necessarily relate to their level.

Revised Fee Structure with effect from January 1, 2023

Fees once paid is not refundable and non-transferable

You can make advance payment after confirmation with office through the following account details. Following account is ONLY for international transfer. Please DO NOT SEND money without confirming your admission. Paid fee is non-refundable and non-transferable.

Details of our bank account: Only for international transfer

Details of our bank account: STRICTLY DOMESTIC TRANSFER

Please inform us once the money is wired from your account so that we could track your money.

Course duration:

The duration of beginner’s course is 10 months. July first week – April end of next Year. College housing will open with effect from June 25 on wards. Students are expected to study minimum of three months in this class. The fees paid will not be refunded if in case a student withdrew from the course.

Course Description:

The course for beginners is designed for complete beginners. The course aims to introduce students to the basics of Tibetan grammar by incorporating reading, writing, conversation, building vocabulary and sentences.

‘Tibetan Buddhism’ will be introduced later when students gain fair understanding of Tibetan language. This class will familiarize students with the Tibetan terms that are not used in colloquial Tibetan. The text for this class is ‘Lectures on Tibetan Religious Culture’ by Geshe Lhundup Sopa, published by LTWA.

Classes:

The Tibetan beginner’s course will meet four hours daily from Monday to Friday. Following classes will be conducted on a daily basis (Monday – Friday):

1. Basic Tibetan Grammar
2. Colloquial Tibetan
3. Conversation
4. Lectures in Tibetan Religious culture – to be introduced in the middle of the program

Prerequisites:

Students are expected to have some understanding of English to sit in this course. Teaching will be in Tibetan medium but there will be some help with English to explain complex structures.

Class Format:

Lecturers, drills, quizzes, activities and class discussions.

Beginning with the alphabet, vowels and combinations of letters, students learn the fundamental structure of the language, reading, writing, conversation and understanding of Tibetan. The objective of this program is to train students in Tibetan language proficiency up to the middle school level.

Students must maintain a minimum of 70% class attendance to continue their studies and renew their student visa with the local Foreigners Registration Office.

NOTE: The Tibetan language program for international students offered by CHTS, Sarah is very academic and highly intensive. Students are expected to be serious learners and part time Tibetan language learners are requested not to apply for the program.

Residence life and housing:

From its founding, CHTS, Sarah has been designed as a residential learning community therefore all the staff, faculty and students live on campus. International students hostel is built with financial support from the Dalai Lama Trust and it has 12 rooms. The rooms are designed for two students but instead of 24 students we have only 12 students taking up the space because every international student request for single room. This obviously denies opportunity for another perspective student and making this opportunity very difficult for larger number of students.

We provide:

• a dynamic, intellectual learning environment
• safe and comfortable housing as per students budget and need
• support to students in balancing the rights of individuals with the responsibilities for community membership

Our Dorms

Majority of the students reside in dormitories. In the dorms two students share room and each floor share a common bathroom area. There are few rooms with attached bathroom facilities and these rooms will be provided to international students with some additional cost. Dormitories have solar powered hot water facilities.

Dorm B or girls’ hostel can accommodate up to 110 girls. There are few rooms with attached bathroom facilities in the girl’s dormitories.

Dorm C and D or boys’ hostel can accommodate up to 206 men. There are few rooms with attached bathroom facilities in the boy’s dormitories.

The rooms in dormitories have bed, mattress, a table and concrete shelves to be used by the students. Students are expected to bring their own bedding, buckets, cup, plate, mug and a chair.

There is no laundry service and all the students are expected to their own laundry. The college is planning to start a laundry Matt soon.

Important Dates:

June 25

Assigning of rooms to new international Students

June 30

Tibetan students, New and Continuing Students Arrive

July 1-5

Recitation of Tara prayer and campus cleaning

July 6

His Holiness the XIVth Dalai Lama's birthday

July 7

Classes begin

August 13

College founding day

Mid November

Half Yearly Examination & Annual Picnic

December 10

Nobel Peace Prize Day

Feb/March

Tibetan New Year (10 days break)

Mid April

Annual Examination

April 26 – 30

Kangyur recitation

April 30

End of academic year

May – June

Summer Vacation

July 1

beginning of new academic year

Choosing Rooms:

Students must meet with housing in-charge to discuss their room requirement. You will get a chance to choose your housing between June 25 and June 30. Students arriving late will be provided room based on the availability. The college administration and housing in-charge will not entertain to any advance room reservation.

Leaving School during the program:

If you need to leave the course unexpectedly, you’ll be given 48 hours to move out of your room once you’ve gone on leave/withdrawn.

Moving Out:

All residents must be completely moved out by first week of May. Students planning to keep their rooms during summer vacation can do so but they must pay Rs. 2500 per month for the room. Students deciding to stay on campus during summer vacation will pay Rs. 6250 and the extra charges for the additional facilities in the room.

How to Check Out Properly:

1. Room is empty, swept, and all original furniture is inside the room. Do your portion of the Common Area cleaning.
2. Contact office and fill up the check-out form and have housing in-charge inspect your room.
3. Contact account section and clear all your dues and submit your check-out forms with office secretary.

Health Clinic:

The College runs a small health clinic on campus and a resident health worker is available for any medical assistance. The health clinic will provide basic medical help and give further guidance depending on the nature of your illness.

From time to time the college health centre organizes medical camps and awareness programs for the students and community.

Visa:

We encourage all the students to obtain student visa to study at the College. If you need acceptance letter please contact us. To obtain student acceptance letter for visa applications following information must be submitted to the office.

• Name on passport
• Passport Number
• Nationality
• Complete Postal and email address
• Indian visa Consulate and email address

Athletic and Activities:

The college believes ‘Health is Wealth’ and expects students to participate in games and activities that are hosted on campus. A sport is an important leisure recreational activity. There are few facilities to encourage students in sport activities.

• Basketball ground
• Volleyball cum-badminton ground
• Table Tennis board
• Carom board

College Code of Conduct

Alcohol is the root cause of all misery. Therefore, the College for Higher Tibetan Studies strictly prohibits its consumption. Anyone found indulging in this act will be expelled from the college immediately.

1. Drug use is detrimental to society and is now global concern. We consider it to be a deadly poison. Consuming or using drugs in search of pleasure is parallel to inviting an untimely death, and therefore, students found indulging in such an unhealthy habit will be asked to leave the college immediately.
2. The college admires decent and virtuous ways of life. We greatly discourage selfish and immoral behavior. If anyone is caught stealing he/she will be asked to leave the college at once.
3. Students and staff should abstain from fighting, hostilities and conflicts. In case of any dispute or fight, the housing in-charge or the concerned person(s) must report it to the office to prevent further consequences. The student(s) will be advised to leave the college in case of any assault or exchange of blows.
4. The college highly respects the rich cultural heritage and morally upright tradition of Tibet. Guided by these principles, we are striving to create a courteous environment and highly discourage students from engaging in love affairs. Such affairs will cause us great inconvenience and uneasiness if exposed openly. Students are thus restricted from visiting the hostel premises of members of the opposite sex. Anyone inviting members of opposite sex in dorms will be fined Rs. 200/- and warned. Repeated indulgence of this act will result in expulsion.
5. Except for those who are seriously ill, all students are requested to attend the class punctually.
6. Obedience to the student captains’ assignment regarding any school work, class work is required. Students must work sincerely with a sense of responsibility without indulging in laziness or avoidance.
7. Students are not allowed to play music in their rooms except on weekends and on special public holidays.

General Request:

1. The management considers residents of the college to be educated and mature persons. Hence, everyone is expected to live and behave decently so as to ensure the same recognition by the community. As it is very truly said, “Health is Wealth”, and the college request every student to take care of his/her health and hygiene. Students should refrain from playing loud music and through away garbage in and around the campus.
2. Everyone is requested to make proper use of our facilities, as we are dependent on others’ donations. With this in mind, please; avoid unnecessary consumption of electricity and water. Make sure to turn off water and electrical switches before you leave.
3. Close all the doors and windows when not in use.
4. Avoid unnecessary waste of food and clothing.
5. Take care of public property.
6. In order to prevent the spread of infectious disease, we must keep our environment clean. Students should avoid taking food to their rooms. All waste materials and garbage should be separated as per the degradable level and put them into their respective bins.
7. All students are requested to live in the rooms assigned to them, and avoid entering into the office area or staff quarters without proper reason.
8. Students should refrain from unscheduled games.