Hello K.
Yelp
I'm taking their Beginner's level Tibetan language class here. Their pedagogy is very different from other American schools', e.g., Beverly Hills Lingual Institute, UC extension. Instead of the familiar explanatory and full immersion approaches which American schools usually employ, Land of Compassion Buddha's monks pretty much use the most primitive way to teach a new language-recitation, memorization and repeated practices-in class! I basically don't do any revision at home, as I'm busy with other things; and they go over the new things like 30 or 50 times in class with us to make sure we do the work even if after class we don't study ourselves. I'm wondering if it's a monastic way of language learning as self-study may not take up as much time of a student's, at least when they are on elementary level. Just my guess.
Venerable Thupten Jangchu is pretty awesome. I honestly don't remember learning like this after graduating from the kindergarten at six. He guarantees everyone in the whole class "gets it" before he moves on to something new so it becomes not only about learning but also practicing patience, which is sometimes even more important to a student. My class becomes something I look forward to through the week. Nothing is better than learning a new thing in a tranquil place filled with beautiful dharma (the teachings of the Buddha) tools and nice people.
The accent/dialect Venerable Jangchu teaches is Khampa which is spoken in Eastern Tibet. If you need to learn another accent/dialect, you should ask in advance when you sign up. I think I paid about $200 for a boot camp lasting 1.5 months. The text book costs $15. A steal, right?
Oh, no shoes in the center. There's tea for students. Just make sure you clean up after yourself. Volunteer to put the study trays and sitting cushion back to the storage after class. There are no chairs; we sit on the floor so I find pants more convenient than dresses or skirts. As for lunch, the mall with eateries, Starbucks, Westfield and Ikea is 5 minutes away.
