I am a Thai and a born Theravada Buddhist. I know other Pali grammar books but they are utterly dry and are not designed to develop a learner's reading skill in the Holy Text of Tipitaka. Pali-grammar books in Thailand are designed for monks or very serious laymen; and they are too old-school, overly scholarly in terms of grammatical details. Students are expected to develop their reading faculty elsewhere, such as in prayer books - which are difficult, because they assume a mastery of the grammar. So "A New Course in Reading Pali" is, in my opinion, the best Pali textbook for a complete beginner. However, there are still complaints that this is not actually for beginners. I must say I disagree with such criticism.
Pali, like Sanskrit, is a classical Indo-European language. To study Pali, it would be very helpful if you already know either Latin or Ancient Greek, so you'd know what to expect. As for me, I speak Thai. And the Thai language, over many centuries, has assimilated thousands of Pali words into it. So I got thrilled to discover so many etymological roots of words I use everyday; guessing them is such a fun and epiphany experience (this is gonna improve my Thai). Anyway if you have already studied Buddhism for some time, have memorized some prayers in Pali (like most cultural Buddhists), - in short if Pali expressions are not entirely alien to you - you will have fun learning and guessing from this book too. Furthermore, as I said earlier, knowing Latin or Greek helps with the grammar. I know a bit ancient Greek (and can read Homer in the original) and I know it helps a great deal with the structure of conjugation. Pali is such an ancient language that there are even more forms to conjugate compared to Greek. So yeah if you remember your Latin grammar, it can really help. But in my opinion, this book is just about right in the information it tries to give you and to enable you to read Pali.
Overall, a really enjoyable and manageable learning experience.
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