Home News “Little Guru” app to learn Sanskrit a huge success worldwide – High...
Launched a little over a year ago in response to demand from the Indian Diaspora and institutions, the “Little Guru” app, which enables users to learn Sanskrit – the world’s oldest language, has been deemed a huge success by Indian High Commissioner to Guyana, Dr KJ Srinivasa.
The Government of India launched the “Little Guru” app in April 2021 in Guyana, Antigua and Barbuda, St Kitts and Nevis, and Anguilla.
During an interview with Guyana Times on Wednesday, Dr Srinivasa provided an update on the app, highlighting that it has been a “success” all over the world. He reminded that the app was developed by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) in response to demand from the Indian Diaspora and various institutions which teach Sanskrit as a language.
Over the past few years, the ICCR had received a large number of requests for assistance in learning the language from across the world, both from the Indian Diaspora as well as foreigners interested in Sanskrit. Many Hindu, Buddhist, Jain and other religious texts are in Sanskrit, so there has been great demand for assistance to learn Sanskrit.
Within the Diaspora community the desire to stay connected with their roots as well as to access the rich literary epics and texts of India has also helped create this huge demand for Sanskrit. A number of Sanskrit universities across the world have also been keen on an app that would help not only the students who are currently studying in these universities but act as a feeder for young scholars to learn Sanskrit before joining universities.
“Sanskrit is a very old language, but there were not really schools that were teaching it on the ground. But there was a lot of demand, because most of our ancient texts are in Sanskrit and people who wanted to learn it had a bit of a difficulty,” the Indian High Commissioner explained.
“Little Guru” is a gamified app based on an interactive platform that makes Sanskrit learning easy, entertaining, and fun. This app helps people who are already learning Sanskrit or those who are desirous of learning Sanskrit to do so in an easy manner based on games, competitions, rewards, peer-to-peer interactions, etc. This unique app combines education with entertainment thereby keeping the attention of the learner as well as encouraging him/her to advance further.
Noting that the app was designed “to keep the interest of the children”, Dr Srinivasa said, “You gave them challenges, you gave them games, you make them learn the language”. Since its launch, he said the app has been picked up tremendously.
“This app has not only been taken up by various educational institutions, but also private people in schools, in colleges, and also religious mogs. They are learning Sanskrit through this app. Across the world, there has been a great uptake… so this is a success.”
He said that this model of the app was very unique, in that it is called the “freemium model”. Dr Srinivasa explained that users get all the basic chapters for free. However, there is a slight premium on the advanced chapters which the Indian Government will subsidise for organisations.
The “Little Guru” app creates awareness not only about language but also opens the doors for people to access the rich cultural heritage of India. The developers of the app have provided the High Commission with a ‘special promotional code’ for the people of Guyana for subscription at concessional prices to unlock the higher levels and learn advanced techniques.
Sanskrit, the oldest language, continues to be a living language, being used daily in religious activities as well as by scholars in accessing literary texts for research work, etc. The ICCR is promoting Sanskrit across the world by providing books and material to Sanskrit institutes. The ICCR also deputes teachers and professors to universities and institutes for teaching Sanskrit. It is confident that the app will go a very long way in popularising Sanskrit. The ICCR has noted that the Sanskrit language is the best pathway to Indian culture and has encouraged youngsters to learn the language using the app for their better understanding and immersion into the culture. (G1)
