8Classical Tibetan, with origins dating to the ninth century, is the script found in a huge corpus of surviving Tibetan texts, mostly of Buddhist content; native Tibetans still employ this language, to this day when writing on religious, medical or historical subjects. The aim of this book is to provide a rapid introduction to the main elements of Classical Tibetan, so that students may begin to access for themselves the vast amount of written material available in this language. While designed for guided study, the material will also be of use to those who tackle the language on their own. Regular study over approximately six months should result in an understanding of most grammatical features and allow the student to read the simpler prose texts.