Now, I am not sure that an active knowledge of Sanskrit would help all kinds of people. I am sure there are great scholars who have no active knowledge of the language they work on. There are analytic learners, who have problems with the listening comprehension of a language even when they master its grammar. For all of them, acquiring an active command of Sanskrit might take a long time and not yield enough benefits. Yet, I am inclined to think that for some kinds of learners, an active usage of the language, as can be expressed by the idea of “thinking in Sanskrit”, would be of great help even if one does not want to speak Sanskrit about daily topics and just wants to better understand Sanskrit śāstra.

But how to acquire such a skill?

1. Read a lot, especially texts based on a dialectic structure (two or more speakers arguing on the basis of arguments)
2. Try to phrase basic questions in Sanskrit (say, you read in the maṅgala caraṇāravindaṃ vande and ask kasya caraṇau?)
3. Try writing simple summaries of what you read in Sanskrit (using the same words you just read, it does not need to be original)
4. If you have the chance, take classes in spoken Sanskrit, especially if you can find a teacher who will also introduce you to some extent to śāstric Sanskrit

What do readers think? Can you “think in Sanskrit”? Does it help you? How did you learn it?

Incidentally, I discussed the pros and cons of spoken Sanskrit in a post on my first blog, here.