DriftingCrow

Welcome Nori. I am also fairly new to Sikhi, and I've found the Basics of Sikhi channel mentioned above as a great resource. Most of the videos are very short and easy to fit into the day, they're also in English. The Basics of Sikhi channel is beginning to post a course called "Why Guru?" (the videos posted are found under their playlist), and they also have multiple videos on learning the Gurmukhti script. Another good source is MacAuliffe's series "The Sikh Religion". It was written in the early 1900s, so the language can be a little tedious to read at times, but its very informative. I am only part-way through the first book. I also have Harban Singh Doabia's "Sacred Nitnem", which has all the nitnem written in Gurmukhti script, beneath that its in Romanized transliterations, and then in English translation. The back of the book has essays about the meaning of the prayers. These two are easily found on-line, and I think even the MacAuliffe series is a free download on some website. I also enjoy the free Android app "Sikh World". It has the prayers, SGGS, Hukamnana, music, Sakhis, a dictionary, etc. Its a great resource to have when I am sitting on the train.

I came across a link for Read Along Gurbani Tutor. Supposedly, it goes through word by word of the SGGS text, highlighting the word, reads the word aloud, and moves to the next word. It's meant to help people who are unable to read SGGS to understand how to pronounce the text. Unfortunately, I am unable to get the link to post in this textbox, but it's at www.ektuhi.com, and then click the third option from the left in the top links bar. It should show an embedded YouTube video of the Gurbani Tutor and a button to download it. I haven't downloaded it yet, does anyone know if it's safe to download on PC? If anyone has used it, did you find it helpful? Thanks

Thanks for the suggestions, and I wouldn't mind buddying up nkaur25. I had to return the Complete Panjabi because their was a problem with the CDs, but I plan on ordering it again. Looking through the book, it seemed very good to work with. Also, I can't seem to put the link in here, but has anyone tried the Gurbani Tutor download? I saw a link for it on SikhNet the other day, and it seems great. There's no English translations from what I gather, but there's someone's voice reading SGGS with each word lit up as he recites it. It seems like a good way to learn how to pronounce the words in SGGS. I am kind of afraid to download it on my computer as I had a bad experience with another download; also the website is entirely written in Punjabi so I am unable to read anything about it. Edit to add: I am unable to find Punjabi Reader Level 1 by Mr. Vatuk on Amazon, do you know where it's sold? I just looked on Google, and can't seem to find it for sale. It does say it was published in 1964, I wonder if it's still in print?

I quite enjoy this one over on the Basics of Sikhi kirtan playlist: description from video: "Violin Kirtan of Guru Gobind Singh ji's Bani from Akaal Ustat Sahib, Nirjur Niroop Ho, Ke Sundar Saroop Ho (with English Subtitles) by Bhai KarmJit Singh and with Bhai Sher Singh Ambala's brother on Tabla!" Nice lot of suggestions here, I'll have to bookmark this thread to go through them all.

Sat sree akaal I am trying to learn some Punjabi so I can better understand Gurbani and communicate with those in Gurdwara who speak little or no English. I recently ordered http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Panjabi-Two-Audio-CDs/dp/0071766022/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1386605716&sr=8-5&keywords=teach+yourself+complete+panjabi'>Teach Yourself: Complete Panjabi but I am aware I'll later on need some additional book or program to help me get to the next level, along with trying to speak Panjabi with native speakers on a regular basis. For anyone on here who's taught themselves Punjabi, or if anyone here is a teacher of the language, I would like some suggestions on what is a good book or program to pick up. (I have used Pimsleur before, but it is a bit expensive and it is not available at my library). Thank you (And moderators, sorry if I put this post in the wrong area of the forum)