University of Virginia Library

Study of nansy Tham

Novices had to learn to both read and write the Tham script. Instruction
took place after breakfast. First of all, the abbot wrote the alphabet on
paper and read out the letters. When the novices had learned the letters,
they practised reading; each student in the class held the palm-leaf book
in his hands and read aloud, while the teacher, standing behind him,
checked his reading. After reading had been mastered, writing was
practised on paper. In importance, writing was secondary to reading.
Each month, or once in every two months, the abbot tested his pupils;
physical punishment with a stick was administered if mistakes were made.

Today (1966) certain changes have taken place in the learning of nansy
Tham. Teaching monks and novices to read nansy Tham takes place
primarily during Lent when the school is active, but learning to read it is
no longer compulsory. Those who want to learn are taught by the abbot,
and the technique of learning is precisely the same as it was fifty years
ago. The voluntary learning of nansy Tham is a major change, and most
novices (and monks) can no longer read the Tham texts. However, those
who propose to spend more than a year in the temple will have to learn
to read sermons, most of which are still in the Tham script, though
increasingly it is being displaced by the Thai script. What is not acquired
today is the ability to write nansy Tham because, with the advent of the
printing press, the copying of manuscripts is no longer necessary.