Hi Sapito,

You haven't indicated what you want to study, so there's no way for us to make suggestions. Each language will allow you to study certain things, but also restrict you to those things. If you want to study the doctrinal foundations of Zen, Sanskrit might be a good choice, but many sutras exist only in Chinese translations, so Chinese would also be useful. If you want to study the early development of Chan, then you need to learn Chinese. If you want to study Chan's later development in a specific country, then you need to learn the language of that specific country.

Best of luck.

Sapito

I do not know much about Japanese Buddhism but, Sanskrit is the world's oldest language for Dharma. if you can study Sanskrit, then it will also provide you with a foundation for Pali, as the languages are very similar.

www.sutrasmantras.info/sanskrit1.html

www.ats-group.net/languages/language-lea...

if you want to learn Sanskrit or Pali to an academic standard, then you may be better adivsed to find a qualified Teacher in your locale.

Sanskrit and Pali are the languages of Mahayana Buddhism and Theravada Budhism respectively. Chinese and Japanese Schools of Buddhism are translations from original Doctrines written in these two ancient languages. Tibetan Buddhism uses a form of modified Tibetan which has an alphabet developed from Sanskrit.