After the death of his father he became the mentee of Jean-Baptiste Gardin-Dumesnil a former professor of rhetoric of the Collège d'Harcourt.
[1] He was admitted to the Collège d'Harcourt in Paris on a scholarship where in 1793, he won the prix d'honneur.
Burnouf was an early student of Sanskrit, which he studied under Alexander Hamilton.
In 1808, he was substitute at the lycée Charlemagne, two years later, became professor of rhetoric at Luce de Lancival.
Jean Louis Burnouf wrote several translations of Latin authors : Sallust, Tacitus, Cicero, Pliny the Younger.