How to learn Bengali?

[cricket_dorshok]

Originally Posted by moshin_31
Who is Syed Mujtaba Ali???

Syed Mujtaba Ali (Bengali: সৈয়দ মুজতবা আলী ) (1904-1974), was a renowned Bangladeshi author, academician, scholar and linguist.
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[Parisa]

there is something called "proper bangla". and that is the standard bengali which is spoekn in dhaka only. other parts of bangladesh speaks bengali but in their own dialect.but it is still bengali only it is not standard.

[Parisa]

i'm sick of hearing sylhetti.i've been hearing that for the past 8 years now.i miss hearing the standard bengali.dhaka bengali.but that is inevitable since i live in east london where the majority of bengali population is sylhetti.

[Tigers_eye]

Originally Posted by Parisa
i'm sick of hearing sylhetti.i've been hearing that for the past 8 years now.i miss hearing the standard bengali.dhaka bengali.but that is inevitable since i live in east london where the majority of bengali population is sylhetti.

Welcome Parisa to BC. Sorry to hear your misery.

Which part of Dhaka speaks proper bangla? The non-dhakaias in Gulshan?

No, I am not a sylheti.

Comments on your sig:
What makes Tony Blair then? Dumbest of all? Since he blindly supports a dumb guy.

[Tigers_eye]

Originally Posted by Fazal
...And those aam are too 'Kacha' .

and as if you never had kacha aam?

[Moshin]

Originally Posted by Parisa
i'm sick of hearing sylhetti.i've been hearing that for the past 8 years now.i miss hearing the standard bengali.dhaka bengali.but that is inevitable since i live in east london where the majority of bengali population is sylhetti.

Sorry to hear that you hate Sylhetis (!) you might as well just talk Sylheti then,
since who hate the dialect, who said you only need to speak one dialect/basha,
you can speak both of them u know, just hear and talk with your friends in Sylheti and then you'll get the hang of it (its like slang)

[MohammedC]

post deleted

[DJ Sahastra]

Originally Posted by Fazal
Date a girl who speaks "shuddo Bangla".

Honestly, that doesn't work. What may end up happening is her "Shuddo Bangla" may not remain "Shuddo" anymore.

[DJ Sahastra]

Mohsin,

Make BabuBangla your Guru. Try to read his square-box posts. I am sure you'll be talking-walking-laughing Bangla in no time.

[Moshin]

Originally Posted by Fazal
Date a girl who speaks "shuddo Bangla".

haha, that will not work for sure,
the dhakaya people I know, never speak a word of Bangla over here,
they only speak English, i fink they are ashamed of it or somthin (!)
if any of them do speak dhakaya, then they will ruin thier
reputation, that's how it is i fink, yeah, anyway thanks 4 the advice.

[Moshin]

Originally Posted by DJ Sahastra
Mohsin,

Make BabuBangla your Guru. Try to read his square-box posts. I am sure you'll be talking-walking-laughing Bangla in no time.

please re-phrase busta parcina??

[Kabir]

Originally Posted by moshin_31
please re-phrase busta parcina??

You know BabuBangla right? He's by far one of the most favorite members to many here, and writes superb Bangla stuff...some of his threads can be digged up if you go and make a serch on him. If you read his Bangla, you'll learn the language in no time. Guaranteed

[Moshin]

Originally Posted by Kabir
You know BabuBangla right? He's by far one of the most favorite members to many here, and writes superb Bangla stuff...some of his threads can be digged up if you go and make a serch on him. If you read his Bangla, you'll learn the language in no time. Guaranteed

oh accha thanks i'll go and check it out now!

[RazabQ]

I know a lot of non-Sylhetis in UK. How is it that one would only hear Sylheti then? You'all are not trying hard enought. Seriously Mohsin, if you can read, start reading man. You have a lot of catching up to do. BTW read বাংলা বই obviously

[Fazal]

Originally Posted by moshin_31
haha, that will not work for sure,
the dhakaya people I know, never speak a word of Bangla over here,
they only speak English, i fink they are ashamed of it or somthin (!)
if any of them do speak dhakaya, then they will ruin thier
reputation, that's how it is i fink, yeah, anyway thanks 4 the advice.

People used go to china to learn (gain knowledge) and you cannot fly to Dhaka to learn proper Bangla? Who knows, as a bonus may find your future mate as a byproduct. So I say "Cholo Cholo choley Jau Dur Bohu Dur..."

[Arnab]

Originally Posted by moshin_31
yeah i know how to read and write bengali,
but to speak or understand it is very difficult
its like another language
people here in the UK see 'dhakaya' people as a
different background and see them as 'posh people'
no offense, but true. (respond.

To improve your speaking of shuddho Bangla, you need to live in Dhaka (or Calcutta), where you can regularly interact with the educated Bengali speaking people. I don't think this is possible in a foreign country.

As far as listening is concerned, watch the Bengali dramas on the Bangladeshi channels. They should be available to you via satellite.

*****

For lots of written Bengali material, read the bengali blogs on the internet. They have really taken off in the last 12 months or so. As an example, I suggest www.somewhereinblog.net, a Bengali blogging community.

You will find educated Bangladeshis (both expatriates and Bangladesh-based) blogging in Bengali about contemporary topics. Some of them even write poems and short stories. You will also learn a lot of khati (mostly Dhakaiya) slangs from the comments and posts.

It's online, it's the creative output of contemporary Bengalis, and there's something new everyday. So yes, for maximum online exposure, I am going to advise you to check out these blogs.

[BanCricFan]

Originally Posted by Arnab
To improve your speaking of shuddho Bangla, you need to live in Dhaka (or Calcutta), where you can regularly interact with the educated Bengali speaking people. I don't think this is possible in a foreign country.

WOW! Astounding generalisation!

[Kabir]

Originally Posted by BanCricFan
WOW! Astounding generalisation!

Actually, I found the last part quite funny - "which is not possible in a foreign country".

It may be true for England...but US and Canada are different. In Dhaka, nobody speaks shudhdho Bangla. And Kolkata's Bangla will not make Moshin pass his GCSE.

[BanCricFan]

mohsin_31,

Young fella, great that you have enthusiasm for learning standard Bangla. Its one of the richest languages on this planet. Keep plugging away with your GCSE bangla classes. There are numerous Bangla associations in London...if you want can get involved.

If you want to take it further, academically speaking, then you could read a bachelor in Bangla at School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in London. SOAS is one of the most renowned universities in the world for Oriental Studies with amazing resources and facilities.

In the meantime, keep watching selective bangla dramas on tv and keep listening to bangla cricket commentary on tv and radio. Khuda Bux Mridha is my personal favourite!

[Arnab]

Originally Posted by BanCricFan
WOW! Astounding generalisation!

Not sure what you are talking about. The way one can regularly interact with educated shuddho Bengali-speaking people in either Dhaka (or Calcutta) cannot be emulated anywhere else in the world. The kind of real life opportunities one gets in these two cities to get thoroughly acquainted with Shuddho Bangla cannot be seen anywhere else.

For example, in Dhaka, Moshin can just go to Bishshwo Shahityo Kendro regularly for a few months and voila! He will definitely come out as a person speaking shudhdho Bengali. Of course, there is a big chance he will come out as a typical kendro atel as well, but let's ignore that for now.

[Murad]

I hate speaking khati shuddo bangla. No fun in talking like.. Ami Kheyechilam, Koriyachilam, Cholitechi, Moritechi or so. Its fun talking like this... Ami khaisilam, Korchilam, Choltechi, Mortechi...

[Arnab]

Originally Posted by Kabir
In Dhaka, nobody speaks shudhdho Bangla. And Kolkata's Bangla will not make Moshin pass his GCSE.

In Dhaka there are plenty of people who can speak the standard shuddho bangla very well. And apart from some differences in vocabulary, that standard Bangla in Dhaka is the same standard Bangla spoken by the educated circle in Calcutta. A Bangladeshi can easily understand a Calcutta-based TV channel's news and other programs that use standard Bengali.

In fact, from a dialectological perspective, the Bengali of Dhaka is closer to the Bengali of Calcutta than it is to the Bengali of Sylhet or Chittagong or Noakhali.

[Arnab]

Originally Posted by muradnyc
I hate speaking khati shuddo bangla. No fun in talking like.. Ami Kheyechilam, Koriyachilam, Cholitechi, Moritechi or so. Its fun talking like this... Ami khaisilam, Korchilam, Choltechi, Mortechi...

করিয়াছিলাম, চলিতেছি, মরিতেছি are examples of sadhu bhasha. It's a written language. Nobody really speaks in Sadhu Bhasha.

What we are talking about here is the Cholito spoken Bengali language. The three words in cholti bangla will be: করেছিলাম, চলছি, মরছি।

[Murad]

Oh right. My bad.

But many people speak sadhu vasha.. There's a girl from our college speaks sadhu vasha. She sometimes pissed me off. She thinks this is the proper bangla and the way we speak(cholito vasha) is not. She thinks its oshuddho. There's another boy in my area speak the same as well.

[Arnab]

Originally Posted by muradnyc
Oh right. My bad.

But many people speak sadhu vasha.. There's a girl from our college speaks sadhu vasha. She sometimes pissed me off. She thinks this is the proper bangla and the way we speak(cholito vasha) is not. She thinks its oshuddho. There's another boy in my area speak the same as well.

I have never ever heard anyone speak in sadhu bhasha as a regular spoken language. People sometimes use it for comedic effect, in a mock effort to sound serious, but that's all.