I am sticking to my word and taking on Bengali tonight! I took it a little easier with a late language night yesterday and decided to learn Norwegian instead. Now that I have the time (and focus), I am ready to learn the Bengali Language!
Who speaks Bengali?
Bengali or Bangla is spoken by people in Bangladesh and West Bengal (a state in India). About 230 million people speak this language making it the 6th most spoken language in the world! Bengali is the primary language in Bangladesh and the 2nd most common language in India.
A fun fact is that Bengali has been spoken since 900 C.E. but no-one ever attempted to write out the grammar. It wasn’t until the 1700s that a Portuguese missionary created the first Bengali dictionary!
What are the Bengali Basics?
I highly recommend this video on Youtube to help with pronunciation. Some phrases are easier than others, but unless you know the Bengali alphabet and how to pronounce all of the different letters, you might have a hard time. The video is great because it shows you the actual pronunciation for English speakers! Checkout some of the Bengali Language basics below that may be helpful to learn before your next trip! I have written out how they are pronounced for you
Hi! – Oh-hey
Good Morning – Shuvo Sokal
How are you? – Apni Keman ach-en
I am fine, what about you?– Ami valo achi. Apnar khobor ki
What’s your Name? – Apnar naam ki?
My name is Krysta – Amar naam Krysta.
Nice to meet you – Apnar songe dekha hoye valo laglo.
See you again – abar dekha hobe
Yes – ha
No -na
Left – baam
Right – daan
Do you understand? – Tumi bujhcho
Yes, I understand – Ha. Ami bujhechi
What are you looking for? – Apni ki khujchen?
I am not sure – Ami Nischit na
Are you hungry? – Apni khudarto?
If you are serious about learning the Bengali Language, I highly recommend RASELraju Institute’s Youtube Channel. He has SO MANY videos targeting different conversations and topics that would come up in daily chatter. You will appreciate that he also spells out the pronunciation and reads it all to you slowly. Just put his videos on repeat and you’ll be fluent in no time!
As always, be sure to check-out the other 30 different languages I learned this month! I pulled together all of the basics for you to learn!
xoxo
Krysta
