Colloquial Bengali

Mithun B. Nasrin, W.A.M Van Der Wurff

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2015
• eBook ISBN: 9781317306122
• Topic: Languages & Linguistics
• Subtopic: Languages
• Index: Languages & Linguistics

Colloquial Bengali provides a step-by-step course in Bengali as it is written and spoken today. Combining a user-friendly approach with a thorough treatment of the language, it equips learners with the essential skills needed to communicate confidently and effectively in Bengali in a broad range of situations. No prior knowledge of the language is required.

Key features include:

• progressive coverage of speaking, listening, reading and writing skills

• structured, jargon-free explanations of grammar

• an extensive range of focused and stimulating exercises

• realistic and entertaining dialogues covering a broad variety of scenarios

• useful vocabulary lists throughout the text

• additional resources available at the back of the book, including a full answer key, a grammar summary and bilingual glossaries

Balanced, comprehensive and rewarding, Colloquial Bengali will be an indispensable resource both for independent learners and students taking courses in Bengali.

Audio material to accompany the course is available to download freely in MP3 format from www.routledge.com/cw/colloquials. Recorded by native speakers, the audio material features the dialogues and texts from the book and will help develop your listening and pronunciation skills.

1

apnar nam ki?

What’s your name?

In this unit you will learn about:

• addressing, greeting and leave-taking

• giving and asking for personal information

• names of countries

• some further Bengali letters

Dialogue 1

(Audio 1:33)

Jenny is taking a Bengali language class. In the school, she sees Dipu, a Bangladeshi man who is taking an English class there. With Dipu is a man whom Jenny doesn’t know.

dipu:	slamalaikum jeni, tumi kæmon acho?
jeni:	walaikum-salam, dada, ami bhalo achi. apni kæmon achen?
dipu:	bhalo. e holo amar bondhu. jeni: slamalaikum.
Tunu:	walaikumsalam. bah! apni to besh bhalo bangla janen. apnar nam ki?
jeni:	amar nam jeni. ekhane bangla shikhchi. apnar nam ki?
dipu:	or nam Tunu, she amar ækjOn bhalo bondhu.
jeni:	accha. dada, amar klash shuru hoe jacche. ami ækhon jai. khoda-hafez, dipuda. khoda-hafez, Tunuda. abardækhahObe.
Tunu:	khoda-hafez.
dipu:	khoda-hafez, jeni.
DIPU:	Salam, Jenny, how are you?
JENNY:	Salam, elder brother, I’m fine. How are you
DIPU:	Fine. This is my friend.
JENNY:	Salam.
TUNU:	Salam. Well, well, you really know Bengali quite well. What’s your name?
JENNY:	My name is Jenny. I’m learning Bengali here. What’s your name?
DIPU:	His name is Tunu. He’s a good friend of mine.
JENNY:	I see. Elder brother, my class is starting. I’m going now. Goodbye, Dipu. Goodbye, Tunu. We’ll meet again.
TUNU:	Goodbye.
DIPU:	Goodbye, Jenny.

Vocabulary

slamalaikum	hello (Muslim greeting)	or nam she	his/her name he
kæmon	how	ækjOn	a/an
acho	you are	accha	OK/all right/I see
bhalo	good	shuru hoe jacche	is starting
e	this	ækhon	now
holo	is	jai	I go
bondhu	friend	khoda-hafez	goodbye (Muslim leave-taking)
bah	well, well!
to	really, indeed, actually	abar dækha hObe	again we’ll meet
besh	quite

Addressing people

(Audio 1:34–35)

In Dialogue 1, two words are used corresponding to English ‘you’: the polite pronoun apni

and the familiar pronoun tumi

. Both mean ‘you’, but they are used differently...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• Introduction
• The sounds of Bengali
• The Bengali script
• 1 apnar nam ki? What's your name?
• 2 era ki apnar mamato bhai? Are these your cousins?
• 3 onar kOeTa baRi ache? How many houses does he have?
• 4 kalimondirTa kon dike? In what direction is the temple of Kali?
• 5 apni ki ki dekhechen? What have you seen?
• 6 apni ki khaben? What would you like to eat?
• 7 apni ki ranna korchen? What are you cooking?
• 8 dækhabo? Shall I show it to you?
• 9 ei cekTa ki ekhane kæsh kore nite pari? Can I cash this cheque here?
• 10 ekhane keu thake na? Doesn't anyone live here?
• 11 tarpOre ki holo? What happened next?
• 12 apnara skule ki ki poRten? What did you study at school?
• 13 jomi hal dewar jonno ki bæbohar kOren? What do you use for ploughing the land?
• 14 flaiT dOshTae chaRle kOTae riporT korte hObe? If the flight leaves at ten, at what time should I check in?
• 15 nObobOrshe ar ki ki kOra hOe? What else is done on New Year's Day?
• Transliterations of Bengali-script texts
• Bengali script - summary
• Numbers
• Bengali grammar - summary
• Translation of reading texts
• Key to exercises
• Bengali-English glossary
• Index