Challenges and Details about Bangla for them who want to learn it.
Today's topic is not something people discuss frequently. Actually, I never heard or read anything about this title on internet. But as a native, I think I should share this for the sake of my responsibility to my Mother's Tongue.
Learning Bangla is rare in the world, even in internet. But some foreigners now are showing eagerness to learn it. So, you can say, today's topic is for those who want to learn Bangla or are in the process running. Consider it as a overview over the language which I am native of.
0.1) Why learning Bangla?
In today's circumstances, learning a language is no longer a total hobby or an experience. Learning languages is a skill now to that is necessary almost every way. Most people learn language for their fanatic reason or simply for job. But that does not mean you can not learn a language for just a hobby or fin thing. It's of course fun, as long as you don't have any obligation.
Nowadays, in some research it is stated that learning a language does not help people in job only; it reduces risk of some brain diseases like Alzheimer and some other ailments. But then, why Bangla? Well, it's a personal preference which language you will learn, and I am suggesting a possibility for you.
You can learn Bangla if you ever want to read the beautiful literature we have and understand Bangladesh and West Bengal better. It's just can be for fun or anything. No pressure.
I will state some challenges to learn it, so that you guys can be aware of those. Before that, a story history.
Some people might say that, "Bangla is the daughter of Sanskrit". Bangla is originated from the Vaidik languages. The Indo-European language family had a section called Indo-Iranian and then, Indian Aryan. Bangla is originated from this section of language. That was about around 7th century.
The oldest sample of Bangla is "Charjapada", written in ancient time and it was the primary form of Bangla.
Bangla has many Sanskrit words and most of them are still used today. Over history, Bangla borrowed many words from Arabic, Persian, Hindi, English, French, even Japanese and Chinese. We even borrowed words from local tribes. And the whole dictionary of Bangla is soooo big (1200+ pages), so just imagine it!
1) The Alphabet Challenge
Bangla has unique 7 vowel sounds and 37 unique consonant sounds. But the letters are even more. We have 11 vowels and 39 consonants, making a whole 50 letters. It's a huge amount of letter (let's not talk about Japanese or Chinese) and these alphabets are really, really hard for English speaker or European citizens.
Not only that. Every vowel except one (অ) has a special type of "signs" that is always used with the consonants in every word. Some consonants also have these signs, like য (Ya) and র (Ra). If you wanna learn Bangla, it's essential. How will you learn this? It's impossible to memorize without understanding it. Then there comes this chart:
The tip is:: Remember the sound every vowel sign makes. Like া vowel sign is pronounced Ā. When it sits with a consonant, the consonant is pronounced with the vowel.
Like, ক (Kæ)+ া (ā) = Kā (কা)
You need to practice this chart, and you should know: This is the core of Bangla.
Fun fact: we natives teach our children this chart from children's books bought from street vendors. But it maybe not available in your country, and there are not much resource in Internet.
About teaching. Don't open an app that will teach you Bangla where they jumps straight to conversations in first lessons, which is the mistake. Give your time to thoroughly (yes, thoroughly) memorize the alphabet and master the chart. If your app goes straight to conversations and you follow it, Bangla will be really hard for you.
There are joint syllables in Bangla too, where you need to memorize the shady looking scary letters (not kidding, some joint syllables are unique). It is another big challenge and you will need time to be used with them. There are formula for these joint syllables. Like:
The chart is must. Without it, you can not read or write Bangla.
My tip is: master the alphabet and chart. This is the first, but most important challenge. And GIVE ATTENTION to joint syllables, too!!! It is a big part of the language and you will never write any prose in Bangla without them. This stage will need at least six months if you study daily.
2) Confusion in Multiple letters
This part is interesting. Bangla has 3 unique (r) sounds and letters. They are র, ড়,ঢ়। There are also three (s/sh) letters: শ,ষ,স। Two(J): জ, য। Two (n) letters: ণ, ন। There is always a whole chapter where bengali kids learn usage of ণ (n) and ষ (sh). This topic is called "ণ-ত্ব ও ষ-ত্ব বিধান" (The rule of the usage of n and sh). Since Bangla has tons of Sanskrit words, this rule will help you. Learn it properly, because this will help you to avoid wrong spelling.
3) Syntax Is Not Always Supporting
Bangla sentence structure is: "Subject+ Object+ Verb" (SOV). It's similar to Japanese and Korean, but functions totally differently.
Though the structure above is standard, everyday conversations and literature do not maintain exactly this structure. You can alter the space of Subject and Object, even Verbs in a specific way, and it will also be meaningful. You might master this structure, but the key point is: it's not mandatory to use this structure exactly. You will see in literature that no author forcibly use this, and only using this structure will sound your Bangla stiff.
The best way to learn it? If you master the alphabet and can read Bangla in a little advance level, try reading native Bangla books. But it is an advance process, and I will tell, learn this syntax matter when you can read Bangla a little fluently; not jumping to it in the beginning. If you try to read bengali when you are in intermediate stage, it will feel too hard. So save it for the last, when you can speak and read Bangla in near future.
4) When Grammer Breaks Your Teeth
Okay...I know, foreigners might notice Bangla pronunciation is similar to tooth breaking for them. But you know, the biggest challenge after basic study is this.
English has a Grammer study called "Persons", right? In Bangla, the same thing is called "পুরুষ" (Purush). But it is SOOO MUCH DIFFICULT THAN ENGLISH.
We have three types of case to call a person. If you talk with someone, you can address them in three ways:
With reverence: Apni (আপনি)
With some one slightly close: Tumi (তুমি)
With some one you are very very close, or want to insult: Tui (তুই)
There are also third persons and first persons.
The difficulty is, in every person (First person, third person and second persons' every cases) the form of the verb changes. Even Apni, Tumi, Tui have different verb forms. That means, you have to learn the same verb's many forms used depending on the person. For example:
আমি করেছি। (I did it: Ami Korechhi)
আপনি করেছেন। (You did it: Apni korechhen) ---(With respect)
তুমি করেছো। (You did it: Tumi korechho) ---with close one
তুই করেছিস। (You did it: Tui korechhish)--- with very close one, or insult.
সে করেছে। (He/she did it: Shé korecche)--- normal
তিনি করেছেন। (He/she did it: Tini korechhen) ---with respect.
Note, the form verb changed everytime depending on the person. And in Bangla, both He and She pronoun is called "Shé" (সে)। It's gender neutral.
This is the most difficult Grammer thing. Be sure to learn it. It will be a great help if you have a bengali friend, and they can help you with this.
5) Writing is not always easy.
Suppose, you have mastered Standard Bangla. But you will feel really anxious if you want to read classic Bangla literature. Because all of them are written in a special writing protocol.
In Bangla, there are two types of writing style:
1) Shadhu Bhasha (সাধু ভাষা)
2) Cholito bhasha. (চলিত ভাষা).
When Bangla novels came in the world, all classic writers (including Rabindranath, Bankimchandra and many more) wrote their prose in this Shadhu Bhasha. It's a style of Bangla writing, where there are more usage of Sanskrit words and long term bengali verbs.
Cholito bhasha is the modern writing system.
Shadhu Bhasha was still common even hundred years ago. But then the modern style had gone popular, and now, ever person use Cholito bhasha for literature.
But if you want to read classic Bengali, then you need to be able to read them. It's easy to learn if you already master the Cholito bhasha and Grammer.
6) Only Standard Will Not Help
Well, if you master Standard Bangla, then you can be okay both in West Bengal and Bangladesh, everyone will understand you. But in regard of Bangladesh, there is a problem.
Will you understand them?
In the map, Bangladesh is a tiny little country. But the dialects of this teeny bit country is scary!!!
There is a word from a famous Bangla writer (Promoth Chowdhury). He told: "Bangla got injured in Sylhet and is dead in Chattogram!"
Sylhet and Chattogram is two western regions of Bangladesh. You will be as good as dead here if you have no idea how different the dialects are.
No people in Bangladesh speak standard Bangla. Even High official don't use standard Bangla outside their work. They all, and all speak in dialects. (Fun fact: Even I do!)
So you should be a little prepared if you want to hear Bangladeshi people speaking. They will understand your standard Bangla, but they might try to refuse to not use dialects. It's even more insane in rural area. So you should have some idea on this dialects, too. It will help you survive here.
But I won't tell you to speak in dialects of ours. That's totally impossible. Even I cannot speak Dhakaiya, or the dialects of Noakhali or Chattogram!!! The tip is: master Standard Bangla, and have a general knowledge on the dialects. Never try to learn them, or you will be dead.
7) Learn Grammer Consistently
Grammer is core of Bangla (in every language). But there are some peculiar things here, that will overwhelm you. Like the nature of verbs, joining sounds and use of suffix and prefix, also a rule called "Shomash". There are also Bibhokti (very essential, otherwise you will be speaking wrong). My advice is, master them slowly. It will take almost 2 years if you want to be fluent with regular practice. Take it slow.
8) Literature might overwhelm you
If you want to hone your Bangla reading in your intermediate level, then choose a book which is written in simple Bangla. DON'T READ CLASSIC BOOKS AS STARTER. The reason is, classical Bangla is too hard and it might crush your motivation. Take it slowly. You can read foreign books translated in Bangla. And Bangla has a rich collection in translation.
Never give up on it. Bangla may be hard, but it's not like Chinese or Japanese. It's a beautiful language. Recently, UNESCO officially declared Bangla as the sweetest language in the world. If you are a little patient, you can learn it.
If you are eager, don't use random apps. I used them to check and those were trash. The app I opened tought people wrong pronunciation of every letter. I will continue find a good app, and share it here if I can.
The best way is, do a course. It will fun if you learn it in a slow but consistent pace.
