Learning Bengali Language
Bengali Essays - Lots of info on the history, writing system, dialects, phonology, grammar, vocab etc. By Anup Mukherjee, 2003 - Discusses Bengali history and the script. Article on the history of Bengali, Bangali literature, learning materials, the alphabet and grammar. Article with diagram on the history, script, grammar, dialects and role in society of Bengali.
Learning Bengali Language
Gives some information on the script with a nice chart of all the letters and links. Short overview on the language, vocab, alphabet and grammar.
Bengali is an eastern Indo-Aryan language with around 300 million speakers mainly in Bangladesh, and in the Indian states of West Bengal, Tripura and South Assam. Bengali is the national and official language of Bangladesh, and one of the official languages in India. One is called 'Sadhubhasa' (elegant language) and the other 'Chaltibhasa' (current language). The former is the traditional literary style based on Middle Bengali of the 16th century, the latter is a creation of this century, based on the cultivated form of the dialect spoken in Calcutta by educated people. Learn Bengali. Learn Bengali in just 20 minutes a day with Glossika's unique method. Center for Free Foreign Language Learning from Wikiversity.org.
Very concise page on the language, dialects, phonology, grammar, vocabulary, writing & resources. A short introduction to the language, the evolution of Bengali and Bengali script. BROKEN LINK - Short article on the Bengali language, culture and current status. Courses (+audio) by Edward C. Dimmock - Thorough textbook used in universities that looks very useful. Dialogs and vocab for book available. Dakha and Kolkota dialect audio can be found linked.
(+audio) - A 16 lesson course with audio that introduces vocabulary and dialogues. No exercises, but the pronunciation section looks very useful. By Clinton B. Seely, 1985 - 19 lessons on Bengali grammar forms and constructions, with information about life in Bangladesh. Several online courses, accompanying exercises, dictionaries, alphabet chart with audio etc. Uses romanization. By I Corps Foreign Language Training Centre, 2007 - Teaches functional Bengali for everyday situations, with dialogues, exercises, pictures, limited grammar notes etc.
Unfortunately no audio. Textbook in simplified script for children to learn Bengali. Click on 'open the book' to view. Online textbook to learn Bengali through Hindi. Unfortunately no audio. Websites - University website with links to textbooks, e-books and dictionaries.
Notes written by a student of Bengali. 5 basic grammar based lessons, a collection of useful phrases with audio and an English-Bengali dictionary. Uses transliteration. Trial flashcard program with free Bengali word lists.
Bengali phrasebooks with audio are offered by the Defense Language Institute. Can be downloaded or viewed online. & - A few quizzes and games on vocab and grammar. A downloadable word document with basic Bengali words & phrases and basic grammar.
Large collection of vocabulary/phrases arranged by topic, with full audio and pictures where suitable. A really nice resource. Flash presentations explaining grammar tenses & vocabulary, vocabulary lists, reviews of learning resources and more.
Short grammar explanations and many vocabulary lists. Uses script & romanization. A collection of links and reviews of Bengali language learning materials. Several videos teaching the Bengali script and numbers. Script - 5 lessons gradually teaching the Bengali script and how to read, write & form words with it.
8 lessons teaching the Bengali alphabet, with reading & writing practice & guides on spelling, & conjunct characters. By Vidya Sagar - A short document on the Bengali script and conjunt characters. Diagrams of the alphabet and how to write each character. DEAD LINK - A chart of the Bengali alphabet with audio. & - Comparative charts of Asian & Brahmi descended scripts. E-books by Punya Sloka Ray and others -Information on grammar, sounds, writing etc.
& Roushan Jahan - Prose reader for advanced students of Bengali. & Somdev Bhattacharji with Ronald Inden, Arati John, & Clinton B. Seely - A reader for more advanced students. By Somdev Bhattacharji - A reader to accompany part 1.
Learning Bengali Through English
Ray & others, 1966 - Chapters on the history of Bengali, orthography, phonology, verbs, numbers, literary & colloquial Bengali, dialects etc. Podcasts - 1 lesson teaching basic phrases made by grade 6 students in Dhaka. Forums DEAD LINK - Forum for Bangladeshi community.
Wide variety of topics. Small but active forum with several useful threads and active learners of Bengali., - Small forum with a few posts on learning Bengali. Blogs - Blog for university students of Bengali, lots of videos, songs, poetry, reading & listening exercises, student journals etc. Interesting blog about learning Bengali, Bollywood films, literature and Bengali resources.
New blog by a Bengali learner with lessons, posts on culture, videos and more. New blog about the author's progress in learning Bengali, musings on vocabulary, resource lists, videos and more. Authentic Materials - Excerpts from poetry & prose read aloud by native speakers. Biographies of prominent Bengali authors and readings by the authors. Videos of authentic language in everyday situations, with notes on each video. Several radio programs in Bengali covering current affairs, music, entertainment etc., - News, radio, podcasts and video (on VOA) in Bengali. Radio and podcasts about culture, news, science, entertainment; lots of interesting material.
Lots of Bengali movies, dramas, natok, music videos, tv etc available to watch online. No subtitles. By Jibanananda Das - Bilingual collection of poetry in Bengali, including intro & notes. Archive of literature & poetry in Bengali, including works by Rabindranath Tagore. Collection of blog posts and video in Bengali. Long running podcast in Bengali with intelligent discussions, book and poetry readings, songs and interviews. Podcast with readings from short stories, novels, poetry and essays in Bengali.
Learn Bangla Online
Podcast of classic Bengali stories read aloud. Bengali wikipedia with more than 22,000 articles. Technical - Several online searchable dictionaries. A pictorial dictionary of Bengali, uses Bengali script. Useful for picking up common words. Useful summary of different fonts for viewing Bengali.
Freeware file with instructions on how to type in Bengali using it. Loads of downloadable programs for typing in Bengali, unicode fonts, language packs for Firefox, word programs, Mac computers etc. A Firefox & Windows download for typing in Bengali.
Simple & easy to use. Online tool for typing phonetically in Bengali. Online tool for typing in Bengali using the online keyboard layout.
Step up 3 123. Commercial by W. Radice, 2008 - Well-reviewed book that teaches the language in-depth, with a focus on literature. The chapters introducing the script at the beginning are brilliant.
Van der Wurff, 2008 - Similar style to Teach Yourself, a textbook and audio. Also well-reviewed. Focuses more on conversation. By Bimal Maity - Available to view online only.