Bangla 101

Bangla has eleven vowels (excluding one extinct) and 40 consonants, including four distinct 't' sounds, four 'd' sounds, three 's' sounds, three 'r' sounds and two 'n' sounds. As a reult, some of the letter sounds are difficult for a non-Bengali to pronounce. But try for yourself! Following is a list of common words and phrases, written as they would appear phonetically:

Numbers:

0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
shunno	aak	duye	tin	char	paach	chhoy	shaat	aat	noy

Small talk

My name is ...	Amar naam ...
How are you?	Kemon Achhen?
I'm fine.	Ami bhalo achhi.
What are you studying?	Apni ki poren?
Where do you live?	Apni kothay thaken?
I live in Starkville.	Ami Starkville -aye thaki.
The weather is great toaday!	Ajker abo-hawa chmotkar!

Below is a picture of Noble Laureate Rabindranath Tagore, a Bengali poet, playwrite, artist and philosopher. In 1913 he was awarded the Noble Prize for Literature, for his collection of poems "Gitanjali". He has the distinct honor of authoring songs that later were adopted as the national anthems of not one but two countries (Bangladesh and India). Here is Tagore's poem, Nabin ("Youth") written in Bangla script:

Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941)

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