To do that, Bangladesh must first strengthen its economy, become a world power and treat its minorities with respect. In order for Bangla to become a highly marketable and therefore, salvageable product worthy for preservation for future preservation, Bangladesh must take actions to make it valuable as a world language backed by aspirations of world power. Privilege and power always existed for a reason, it seems.
Looks like nobody ever consulted an atlas ever in their lives. On the other hand, Bangladesh has not been able to become a major economic centre and as such, at times there are awkward moments of people asking me “but is Bangladesh part of Pakistan/India”, so you all speak Hindi, right”?Īh well. As both countries are major economic centres in today’s world, there will be an effort from both local and international locations to preserve both languages, including other derivates if existing and arising from both these two languages. In terms of global relevance, take a look at Hindi and Mandarin, the national languages of those two big giants, India and China. And for us Bangladeshis, a lack of global relevance in respect to the preservation of our national language could well be the real threat.
#Language in bengali pdf
In terms of language, where is the caution? The urgency to retain it for future generations?Īnd not just through downloadable Bengali PDF books - although that would be handy in the soon-to-be extinct printing industry.īut where is the practice? Where is the cultivation?ĭying languages is a very real phenomenon. Except for the “mentally retarded” who like to give away what is theirs to others, the significance and the urgency of relating to cultural practices and norms is what keeps people alive on a regular basis. In Bangladesh, where lawlessness and crime is an aspect of daily life –people tend to be careful in order to survive and retain whatever they have gathered. With political situations as dire as it is around the world, it is worth noting the fact - and the tragedy - my fellowmen do not know who the national poet Nazrul Islam is, but heaven be damned if they do not know who One Direction is (this, especially true for Westernised younger generations who seem to be in so many positions of emerging power and also, gaining identity first and foremost, through Westernisation). On the occasion of the International Mother Language Day on February 21 st, my Bangladeshi and Bengali friends all over the world have to come to terms with the fact that ours is a dying language, in the sense that not only is it not globally known, but with the advent of other languages such as Hindi and the already existing English in our curriculum, Bengalis will have to work harder to ensure next generations know it just as well. The gist of the story: don’t make promises and fail to live up to your standards or you will pay. When the protagonist fails to live up to the promise he made to the Rabindranath Tagore look-alike from whom he acquired the little ghost, he is abandoned by the little jinx. This book recounted the tales of a boy who acquires a genie in a bottle who solves all of his problems, on the condition that he has to believe ghosts exist. My first visit to my first book fair in Dhaka was with my father which ended up in a book purchase of Humayun Ahmed’s “Botol Bhut”, a most interesting tale. Kind of preposterous, but you know….colonisation was for a reason. It may even be OK not to know a foreign language but your own mother tongue!
Another article by Ahmed Zayeef (yes, he is brilliant on this subject) titled “Bangla Skills on The Wane” looked at the number of students who failed to acquire a pass in Bangla to be 55%, and a percentage of 38% gaining a fail in both English and Bangla. As a Bangladeshi of Bengali descent, it is often fun to see how much Bengali has disintegrated into nothingness over the years.Ī recent article by Ahmed Zayeef titled “80% Fail to Get Passing Mark” looked at the rate of students who fail to gain admission to Dhaka University found that 80% of the student force upon applying, could not get admission.