Learn Bengali in London

Bengali Language Courses at LSI Language School in Central London

Bengali or Bangla is an Indo-Aryan language of the eastern Indian subcontinent, evolved from the Magadhi Prakrit, Pali and Sanskrit languages.

Bengali is native to the region of eastern South Asia known as Bengal, which comprises present day Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal.  With nearly 230 million native speakers, Bengali is one of the most widely spoken languages (it is ranked fourth in the world).  Bengali is the main language spoken in Bangladesh; in India it is ranked as the second most spoken language.  Around 98% of the total population of Bangladesh speak Bengali as a native language.  It is the official language of the state of West Bengal and the co-official language of the state of Tripura, Cachar District of southern Assam and the union territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands.  It is also the co-official language of Assam, which has three predominantly Sylheti-speaking districts of southern Assam: Silchar. There are also significant Bengali-speaking communities in immigrant populations in the Middle East, West and Malaysia.

Sylheti is the language of Sylhet, the north-eastern region of Bangladesh, and also spoken in parts of the North-East Indian states of Assam (the Barak valley) and Tripura (the North Tripura district).  It is also spoken by about 10% of Bangladeshi and by a significant population in the other north-eastern states of India and amongst the large expatriate communities in the United Kingdom, United States, Canada, and the Middle East.

Sylheti is often either considered a dialect of Bengali, due to many similarities between both languages, and also often considered as a separate language due to significant differences between them. Given that Sylhet was part of the ancient kingdom of Kamarupa, the language has many common features with Assamese, including the existence of a larger set of fricatives than other East Indic languages.  According to Grierson, "The inflections also differ from those of regular Bengali, and in one or two instances assimilate to those of Assamese".  Indeed it was formerly written in its own script, Sylheti Nagari, similar in style to Kaithi but with differences, though nowadays it is almost invariably written in Bengali script.

Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia.  It is surrounded by India on all sides except for a small border with Myanmar to the far southeast and the Bay of Bengal to the south.  Together with the Indian state of West Bengal, it makes up the ethno-linguistic region of Bengal.  The name Bangladesh means "Country of Bengal"

Bangladesh is a product of the partitioning of British India starting with the 1947 partition which made it the eastern wing of Pakistan.  This pairing based on common religion (Islam) proved geographically awkward, as a distance of some 1,600 kilometres separated the two regions.  Subject to political and linguistic domination as well as economic neglect, Bengalis gained their independence in 1971 with help from India in a civil war marked by Islamabad's brutality.  In spite of its liberation, Bangladesh's development has since been marred by political turmoil, with fourteen different heads of government and at least four military coups.

Bangladesh is among the most highly and densely populated countries in the world.  Most Bangladeshis are rural, living on subsistence farming. Despite recent improvements in health and education, Bangladesh remains among the poorest nations in the world.  The literacy rate in Bangladesh is approximately 41%.

In January 2007, following widespread violence, a caretaker government was appointed to administer the next general election.  The country had suffered from extensive corruption, disorder and political violence. The new caretaker government made it a priority to root out corruption from all levels of government.  To this end, many notable politicians and officials, along with large numbers of lesser officials and party members, were arrested on corruption charges.  

Whether you are learning Bengali for business, leisure or academic purpose, at LSI we will ensure that your Bengali language course at our school in Central London is a successful and enjoyable experience.

• Your current level of Bengali and training requirements will be carefully assessed.
• Our Bengali tutors, who are all highly qualified, have many years of experience teaching Bengali at all levels.
• Your course will be tailor-made to meet your specific training needs, ensuring that it is relevant, practical, effective and fun.
• Our tutors use a wide range of up-to-date teaching materials including a variety of books, authentic documents, audio and video recordings.