Jammon Log (Bangla, Spanish, Ancient Greek . . . who knows?)

[MorkTheFiddle]

Some confusion on my part. Is it your voice on the Youtube piece? Very pleasant, at any rate.

[David27]

I’m very impressed with your Bangla progress and perseverance. I have dabbled in Bangla before and bought the colloquial Bengali course and used a bit of an old online introduction to Bengali course (with audio) from the University of Indiana, but I never kept motivation for more than a few weeks at a time. Where I used to live there was a large Bengali community, where I am now less so but I still meet Bengali people through work not too infrequently here in NY, so it’s still on my wish list (time being an issue).

How did you get your start and what was/is your motivation? What beginner resources did you like?

[Yunus39]

Some confusion on my part. Is it your voice on the Youtube piece? Very pleasant, at any rate.

Nope, I'm the one scrolling. I read along in Greek and scroll to keep up with the English audio. One of the steps in the L-R Method.

[Yunus39]

How did you get your start and what was/is your motivation? What beginner resources did you like?

It's a long story, but I lived in a Bangladeshi neighborhood in the USA for over a decade. I got connected to Bangla that way, and tried the COMPLETE BENGALI (Teach Yourself) course, but apart from the alphabet and some basics didn't learn too much. Most of my neighbors were Sylheti, and I tried using the GPA (Growing Participator Approach) to learn some Bangla from them, but it didn't stick.
In Bangladesh I used GPA and went through all five phases (the sixth never ends). I also did 6-9 months at a language school which wasn't the best experience but wasn't too bad either. I've since worked through COMPLETE BENGALI again, and you can see my progress etc. here.

[MorkTheFiddle]

Some confusion on my part. Is it your voice on the Youtube piece? Very pleasant, at any rate.

Nope, I'm the one scrolling. I read along in Greek and scroll to keep up with the English audio. One of the steps in the L-R Method.

A note just to let you know I read your reply.
I get an ajax error when I try to reply.
Plus I'm working right now on a motel's wi-fi.
Keep up the good work.

[Yunus39]

Today I finished reading through Hanne-Ruth Thompson's BEGINNER'S BENGALI (BANGLA). Here is my review:

This is an excellent beginning grammar with audio comparable to Radice's COMPLETE BENGALI with some clear advantages. I read this as an advanced Bangla speaker, so don't have the experience of learning with this book, but found it a worthwhile addition to my own inductive learning.
This is a classroom grammar, which is its biggest disadvantage from my perspective. Classroom grammars are designed to present the material to the students in the space of one or two semesters. This means they usually contain 12 to 25 lessons and are meant to be supplemented by lectures. Grammars designed for self-learning usually contain 30 to 100 lessons and present the material in more bite-sized, step-by-step pieces. The 14 units in this grammar are far too jam-packed for smooth self-learning, especially Unit 1 which presents the whole alphabet, all the sounds, and a fair amount of vocabulary. This is an area where Radice's COMPLETE BENGALI has a clear advantage as it spreads the alphabet, sounds, vocabulary, and learning to write letters over at least eight lessons (if my memory serves).
In most other ways, though this grammar is superior to Radice's. It features clearer and more thorough explanations, more and better dialogues, narratives and examples and covers more material. While Radice does provide more difficult intermediate material, he does not really progress the learner into it, preferring to throw them into the deep end in the final few lessons by presenting literature. Thompson's approach is more graded and by the end the reader is approaching more intermediate material. Realistic reading material for mid-beginner to intermediate students is hard to find, and this book provides a good amount that is well selected for language and culture learning.
While Radice's text often uses what I would refer to as "Kolkata Bangla," Thompson uses almost entirely Bangladeshi Bangla and almost all of it was familiar to me as the way Bangladeshis actually speak (with a few exceptions).
I would definitely recommend this text as a reference, for its audio, dialogue, and narrative examples, and as a companion for those who are learning the language without classroom grammar instruction. I would not recommend it as a text for learning the language on your own, but there are a dearth of Bangla language resources, and there are definitely worse textbooks you could use. If a learner had to use textbooks on their own Radice and Thompson together would be a good combination.

[Quiggle]

Thank you very much for that review! I've started on Complete Bengali by Radice, and like the idea to combine it a bit later with Thompson's book.

[Yunus39]

A GAME OF THRONES has been translated into Bangla, and I found audio of someone reading it aloud online. Unfortunately, the translation they were reading was published in three volumes, so it's really only 1/4-1/3 of the book. I hope they produce audio of the remaining volumes as this was a great read. I am a big fantasy fiction fan, but don't read unfinished series. I made an exception for reading this in Bangla. Some shocking material. Bangladesh is such a religious and modest culture. I have never heard such overtly sexual material in the language before. One of the most fun experiences I have had reading Bangla.

Now onto THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN in Bangla. Not my favorite Potter book. The time-turner drives me nuts. This one has great audio though, multiple speakers per chapter of different ages and accents. I don't know what the total number of readers is but it's impressive.

Also doing a lot in Ancient Greek everyday, but I'll post about that once I finish the current projects.

[Yunus39]

Oh, I forgot. I also started a Bangla Book Club with some friends. We are reading মুয়ারাক্ষি by Humayun Ahmed. We are only reading 7 pages per week though because most of them are busy. I am using that as an opportunity for more intensive reading.

[Yunus39]

I finished ময়ূরাক্ষী (হিমু, #1). Unfortunately, most of my friends bailed on the reading group.

This was not at all what I expected. I had been told that Himu was a traveling monk who solved crimes. Instead, this is a strange character study full of pathos and tragedy and full of interesting ruminations on trauma and spirituality and where they feed into each other with truth and lies.