Bengali is a language spoken by many people in Scotland.
Origins
Bengali is the native language for people from Bangladesh, a country situated just East of India and West of Myanmar (formerly Burma).
The vast majority of people from Bangladesh speak Bengali and the language itself is very important. This is because Bangladesh was once called East Pakistan before a major independence struggle led to the country becoming independent.
One of the reasons for this war was because the government of Pakistan were trying to impose their native language, Urdu (the state language of Pakistan).
This led to Bengali nationalism and a nine month war of independence, which ended with Bangladesh being declared a free, independent nation.
Bengali in Scotland
There are just under 2,000 people of Bengali ethnicity living in Scotland. That’s around 0.04% of the population. There are many historic links between Scotland and Bangladesh. This is especially strong because of the production of jute (a strong fibre used to make rope and sacks) which was popular in parts of Bangladesh and also in and around Dundee, leading to many exporting links between the two countries.
Speaking Bengali
Hello - Namaskar
Thank You - Dhannabad
Please - Pleez
Yes - Hain
No - Na
How are you? - Kamon aacho?
My name is… - Aaamar naam…
One - Ek
Two - Dui
Three - Teen
Flirting - Chhawk
Gossiping - Adda
Mate - Mama
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