Post 7: Speaking and Writing

I got caught up on my goal: to have a conversation in Bengali with my dad. It was much harder than I thought it would be; both of us were uncomfortable. I love my dad so much for doing this favour for me! My dad is actually more comfortable in English than Bengali, after decades of living here. I think rather than a fifteen-minute forced conversation once in a while, it is better to have short, daily Bengali interactions. 

Here is our first conversation. The end screen is from some shots I took during a nature walk in Mayapur, West Bengal some years ago:

My next goal for the week was to write a small paragraph in Bengali. I've written it (because I need to practice my Bengali handwriting), typed it, and translated it below. Of course, my dad and Google translate both helped immensely. 😊

English:

A Beautiful Day

Today was a good day. I walked. There was snow. I ate a good breakfast and I ate a good lunch. I like nature. I like being outside. The sky was blue. The snow was white. After a walk, my parents and I had brunch: some tea, fruits, and cookies.

Bengali:

একটা সুন্দর দিন

আজ ভাল দিন ছিল । আমি হেটেছিলাম । তুষার ছিল। আমি একটি ভাল প্রাতঃরাশ খেয়েছি এবং আমি একটি ভাল মধ্যাহ্নভোজ খেয়েছি। আমি প্রকৃতি পছন্দ করি। আমি বাইরে থাকতে পছন্দ করি । আকাশ নীল ছিল । তুষার সাদা ছিল । চলার পরে, আমার বাবা-মা এবং আমি ব্রঞ্চ করেছিলাম, কিছু চা, ফল এবং বিস্কুট। 

Phoenetic Translation:

Ekta Sundor Din

Aj bhalo din chilo. Ami hetechhilum. Tushor chilo. Ami ekti bhalo pratahrasha kheyechhi abong ami ekti bhalo modyahnabhoka kheyechhi. Ami prokriti pochhundo kori. Ami baire thakte pochhundo kori. Akash nil chilo. Tushor shada chilo. Cholar pore, amar mababa abong ami brunch kheyechhilum: kichu cha, phol, abong biskut.

I'll continue working on my website, https://sites.google.com/view/learn-bengali/home, which I have decided I want to be my final product. 

Next week, my goal is to look for another Bengali learning book or resource to start.