Bengali
Essays
Wikipedia Bengali
- Lots of info on the history, writing system, dialects, phonology, grammar, vocab etc.
A brief introduction to Bengali by Anup Mukherjee, 2003
- Discusses Bengali history and the script.
Bangla - The official language of Bangladesh
- Article on the history of Bengali, Bangali literature, learning materials, the alphabet and grammar.
UCLA Bengali profile
- Article with diagram on the history, script, grammar, dialects and role in society of Bengali.
Omniglot Bengali
- Gives some information on the script with a nice chart of all the letters and links.
Transparent Bengali
- Short overview on the language, vocab, alphabet and grammar.
Languages of the World Bengali
- Very concise page on the language, dialects, phonology, grammar, vocabulary, writing & resources.
Virtual Bangladesh: Bengali
- A short introduction to the language, the evolution of Bengali and Bengali script.
South Asia StudiesBROKEN LINK
- Short article on the Bengali language, culture and current status.
Courses
Introduction to Bengali Part 1 (+audio) by Edward C. Dimmock
- Thorough textbook used in universities that looks very useful. Dialogs and vocab for book available here. Dakha and Kolkota dialect audio can be found linked here.
Peace Corps Bengali (+audio)
- A 16 lesson course with audio that introduces vocabulary and dialogues. No exercises, but the pronunciation section looks very useful.
Intermediate Bangla by Clinton B. Seely, 1985
- 19 lessons on Bengali grammar forms and constructions, with information about life in Bangladesh.
Jaspell
- Several online courses, accompanying exercises, dictionaries, alphabet chart with audio etc. Uses romanization.
Bengali Familiarization Course by I Corps Foreign Language Training Centre, 2007
- Teaches functional Bengali for everyday situations, with dialogues, exercises, pictures, limited grammar notes etc. Unfortunately no audio.
Bengaliska magasinet
- Textbook in simplified script for children to learn Bengali. Click on 'open the book' to view.
Bharatiya Basha Jyoti
- Online textbook to learn Bengali through Hindi. Unfortunately no audio.
Websites
Bangla instructional materials
- University website with links to textbooks, e-books and dictionaries.
Bengali grammar
- Notes written by a student of Bengali.
Virtual Bangladesh
- 5 basic grammar based lessons, a collection of useful phrases with audio and an English-Bengali dictionary. Uses transliteration.
Byki Before you know it Lite
- Trial flashcard program with free Bengali word lists.
DLI Field Support
- Bengali phrasebooks with audio are offered by the Defense Language Institute. Can be downloaded or viewed online.
Transparent Quizzes & Games
- A few quizzes and games on vocab and grammar.
CRE Language learning - for aid workers
- A downloadable word document with basic Bengali words & phrases and basic grammar.
A Bilingual Dictionary of Words and Phrases
- Large collection of vocabulary/phrases arranged by topic, with full audio and pictures where suitable. A really nice resource.
GoBangla
- Flash presentations explaining grammar tenses & vocabulary, vocabulary lists, reviews of learning resources and more.
My Languages - Learn Bengali
- Short grammar explanations and many vocabulary lists. Uses script & romanization.
Hubpages - Learning the Bengali Language
- A collection of links and reviews of Bengali language learning materials.
Talkingbees
- Several videos teaching the Bengali script and numbers.
Script
UK India Bengali
- 5 lessons gradually teaching the Bengali script and how to read, write & form words with it.
Learn to Read Bengali
- 8 lessons teaching the Bengali alphabet, with reading & writing practice & guides on spelling, pronunciation & conjunct characters.
Bangla alphabet by Vidya Sagar
- A short document on the Bengali script and conjunt characters.
Bangali Net
- Diagrams of the alphabet and how to write each character.
EMAS Bengali ScriptDEAD LINK
- A chart of the Bengali alphabet with audio.
Scripts of all of Asia & Brahmi Scripts
- Comparative charts of Asian & Brahmi descended scripts.
E-books
Bengali language handbook by Punya Sloka Ray and others
-Information on grammar, sounds, writing etc.
Bengali Vaisnava Lyrics by Edward C. Dimock, Jr. & Roushan Jahan
- Prose reader for advanced students of Bengali.
Bengali prose reader by Edward C. Dimock, Jr. & Somdev Bhattacharji with Ronald Inden, Arati John, & Clinton B. Seely
- A reader for more advanced students.
Introduction to Bengali Part 2 by Somdev Bhattacharji
- A reader to accompany part 1.
A Reference Grammar of Bengali by P. S. Ray & others, 1966
- Chapters on the history of Bengali, orthography, phonology, verbs, numbers, literary & colloquial Bengali, dialects etc.
Podcasts
Teaching Bangla
- 1 lesson teaching basic phrases made by grade 6 students in Dhaka.
Forums
Bengali forumsDEAD LINK
- Forum for Bangladeshi community. Wide variety of topics.
Unilang South Asian Languages
- Small but active forum with several useful threads and active learners of Bengali.
Phrasebase Bengali, Archive
- Small forum with a few posts on learning Bengali.
Blogs
UM Bangla
- Blog for university students of Bengali, lots of videos, songs, poetry, reading & listening exercises, student journals etc. Great site.
A Tangle of Wires
- Interesting blog about learning Bengali, Bollywood films, literature and Bengali resources.
All About Bengali
- New blog by a Bengali learner with lessons, posts on culture, videos and more.
My Bangla Diary
- New blog about the author's progress in learning Bengali, musings on vocabulary, resource lists, videos and more.
Authentic Materials
Poetry & Prose Audio
- Excerpts from poetry & prose read aloud by native speakers.
Bengali Authors
- Biographies of prominent Bengali authors and readings by the authors.
LangMedia: Bangla in Bangladesh
- Videos of authentic language in everyday situations, with notes on each video.
BBC Asian network
- Several radio programs in Bengali covering current affairs, music, entertainment etc.
BBC Bangla, Deutsche Welle, NHK, VOA
- News, radio, podcasts and video (on VOA) in Bengali.
SBS Radio
- Radio and podcasts about culture, news, science, entertainment; lots of interesting material.
Bengali Guru
- Lots of Bengali movies, dramas, natok, music videos, tv etc available to watch online. No subtitles.
Scent of Sunlight by Jibanananda Das
- Bilingual collection of poetry in Bengali, including intro & notes.
Bangla Public Domain Literature
- Archive of literature & poetry in Bengali, including works by Rabindranath Tagore.
Global Voices
- Collection of blog posts and video in Bengali.
Santiniketan Podcast
- Long running podcast in Bengali with intelligent discussions, book and poetry readings, songs and interviews.
Bangla Readings
- Podcast with readings from short stories, novels, poetry and essays in Bengali.
Bangla Golpo-Bengali Stories
- Podcast of classic Bengali stories read aloud.
উইকিপিডিয়া
- Bengali wikipedia with more than 22,000 articles.
Technical
Digital Dictionaries of South Asia
- Several online searchable dictionaries.
Anukriti Bengali
- A pictorial dictionary of Bengali, uses Bengali script. Useful for picking up common words.
How to View Bengali (Bangla) Unicode Fonts
- Useful summary of different fonts for viewing Bengali.
Bengali script resources
- Freeware file with instructions on how to type in Bengali using it.
Ekushey
- Loads of downloadable programs for typing in Bengali, unicode fonts, language packs for Firefox, word programs, Mac computers etc.
Lipikaar
- A Firefox & Windows download for typing in Bengali. Simple & easy to use.
Quillpad
- Online tool for typing phonetically in Bengali.
UniNagari: The simple, no-frills Indic typewriter
- Online tool for typing in Bengali using the online keyboard layout.
Commercial
Teach Yourself Bengali by W. Radice, 2008
- Well-reviewed book that teaches the language in-depth, with a focus on literature. The chapters introducing the script at the beginning are brilliant.
Colloquial Bengali by M. B. Nasrin & W. A. M. van der Wurff, 2008
- Similar style to Teach Yourself, a textbook and audio. Also well-reviewed. Focuses more on conversation.
Bengali phrasebook by Bimal Maity
- Available to view online only.