Language Project 2023: Heritage Language

Bengali is a Heritage language for me. The last time I had some sort of Bangla education was learning the alphabet from my grandmothers when I was 7-8 years old. This year, I have finally realised that I need to go beyond the alphabet and gain fluency in written Bengali.

Poems come naturally to me, so I am writing them down in Bengali. Then I send it to my grandmother who helps me with any spelling mistakes. Here is some poetry in Bengali, with English translation.

বন্ধুত্ব:

বছর কাটালাম একসঙ্গে  

এখন আলাদা হয় চলতে হবে,

কিন্তু — যখন তুমি ঘুরে দেখবে 

আমাকে প্রতিবার দেখতে পারবে।

Friendship:

We spent years together,  
Now we are on our own;  
Regardless — when you turn around:  
You will find me always.

ফুলের খেলা খেলি:

থেকে যাও তুমি অমর হয়ে,

আবার আসবো তোমায় দেখতে। 

Floral banter:

May you become immortal, 
I will come again to see you.