One of the tricky aspects of Bangla (once you get past the alphabet – one friend says it looks like Klingon) is that they use Subject-Object-Verb construction. I hadn’t really thought about it, but English is Subject-Verb-Object form. Essentially, this means in Bangla you talk like Yoda.
It is surprisingly difficult to think ahead to the end of your sentence to say the object first. My class has discovered that when we do presentations it’s hugely helpful to write out our sentences – in English – before trying to translate them to Bangla. To give you a glimpse into the structure of Bangla, here’s what I jotted down to present to the class today (my comments on an article I presented). Written this way (Yoda style), you can translate word for word into Bangla and it comes out right.
I think that in President Bush’s time the US to Africa much help has given. Especially AIDS for a lot of money has given, and this very important. However, I think that basic problems like hunger, malaria, and clean water also very important because each year many people and children from these problems die. These problems much attention get not. I think that more money basic health care for Africa’s problem’s solutions for more effective will be.
Strange, no?
That’s true. We Bangladeshis, speak in that fashion. You know what, I met many foreigners in Bangladesh who speak Bangla in Subject-Verb-Object form. And you won’t believe, that language is not only strange to us but also funny to u!
I admit Bangla is a tough Language for learning. I always got better grade in English exam than Bangla. And you’ll be amused that the colloquial form of Bangla is little bit different than that of formal one. But whatever the fact, to me it is sweetest of all language.
Wish you good luck for learning Bangla…
Tanim