10 Reasons Why Learning Bangla is Not Easy for NRB Children
Being outside of Bangladesh while you want your kids to learn Bangla, can be tough! But when we know the reason behind it, that makes it quite easy for us to handle. Your kid doesn’t have the same environment as you when you learned Bangla in your childhood. That’s why they face more problems while learning it. So, below we tried to minimize 10 reasons that make learning Bangla tiring to your children.
1. They Don't Know Why They Are Learning It
When we learn Bangla in Bangladesh, we have a reason! We learn it because everyone around us talks in Bangla. We need it for communication. But for your kids, they don’t use Bangla outside the home, so that makes them less interested in Bangla. They want to know the reason why they are learning. If you want to encourage them to learn Bangla then use Bangla more in your house. So, actually, they can use it.
2. They didn't use it until a certain age
Sometimes parents don’t teach Bangla to their NRB kids until a certain age. They think it will be hard to earn 2 languages at a time( for example English and Bangla) But in reality, after a certain age the Bangla language become “something they need to learn ” to themselves. It’s no longer their mother tongue. So, it’s best to start teaching Bangla as soon as possible. Actually, you don’t need to “teach them” if you introduce them to Bangla at an early age. Children’s minds are awesome at learning, so don’t be afraid that they might mix up both languages. Even here in Bangladesh, many of us need to learn the dialects and standard Bangla. Sometimes, those can sound like totally different languages (Sylhet/ Chattogram) but we still learned both of them and sometimes with a 2nd language (English). So, don’t be afraid if your kid starts to learn two languages together!!
3. You don't give them enough time!!
Yes, it’s one of the reasons. But I am not talking about having enough time to talk with them in Bangla or playing with them. I am talking about giving them enough time when we decide to teach Bangla after they reach the age of 5 or 6. Remember when you start talking, how many years do you need to express yourself properly?? At least 4 years?? But that time you were in Bangladesh, always connected with Bangla in every way. Still, you needed at least 2/3 years to learn it properly. Then how your children who live outside of Bangladesh can learn this in six months? That’s why even if your children are nearly reaching teen, you need to give them proper time to learn it.
4. Lots of Letters!!
Bangla language has too many letters compared to English. It’s nearly double of the English alphabet. That’s what makes them afraid of Bangla. Also, there are too many consonants. As they learn a lot of new letters at once so they forget easily.
5. Similar pronunciation of letters
There are lots of letters that have similar pronunciation like ” দ,ধ,ভ,ব,ড,ঢ “.As Bengali, we can separate them easily but for your kids, it’s not so easy. They can’t understand from where they need to pronounce it. Because English language doesn’t have a similar way of pronunciation.
But if you are living near France Spain or Italy then your kid might have some advantage on it.
6. The most problematic one, "use of three স/শ/ষ" !!!
There are lots of letters that have similar pronunciation like ” দ,ধ,ভ,ব,ড,ঢ “.As Bengali, we can separate them easily but for your kids, it’s not so easy. They can’t understand from where they need to pronounce it. Because English language doesn’t have a similar way of pronunciation.
But if you are living near France Spain or Italy then your kid might have some advantage on it.
7. Lack of Communication
Many parents who live outside Bangladesh are successful in teaching their kids Bangla. But maybe you are still struggling with it and wondering how they did it, right?? I can’t say all of the reasons for their successes but there is one!! It’s communication. I mean communication with Bangladesh, like talking with their grandparents or cousin over the phone. Normally, they care for grandparents or cousins a lot. Sometimes people who communicate with them from Bangladesh don’t understand English well or don’t talk in English much. That time they actually try to talk in Bangla which forces them to speak the language.
8. Getting Confused Between Standard and Dialect Language
Sometimes parents use dialect language at home but start to teach their child standard Bangla at home. It’s fine for kids from Bangladesh as we always use both ways a lot but for kids outside of Bangladesh, it’s too difficult!! Because it feels like two different languages to them. For this reason, trying to teach one well first or use one at home and teach them well will be the best idea.
9.Use of kar or fola
In English, they don’t have any short forms of letters, but in Bangla we do. Those short forms can be difficult for kids. Because sometimes they can’t understand whether to write short-form (kar/fola) or actual form or they get confused between / ু / ো which has a similar pronunciation.
10. The Structure of the Bangla Language
The basic sentence pattern in English is subject +verb + object (SVO), whereas in Bengali it is- subject+ object + verb (SOV). It’s actually normal for a kid to forget the structure they are not used to it.
Those are the main reasons why NRB kid finds Bangla difficult but it doesn’t mean they can’t learn Bangla. If we can make them interested in Bangla then they will easily improve learning. For increasing their interest we can make them listen to Bangla songs/ poems from an early age, we can use Bangla as a secret language at home which will increase their curiosity for Bangla. Give them more time to earn and teach them slowly, never laugh at them when they use the wrong bangle sentence structure, it will encourage you to learn Bangla. Because in reality, Bangla is not a hard language to learn, but it’s the sweetest one!! Just give your kid enough time to learn and they will really enjoy speaking it.