Bengali (Bangla) is the official language of the world's most densely populated lands:  Bangladesh (East Bengal) and West Bengal (a state in India). It is an Indo-European language, evolved from Sanskrit. The language of the famous metaphysical poet Rabindranath Tagore, Bengali is a treasure of great literature, theology, philosophy, and culture.

Program Coordinator: Dr. Dwight Stephens, Department of Foreign Languages, NCSU, Office:  Room 222, 1911 Building
Office phone: 919.513-4195,  dstephens@ncsu.edu

North Carolina State University:

Bengali classes at NCSU will begin in Fall of 2004. At that time, Elementary Bengali, 3hrs, will be offered, followed by Elementary II in Spring  Semester.  For more information., contact: Dr. Dwight Stephens, NCSU Dept of Foreign Languages, dstephens@ncsu.edu, 513-4195.

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill:
            Elementary Bengali   BENG  002  cf. http://www.ais.unc.edu/sis/clsched/spg/BENG.html
            Syllabus:    UNCBengali2.html    
            Instructor:  Ms. Nilanjana Dutta     ndutta@email.unc.edu

            Intermediate Bengali  BENG  003   cf. http://www.ais.unc.edu/sis/clsched/spg/BENG.html
            Instructor:  Ms. Nilanjana Dutta     ndutta@email.unc.edu

            UNC Contact: Dr. Miles Fletcher, Chair, Curriculum for Asian Studies, wmfletch@email.unc.edu,  telephone 962-5577.

Duke University

No Bengali classes at Duke this year.  Students at Duke may take the Bengali class at UNC for no charge through the intercampus registration program.

NC Central University

No Bengali classes at NC Central this year. 

Note about registration:  In cases in which a student has some prior experience in the language, prior approval of the
instructor and/or director of the program will be required.
 

TEXT:
Introduction to Bengali, Edward Dimock, Somdev Bhattacharji, and Suhas Chatterjee, University of Chicago.

PERFORMANCE EXPECTATIONS:  This program is designed to produce an ability to speak, read, and write Bengali---in other words, to perform. Performance requires practice, lots of it, so we will insist on several things as requirements:

    1.  Students will come to all classes, excepting emergencies (see below).

    2.  Students will read and study the text, practise the drills and exercises, and listen to the tapes, at home, so that they come
to class ready to practise.   The instructor will not waste time teaching what the student was supposed to have learned at home.
Class time will be spent practising what was learned at home, so prepare at home and come to class ready to practise!

    3.  Some grammatical explanation will be necessary, but do not interrupt a class exercise to discuss grammar, or usage, in
English.  The instructor will always set aside some class time to deal with problems and questions.  Try to keep most of the
classtime in the target language, Bengali.

TAPES:  A tape series to accompany the Dimock text will be available at the language lab on each campus, and students can
listen to the lessons there or bring a blank 60-minute cassette and have the lessons copied onto it, so that they can listen at
home.  We recommend that all students use the tapes at home, even if they do also use them in the lab. The language lab at
NCSU campus is in the Laundry Building, Building number 30 on this map of North Campus.
At UNC-CH, the language lab is located in the basement of Dey Hall:  Language Resource Center.
At Duke, the Language Lab is located at 104 Language Bldg, West Campus, next to Perkins Library.

ATTENDANCE:  Attendance is required. You are allowed three (3) absences before your grade suffers for each additional
absence. Each absence above three will reduce your class participation grade by one grade. Save your absences for
emergencies. Beyond three absences, you will need a written excuse to be accepted at the instructor's discretion (in case of
illness, injury, death or illness in the family, university duties, court attendance, or religious observance.) This policy is based
upon the University Attendance Policy. No late work will be accepted for credit.  There are no make-up exams.  If you need
to miss a class for one of the above-mentioned reasons, contact your instructor before the class meeting.  Upon return to class
after an absence, you are responsible for any homework, written assignments, quizzes, etc., assigned on the day you were
absent.  If you know in advance that you have to be absent, please see your instructor.  Please get the phone number of a
classmate so that you can call him/her in the event that you are unsure of an assignment.

GRADES: Your grade will include +/- and will be computed as follows:
30% Quizzes
20% Written Final Exam
20% Oral Final Exam
30% Attendance, participation, and homework

Notes about these courses and their methodology:

These courses are intensive and demand a high level of responsibility, focus, and dedication on the part of the student.  Foreign
languages are not learned by listening to someone talk about them or even in them, but by participation and hard work.
Students in these courses are expected to devote a minimum of two hours of work at home for every hour in class. Work at
home will include reading and learning the grammar from the textbook, practicing reading and writing, and listening to tapes
and practicing pronunciation.  Class time will be devoted almost entirely to working on structures and creating real conversational platforms--not talking about grammar.  From the first day, nearly all of every class will take place in the target language.  The student is expected to have learned the mechanics of a given lesson, its vocabulary, etc., at home, and to come to class ready to practice.  In fact, this is the only way that any foreign language can be acquired in a classroom setting, and the rewards are as obvious as the consequences of non-preparation and passivity.
 

Questions and problems:  do not hesitate to contact Dr. Dwight Stephens about any issue relating to the courses.
513-4195.
 

Links

http://www.abac-usa.org/bsc/    36th International Bengali Studies Conference