Preface - Lingua Franca



It is nearly Radinja time again. Having learned our lesson last year the world of organised tours has been shunned and we will be paddling our own canoe*.  We will be deviating slightly from our normal method by spending the first two weeks in Bangladesh before returning to India. There should be the usual mixture of food, trains, bird watching and more food. We hope to meet up with one or two friends and have a few laughs on the way.

Lonely Planet's rather slim Bangladesh volume suggests that not much English is spoken although we have heard contrary opinions. D has picked up a few phrases in Bangla over the years, from a variety of dubious sources, but they are mostly inappropriate for polite conversation. There must be a limit to what can be achieved with "eesh". 





Just to be on the safe side we have invested in a Phrase Book. A previous edition gained a nomination as the most useless item that we have ever taken to India but it has gone AWOL at some point since 2012. Another underused volume that will not be travelling is R's 'Learn Hindi in 4 Weeks'. The map below is probably a bit simplistic but basically we will spend time in areas where the predominant language is Bengali, Odia, Telegu, Tamil and Malayalam. Most of these have different alphabets which are utterly incomprehensible to monoglot Anglophones. 

What the map does not say is that English is widely spoken wherever one travels in India.


* Not literally. Haggling in sign language with local boatmen is one of our favourite bits.   

Comments

  1. chouxdle17 January 2019 at 05:31

    Respected Shri D,
    [not addressed to Respected Shrimati R since she's the polite one & this blog is anything but...]

    Out of the goodnesses of my heart, here's a Bangla bargaining chip which is pan Indian [!] and useful in BD as well.
    ooo-ri baba - [literal meaning: oh father]. multi function phrase.
    Bhery useful at the start of bargaining. Slap forehead, eyes wide open whilst mouthing phrase.
    If expressing pleasure/joy/wonderment - just keep eyes wide.

    We are an expressive, emotive, bhery much dramatic peoples. Hope this helps.
    Kindly practice in front of mirror before commencing journeys.

    P.S.
    eesshhh can take you a loong way too :D You just gotta use your imagination. We're a highly kaalchured lot - or have you forgotten??

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dave W17 January 2019 at 17:57

      Esteemed PP

      Thank you for the linguistic tip. I shall spend my waking hours between now and departure practising in front of the mirror.

      I have forgotten neither the kaalchur nor the samosas.

      Delete
  2. Dr. Priyanka Shanbhag Shroff21 January 2019 at 09:39

    Have a wonderful trip, R & D! Safe travel :)

    ReplyDelete

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