Languages of South Asia at SOAS: Bengali
Bengali is the national language of Bangladesh and the state language of West Bengal in India. At the beginning of the twenty-first century Bengali is, in terms of numbers of speakers, the sixth largest language in the world. It has a vast vocabulary and a great variety in style and register, which makes it equally expressive in everyday conversation, public oration and sublime poetry. It has a rich literature stretching back many centuries and, with the formidable figure of the Nobel Prize winner Tagore as its defining poet, the language has a unique standing among Indian languages.
We offer courses in Bengali language and literature at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, both as part of degree programmes within the Department, and as minor or open options on a wide variety of SOAS degrees. A selection of those programmes, as well as a list of Bengali courses, are listed below.
Contact:
Dr Hanna Thompson (hr@soas.ac.uk)
Degree Programmes
- BA South Asian Studies (4 years)
- BA South Asian Studies and... (4 years)
- Bengali Pathway
- BA South Asian Studies (3 years)
- BA South Asian Studies and... (3 years)
- Certificate in South Asian Studies
- MA Comparative Literature (Africa/Asia)
- MA Languages and Cultures of South Asia
- MA Postcolonial Studies
- MA South Asian Area Studies
- Degree Programmes with Language Options
Degree Course Options
- Advanced Bengali
- Bengali Language 1
- Bengali Language 2
- Modern Bengali Texts
- Directed Readings in a South Asian Literature or Culture (Bengali)
- Bengali Language 1 (postgraduate)
- Bengali Language 2 (postgraduate)
- Directed Readings in the Literature of a Modern South Asian Language (postgraduate)
Language Centre
Other Resources
Suggested reading
- William Radice, Teach yourself Bengali, (Hodder Headline, London, 1994).
- W. L. Smith, Bengali reference grammar (Stockholm Oriental Textbook Series, Stockholm, 1997)
- Hanne-Ruth Thompson, Essential everyday Bengali (Bangla Academy, Dhaka, 1999)
- Hanne-Ruth Thompson, Bengali: A Comprehensive Grammar (Routledge, Oxford 2010)
Please Note: Not all courses and programmes are available every year
