Bungled Bangla

Do you need a lesson in humility? One way to go about this is to attempt to learn a language and culture whilst immersed in the culture. This has really opened my eyes to what it must be like to be illiterate in my own culture. I have certainly felt very humbled. But as we wrap up our three months of formal language and cultural study, I’d like to share some of our lighter moments of not quite clearing the hurdle that is the English/Bangla barrier.


Most of these include Our Friend The ChaWallah (tea seller), herein called OFTCW.

*My friend told OFTCW that she was a mosquito.

*Another friend tried to ask OFTCW how many languages he knew. Instead he asked how much rent he paid.

*My beloved husband told OFTCW that he was going to marry my brother.

*I told some waiters at a restaurant after I had finished using the bathroom that I had no questions. (Although around SE Asia it wouldn’t have been unusual to have questions after using the bathroom.)

*I also told our language teacher that when our children wake during the night, we feed them chicken and salad sandwiches on Naan bread. With hand gestures to demonstrate how large the sandwich was. She was struck by the cultural difference. Bengalis give their children a glass of milk.

We are in good company. The founder of our organisation, when he moved into his first slum many years ago, wanted to ask where all the water pumps were. Instead he asked his extremely poor community where all the movie stars were. You gotta start somewhere.