Achievement & Equality Team
CONFIRM INDIA OR BANGLADESH>
Information on India and the Bengali language
l
Thou art the ruler of the minds of all people
Dispenser of India’s destiny
Thy name rouses the hearts of Punjab, Sind, Gujerat and Maratha
Of the Dravida and Orissa and Bengal
National Anthem of India
INDIA AT A GLANCE
Location - South Asia
Neighbours - Burma, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, China,
Sri Lanka
Size- 1,222,559 sq miles
Population - 1,166,079,217
Density - 953.8 people per sq mile
Average life Expectancy - male-67, female-72
Capital -New Delhi
Currency - Rupee
Time Zone - Indian standard time (+5.5 hours)
Website - parliamentofindia.nic.in
Potted history
Part of the Mughal Empire before colonisation by Britain, India gained independence in 1947, with its western region splitting off to form Pakistan. Its first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, entrenched self-sufficiency and democracy, but poverty remained widespread.
In 1971, India helped create Bangladesh.
In 1984 the Prime Minister and daughter of Nehru, Indira Gandhi, was assassinated, a fate also suffered by her son, Rajiv, in 1991.
India emerged as a major economic power with nuclear weapons a decade later.
Political pressure points
Three issues dominate the political agenda: the crisis in farming; minority insecurity, with a wave of attacks by Hindus on Muslims and Christians threatening stability; and the rights of dalits,former untouchables who have suffered centuries of discrimination.
Population Mix
Indo-Aryan 72%, Dravidian 25%, Mongoloid and others 3%
Religious makeup
Hindu 81%, Muslim 13%, Christian 2%. Sikh 1%
Main Languages
Hindi 41%, Bengali 8.1%, Telugu 5.9 %, Urdu 5%, Gujarati 4.5%, Kannada 3.7%, Malayalam 3.2%, Oriya 3.2%, Punjabi 2.8%, Assamese 1.3%, Maithili 1.2%, other 5.9%
Living Icons
Vikas Swarup (author), Arundhati Roy (author), Sachin Tendulkar (cricketer), Sania Mirza (tennis player)
The Nottinghamshire Context
Most new arrivals from India come to Nottinghamshire for economic reasons. Parents / carers are often involved in the health industry and NHS, working in hospitals and private care homes. Often they are in skilled jobs such as nursing, especially as there have been restrictions for unskilled migrants from outside the EU. Some also come to join family members already established in Nottinghamshire.
Education in India
- Children start school at age five or six.
- The primary stage consists of classes 1 to 4 (1 to 5 in some states).
- The middle stage comprises classes 6 to 8 (5 to 7 in some states).
- The secondary stage consists of classes 9 and 10 (8 to 10 in some states).
- Regional languages are the medium of instruction at the primary stage of education.
- Teaching of English is generally compulsory in classes 6 to 10 in most states.
- While about 90 per cent of children enrol in primary school, many do not attend regularly; at the middle-primary stage (ages 11 to 14), only about half are enrolled, and girls in particular are under-represented.
- At secondary level, only about 20 per cent of eligible students attend school.
- In all states public examinations are held at the end of class 10 and 12 by the respective state boards of secondary and higher secondary education.
- Families who can afford the cost of tuition and uniforms often prefer to send their children to English-medium private schools.
- Indian children and families may continue to arrive in the UK for a variety of reasons including joining family members, working, and applying for political asylum.
- India has over 200 languages and enormous cultural diversity.
- There are 18 other official languages including Marathi, Urdu, Gujarati, Punjabi and Tamil.
- In business, government and universities, or wherever a common tongue is needed, Indians use English.
- People in India often grow up learning several languages.
- Hindus constitute 82 per cent of the population of India.
- Islam is India's second most common religion and is practised by about 11 per cent of the population.
- Around 2 per cent of Indians are Christians.
- Sikhism, founded 500 years ago by Guru Nanak, is practised by 2 per cent of Indians. Sikhs are a majority in the state of Punjab.
- There are also communities of Buddhists, Jains, Parsis, Jews and Bahai’is.
Information about the Bengali Language
Bengali or Bangla is an Indo-Aryanlanguage of the eastern Indian subcontinent, evolved from the Magadhi Prakrit, Pāli and Sanskrit languages.
Bengali is native to the region of eastern South Asia known as Bengal, which comprises present day Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal. With nearly 230 million total speakers, Bengali is one of the most widely spoken languages (ranking 5th or 6th in the world). Bengali is the primary language spoken in Bangladesh and is the second most widely spoken language in India. Along with Assamese, it is geographically the most eastern of the Indo-Iranian languages.
The Bengali script is a variant of the Eastern Nagari script also used for Assamese and Bishnupriya Manipuri. The Eastern Nagari script belongs to the Brahmic family of scripts, along with the Devanagari script and other written systems of the Indian Subcontinent. The modern script was formalized in 1778 when it was first typeset by Charles Wilkins. In addition to differences in how the letters are pronounced in the different languages, there are some minor typographical differences between the version of the script used for Assamese and Bishnupriya Manipuri, and that used for Bengali and other languages.
Sample text in Bengali
Translation
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
English / BengaliHi or Hello / namaskar
welcome / shagatom
how are you? / kemon achho?
thank you / dhonnobad
will see you again / abar dakha habe
no / na
yes / ha
what is your name? / tomar naam ki?
my name is / aaamar naam…
how old are you? / tumar boyosh koto?
I am….. years old / amar boyosh…..
right / dandikey
left / baamdikey
he / shae
she / shae
you / tui / tumi / aapni
it / eta
this / eta
that / ota
a / ekta
come(you come) / aye/aaso/aasun
came / eshae chilaam (i came) ,eshae chilo (he/ they came)
will come / aasbo(i will come)/ aasbe (he, they will come)
open / khul/ kholo/ khulun
opened / khullaam( i opened), khullo (he/they opened)
will open / khulbe
sit / baus/bauso/bosun
walk / chaul/chaulo/cholun
eat / kha/khao/khan
drink / kha/khao/khan
win / jeet
go / ja/jao/jaan
run / douda/duadau/daudaan
I go / aami jaai
he goes / shae jae
what / ki
your / tomar
name / naam
what did you do? / tumi ki koro?
what should I do? / aami ki korbo?
what can I do? / aami ki korte pari?
what are the questions? / prosno gulo ki?
what were the questions? / proshno gulo ki chilo?
what is written in the letter? / chithi te ki lekha aache?
what you had been told? / tomake ki bola geche?
what will be the answer? / uttor ki hote pare?
why did you come? / tumi kano escho?
how did you write? / tumi kamon kore lekho?
which is your favourite colour? / tomar priyo rang ki?
is it a book? / eta ki boi?
is it the answer? / eta ki uttor?
will you come with me? / tumi ki aamar sathe aasbe?
can you give me your pen? / tumi ki tomar kolomta amake dite parbe?
yes, of course. / ha nischoy.
can you write the exam? / tumi ki porikkhay likhte parbe?
did you have your lunch? / tumi ki khaabaar khe niyecho?
how are you? / tumi kamon aacho
I am fine / aami bhalo aachi
teacher / teacher
class / class
school / school
books / boi
pen / kalam
pencil / pencil
lunch time / khabarer somay
read / poro
write / lekho
listen / shono
one / ek
two / dui
three / teen
four / chaar
five / panch
six / choye
seven / shat
eight / aath
nine / nauye
ten / dosh
Useful guidance is available from:
New Arrivals Excellence Programme Guidance
(2007) Ref 00650 – 2007BKT- EN
This resource is for primary and secondary schools and contains guidance on admission and developing classroom practice.
A language in common: assessing English as an additional language
QCA (2000) (QCA/00/584).
This document sets out steps used in assessment of EAL, linked to English National Curriculum levels. It provides guidance and exemplifications.
Aiming High: guidance on supporting the education of asylum seeking and refugee children (DfES 0287 – 2004)
This guidance helps explain the value of an inclusive ethos and curriculum to all pupils.
Aiming High: meeting the needs of newly arrived learners of EAL
(DfES 1381 -2005)
Information on working with newly arrived isolated EAL pupils in settings that have little or no access to EAL support.
Excellence and enjoyment: learning and teaching for bilingual children in the primary years (DfES 0013 – 2006PCK- EN)
Key Stage 3 National Strategy: Access and engagement in English:teaching pupils for whom English is an additional language (DfES 0609 – 2002)
Publications/Catalogues are available from:
MUNDI Tel: 0115 8546418
Mundi
Global Education Centre
Foxhall Lodge
Foxhall Road
Nottingham
NG7 6LH
(under construction/Aug 2010)
Mundi loan resources to schools in Nottinghamshire free for up to half a term
e-mail:
GRANT AND CUTLERTel: (44) 020 7734 2012
55-57 Great Marlborough Street,
London'
England
W1F 7AY
Web:
A one-stop shop for foreign language resources including language-learning material, reference books, technical dictionaries, literature, history, politics etc.
MILET PUBLISHINGTel +44 20 7603 5477
6 North End Parade
London W14 0SJ
England
Web:
Milet publishers a wide range of bilingual picture dictionaries, including board books for use in early years settings.
TRENTHAM BOOKSTel: +44 (0) 1782 745567
Westview House,734 London Road,
Stoke on Trent,
UKST4 5NP Web:
Trentham publishes 'a wide range of titles plus seven professional journals, mainly in the field of education and social policy.
MANTRA LINGUATel: 0044 (0)208 44 55 123
Global House
303 Ballards Lane
London
N12 8NP
UK
Web:
Mantra Lingua creative learning resources Audio CDs, Big Books, e-books, fun tales, folk tales, friezes, games, language learning, packs posters, story props, toys videos and so on.
Classroom Resources are available from:
Interactive video clips showing children teaching their home languages.
The Dingle Granby Toxteth Education Action Zone website; Useful letters for parents translated into Bengali available at:
DLTK's Crafts for Kids features a variety images that can be used for creating pupils own subject-specific dictionaries.
Activities for ESL Students can be adapted for EAL pupils in primary and secondary schools. Has bilingual quizzes in large number of languages, available at
Omniglot writing systems and languages of the world, book store; available at, available at,
EMA Online resource base for teachers has been developed by Birmingham, Leeds and Manchester LAs with funding from the DfES, available at
Racist bullying, Advice designed for schools to dip in and out as appropriate for them and offers discussion topics and activities to stimulate debate and spark activity involving everyone in the school community, available at;
Teachernet states that a successful home–school relationship can be a key element in making a school stronger and more effective. In particular, it can make a real difference to groups of underachieving pupils and their families, available at;
Nottinghamshire Achievement & Equality Team