"Bangla and I"

The painting I have made represents how colourful and beautiful Bangla as a language is.

- Sameeha Nawal (V-H)

Bangla is my language and my mother tongue. When I was a toddler my first word was “Ma”, which means mother in Bangla.

When I speak Bangla I feel proud of the people that sacrificed their life for it. When I speak Bangla, my way of speaking feels more natural than when I speak English. Whenever I want to express my feelings, it is easier to do so in Bangla than in English. It makes me sad when I see other kids talking in English to make themselves seem cooler and show that they are ashamed of their mother language in a way. Even though I kind of live in an English speaking environment, I try my best to stick to my roots. I hope I can fluently speak Bangla for the rest of my life.

- Afraz Ali (V-H)

I am very fond of Bangla as a language, but I feel that nowadays, it is not given the importance it deserves. In Bangladesh, several people give English more importance than Bangla. Most educated people speak in English at their homes, their workplaces, practically everywhere! We find Bangla so difficult to speak and understand, read and write; but it should come to us much more naturally and easily, as it is our first language.

Alternatively, we find English to be much easier to communicate in, even though it is our second language. So many people lost their lives for Bangla, but nowadays, we don’t use it enough. It feels as if this language is slowly disappearing from our homes, workplaces, and most importantly, from our hearts. We are so focused on English that we are forgetting our native language, the language that we first spoke, that we first heard.

At present, it seems that all the people who lost their lives to promote this language and to make it our official language did so for nothing. I believe that this is a big problem so I try to speak in Bangla more often, read Bangla books and articles and watch more Bangla movies and videos. I do this so that I don’t forget how to converse and communicate in Bangla, and also to make my special bond with Bangla grow deeper. In fact when I grow up, I want to promote the use Bangla in our day-to-day lives even more, so as to give it the respect it deserves. We must not forget that this is the language that we grew up with, and it is that language that has shaped our identities.

- Soiree Saif (V-R)

I know Bangla like the back of my hand. Whenever I need it, it comes to me.

Bangla is our mother language, and we use it with pride. Some people, like me, find Bangla hard to use when we need it for our studies, but then just use it effortlessly when they're talking to friends and family, without making any mistakes. However, some people study it just as a subject and never use it outside of school. For example, my sister walked in on me writing this, and I told her all about what I was doing in Bangla, without even noticing!

Everyone is unique. We all have our own ways of talking, our own accents, languages, etc. But whenever I speak my mother language, I feel proud, and no one can ever take that from me. I am proud to be a Bangladeshi, and I am proud to speak in Bangla!

- Syed Niam Manzur (V-R)

What is Bangla to you? Doubtless majority will say it’s our mother language, but not everyone means it in the same way. Some people would say it is nothing more just than a fact. Some would announce it with deep affection and pride. Yet sadly enough, some might even be ashamed to claim it as their first language.

Bangla is the first language I have ever heard. It was the language my parents had spoken when they had first seen me. It would doubtlessly be foolish for me to say it was nothing special to me. We use language to express our feelings, and give the people around us a glimpse of our mind. I love English dearly, very simple and great, but it can never be what Bangla is to me. I am willing to admit without hesitation that I feel more comfortable expressing my opinions in Bangla.

I just cannot imagine life without this language. It is like I have a special connection with my loved ones through Bangla. I can barely ever be caught speaking in English with my family. Sometimes, we all forget how special Bangla really is to us. Our ancestors had given their lives just so we could have the liberty to speak this language. So the next time we avoid mentioning that our language is Bangla, or say English is better, or dread Bangla classes, remember what our ancestors would think. Yes, I understand that Bangladesh isn’t as great as the US or the UK, but it is a part of who I am, a part of who we are.

Although it took me a long time to realise this, Bangla can never be replaced in my life. I know English and Arabic, they’re great languages, but I can never feel the same way about them. Ever since I was born with Bengali roots, this language and this country has taken its place in my heart. We should all feel this way, because our mother tongue is something you should never regret.

So this International Mother’s Language Day, let us abandon our hesitation to speak in Bangla and do something to make our ancestors proud, for we should all love this nation just as much as they did.

- Amairah Anila Ahmed (V-H)

When I speak Bangla, I think my words have more emotions in them and are easier to understand. I think I am better at speaking Bangla than writing in it.

I am trying my best to have a better connection with my mother tongue. I am trying to read books and articles in Bangla to have a better understanding of the language. Even though I am not the best at Bangla; I am still grateful for it to be my mother tongue.

- Ridima Ridwan (V-H)

I am writing today to talk about Bangla and my relationship with it. It is my mother tongue, and I am proud to speak such a beautiful language.

Sadly, I am not very good at it. I am trying hard to improve as much as I can so that I can speak this beautiful language in a way that does justice to it.. As my school is an English medium school, and because of the fact that at home I only speak English, my connection to Bangla has grown weak.

Not speaking Bangla enough is a mistake I made when I was younger, and now I am trying to do all I can to fix it. Even though people gave their lives for me to be able to speak this beautiful language, I am drifting away from it. This is sad. I should not feel so distanced from the language I was born to speak. I will try my hardest to strengthen my connection with this language.

It is hard for me to speak Bangla at home, as my father can only speak English. So even if I were to communicate in Bangla at other times, I would have to switch back to English to speak with him. I am afraid that many other of my classmates also feel strongly dissociated from this language, but I will try to make sure that this language is not forgotten simply because we are too lazy to learn it. I will not let the sacrifice of those who died to give me the freedom to speak this language be in vain.

- Meera Hossain-Judd (V-S)

Tears flow down my face

when I hear the story of 1952.

The lives of my brothers lost,

but not forgotten.

As a result of their pain,

the future generations

can speak their "Matribhasha".

Long before I had heard this story,

I had thought that learning Bangla

would be difficult.

I had thought that I was better off

learning English.

Now I see how foolish I was,

and how lucky I am

that I can speak Bangla freely.

I hope that the future generations

will not forget this lesson,

as the blood of our brothers are etched

on this beautiful language

called, "Bangla".

- Faraz Mashroor (V-H)

Today, I learned the true meaning of the words "mother language". I learned that no matter who you are or where you are from, you should never, ever forget how to speak your mother language. In all honesty, you should not disrespect anyone’s mother language, not just your own.

I had never had such strong feelings about any language, let alone Bangla- my mother language, and I had always felt sad when I had been given Bangla assignments in school. Overall, I had not had the most enthusiastic attitude towards learning or speaking Bangla, but nevertheless, I have now found the true meaning of the words “mother language”.

As a wise individual once said, “forgetting your mother language is like losing your connection with your family members”. From the moment I came to know of that, I realised that I should never lose touch with my mother language, Bangla.

- Shaiyan Hasib Chowdhury (V-H)

Bangla is my first and native language. It is how I express my emotions, thoughts and my feelings. I use Bangla to interact with my family and relatives. Sometimes, I use Bangla to talk to with my friends too. Bangla is my mother tongue, however, I do not use the language as much as I am supposed to- as a Bangladeshi.

There were many wars fought in history, but no one has ever laid down their lives for a language, other than the martyrs of our country from the 1952 Bangla Language Movement. Bangladesh is the only country that has fought for its language. Bangla has a lot of history behind it so we must have a lot of respect for it. My predecessors sacrificed their lives for this language, Bangla. I can strengthen my relationship with Bangla by reading news articles, Bangla story books and poems, and watching Bangla dramas. We need to learn Bangla better, otherwise we cannot lead Bangladesh in the future and develop it. I have to be very proud of my language and maybe one day this pride may come through in novels, plays, poems, etc.

Nowadays, the importance of one's first language is being lost because of secondary languages. Sometimes, I speak English more than I speak Bangla which is not right. We must love our native language and it a lot of respect.

- Yazdan Yasir Mahmood (V-S)