Bengali/Sylheti
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Why study Sylheti / Bengali / Bangla?
The majority of migrants in Tower Hamlets are Sylheti speakers, many of whom arrive with very little English. If you want to communicate with them, learning Sylheti can make a real difference. There is also a thriving Sylheti culture in East London, including restaurants, festivals, and film. If you want to participate more fully in the richness of this culture, it is helpful to have some knowledge of the language. So, whether you are learning for professional, community, or cultural reasons, this course is for you.
Learning a new language is like opening a new window onto your life. If you are interested in Bengali or Sylheti for community work or simply for socialising, join us online on Zoom first and later in person at House of Annetta to learn in a fun and supportive environment. Our tutor, Shamim Azad, is a native Bengali/Sylheti speaker, an experienced teacher, and a bilingual poet and storyteller.
Shamim Azad is a poet, a storyteller and a teacher. Born in Bangladesh, she came to the UK in 1990 to teach in the British primary schools. After her voluntary retirement from teaching at schools she completed few courses to become a freelance teacher for creative writing, storytelling and teaching Bengali as a foreign language at all levels.
She was one of the consultants for the project “British Empire, Migration and Belonging’ for Secondary Schools in the UK. Azad has published and compiledbooks in English and Bengali.