Designed for learners beginning Bengali or those who wish to brush up their knowledge, this course helps users progress from the basics to understanding, speaking and writing Bengali with confidence. Bengali stands sixth in the world in its number of speakers, has the richest and most developed literature in South Asia and is the national language of Bangladesh and the state language of West Bengal. There are also large Bengali-speaking communities in India, the Middle East, North America and Britain. The book is divided into three main parts. The first part deals with the sounds and script, introducing the sounds and characters step-by-step with exercises to practise with. Part two is concerned with communication - conversation and grammar. The units in this section are based on useful everyday dialogues which are also translated into English. The grammar section explains the structures found in the dialogues and then there are exercises to practise each point. All the dialogues are recorded on the accompanying cassette. Part three is an optional section on literature. Here the reader is introduced to some of the finer points of Bengali grammar and idiom through a series of short texts from West Bengal and Bangladesh.