Teach Yourself Bengali is the course for anyone who wants to progress quickly 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 modern 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: Part one deals with the sounds and the script. You will be introduced to the sounds and characters step by step, and each unit contains exercises for you to practise what you have learnt. 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 for you to practise each point. All the dialogues are recorded on the accompanying audio, which is available separately or in a pack with the book. Part three is an optional section on literature. Here you will be introduced to some of the finer points of Bengali grammar and idiom through a series of short texts from West Bengal and Bangladesh. A cassette (ISBN 0 340 86031 6) or a double CD (ISBN 0 340 91381 9) are also available to accompany the book and they can be purchased separately or as packs along with the book (cassette pack: 0 340 86030 8; CD pack: 0 340 91380 0).