Tuesday, November 6, 2007

Bangladesh - Language, Culture, Customs and Etiquette

Something about our next friendly neighbour - Bangladesh.

http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/resources/global-etiquette/bangladesh.html

A part of the content extracted from the above link:

in Bangladesh
The official language is Bangla, also known as Bengali. It is the first language of more than 98 percent of the population. It is written in its own script, derived from that of Sanskrit. Many people in Bangladesh also speak English and Urdu.
Bangla vocabulary shows many influences. These include a strong Islamic influence seen in the greetings of "Salaam aleykum" (Peace be unto you) and "Khoda hafez" (God Bless you) and nouns from the Arab world such as "dokan" (shop), "tarikh"(date), "kolom"(pen) and "bonduk" (gun). In West Bengal the Hindu influence is greater with the use of the Hindu greeting "Namashkar".
English has also had an influence on Bangla. During the days of the Raj many words of English origin such as "tebil" (table), "tiffin" (archaic in modern day English meaning snack box) entered Bangla. In more recent time the ever rising global nature of English has lead to words such as "television", "telephone", "video" and "radio" being adopted by Bangla. However, unlike India, there has never been the need for English as a lingua franca and thus Bangla is the state language of Bangladesh.
Bangladeshi Culture & Society
Hierarchy
. Bangladesh is a hierarchical society. . People are respected because of their age and position. . Older people are naturally viewed as wise and are granted respect. . Bangladeshis expect the most senior male, by age or position, to make decisions that are in the best interest of the group. This is also valid in businesses, the majority of which will be family owned/run.



Customs and Etiquette in Bangladesh
Meeting & Greeting

. Greetings usually take place between members of the same sex.. The hand shake is common although they may feel rather limp.. Women will only really be met within business contexts and even so, it is best to wait to see if a hand is extended before doing so.. The traditional greeting for Muslims is Asalamu alaikum to which the response is wa alaikum salam.. Naming conventions are very much based on the hierarchical nature of Bangladeshi society. . Bangladeshis will append a suffix to a person's name to denote respect and the level of closeness between the two people. . In general, age dictates how people are addressed. . If people are of the same age, they use first names. . If the person being addressed is older than the speaker, the person is called by their first name and a suffix that denotes the family relationship.

More:
http://www.mapzones.com/world/asia/bangladesh/cultureindex.php
http://www.worldbiz.com/bizbangladesh.html

Also, something about the Bangladesh Embassy in Washington DC - USA
http://www.bangladoot.org/

Jobs and career in Bangladesh:
http://bd.tiptopjob.com/