Bangladesh 3

Listen to Bangladesh 3, a 23-year-old woman from Chittagong, Bangladesh. Click or tap the triangle-shaped play button to hear the subject. 

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BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION

AGE: 23

DATE OF BIRTH (DD/MM/YYYY): 23/01/1995

PLACE OF BIRTH: Chittagong, Bangladesh

GENDER: female

ETHNICITY: Asian

OCCUPATION: college student

EDUCATION: senior in college

AREAS OF RESIDENCE OUTSIDE REPRESENTATIVE REGION FOR LONGER THAN SIX MONTHS:

The speaker has lived in the United States for five years: one year in New York City followed by four years in East Lansing, Michigan.

OTHER INFLUENCES ON SPEECH:

The speaker’s first language is Bengali.

The text used in our recordings of scripted speech can be found by clicking here.

RECORDED BY: Janette Angelini (under supervision of Deric McNish)

DATE OF RECORDING (DD/MM/YYYY): 29/05/2018

PHONETIC TRANSCRIPTION OF SCRIPTED SPEECH: N/A

TRANSCRIBED BY: N/A

DATE OF TRANSCRIPTION (DD/MM/YYYY): N/A

ORTHOGRAPHIC TRANSCRIPTION OF UNSCRIPTED SPEECH:

I think, uh, Bangladesh is, like, the — my most favorite part is, like, it’s not as, as individualistic as I see in America. Like, I grew up in a huge family [background chatter], and everyone was very close to each other, and I had the same friend group while growing up; I practically grew with them. So, it was just a very close-tied bond with everyone, and it’s, it’s very lively; like, um, I think what I like is that, like, there’s not a lot of formal relationship in Bangladesh; like, if you are my friend, you can just knock at my door and come in my house and eat and share my bed at any time you want. It’s practically like that. So, yeah, everyone is family, everyone. ..

I have only been back once; last winter I went back. Um, so, after, like, four years and a couple months, I went back, but it was great. … New York is — I don’t think New York is the right place for me; it’s just super chaotic for me, and I had to work. So, I was working full time, so it’s just the subway, the bus, the people; like, New York has a huge Bengali community — Bangladeshi community … so it was, like, a good transition for me, but, like I said, I really didn’t like it that much. …

So, when I came to Michigan, like, for campus visit for MSU, I just, like, instantly liked it because it felt more relaxed and more calm and then, I, I did visit a couple other cities in Michigan, and it just, like, I don’t know. I just feel more comfortable here than in big cities like New York or Chicago.

[Interviewer: Are you a dancer?]

Oh, um, [laughter] I am not a dancer; like, I, I didn’t have any, uh, formal training or anything, but I just really love dancing, so, even when I was a kid I would just like watch dance videos and practice in front of the mirror and, so, we just, like, trying to showcase off our cultures; and so I thought that, like, OK, it would be, like, it would be fun to show that, like, our folk dance. …

[Do you like performing?]

I do, sometimes in improv class it just, kind of, um — I think sometimes it’s hard for me to relate ‘cause some things, I guess, just too American for me or, like, like, I don’t know how I should react to that.

[Subject speaks Bengali]: আমার আসেল অেনক উৎসব-ই ভােলা লােগ। ঈদ 4তা অবশ7ই খব আনে:র একটা উৎসব। ঈদল িফতর, ঈদল আযহা, শীেতর ছD, EীেFর ছD সবই আসেল আনে:র। িকG আমার মেন হয় আমার সবেচ পছে:র হেK পেহলা Lবশাখ। পেহলা Lবশাখ আসেল বাঙািল নববষO। 4তা সবাই খব 4সেজQেজ থােক, অেনক খাবার থােক, অেনক গানবাজনা হয়, 4মলা হয় – সব িমিলেয় খব উSােসর একটা ব7াপার হয়। ঈদ খব পছে:র একটা ছD। বািড় যাওয়া হয়। পিরবােরর সবার সােথ 4দখা হয়। িকG যিদও ঈেদ িহ:রাও পুেরা ছD পায়, িকG তব এটা অেনকটা ধমীয় উৎসব। িকG নববষO খবই সবOজনীন একটা িদন। সুতরাং এটা আমার খব িYয়।

[English translation: I actually like all of the holidays. There’s Eid, which is an absolute favorite. I love Eid-Ul-Fitr, Eid-Ul- Adha, summer break, winter break — all the holidays. But I think my most favorite is Pohela Boishakh, which is basically the first day of Boishakh, or the first day of Bengali New Year. So everyone is in a really good mood; we wear nice traditional clothes, tons of food, tons of songs, and poems and dances; there’s carnivals and fairs. It’s just festive everywhere. Now Bangladesh is a Muslim-majority country, so obviously Eid is a huge thing. We go back to home, all the family members reunite together — special food and everything — and people of every religion gets this big break, kind of like Christmas. But it’s still mostly religious, where the Bengali New Year is very universal. Anyone can celebrate it. So I think in that sense, it’s my most favorite one.]

TRANSCRIBED BY: Janette Angelini and Jason Dernay (under supervision of Deric McNish); Bengalis translation and transcription by speaker

DATE OF TRANSCRIPTION (DD/MM/YYYY): 31/03/2018

PHONETIC TRANSCRIPTION OF UNSCRIPTED SPEECH: N/A

TRANSCRIBED BY: N/A

DATE OF TRANSCRIPTION (DD/MM/YYYY): N/A

SCHOLARLY COMMENTARY: N/A

COMMENTARY BY: N/A

DATE OF COMMENTARY (DD/MM/YYYY): N/A

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