Now expatriates can learn Bengali online

Partha Mukhapaddya BDNEWS Writer Kolkata, Aug 27 (BDNEWS) - Non-resident Bengalis who bemoan the lack of proficiency in their mother tongue among their children can now take heart. Learning Bengali goes online from next April. The Visva-Bharati University will introduce online Bengali lessons, particularly for the children of non-resident Indians (NRIs) who hardly speak their mother tongue in foreign lands. The university - set up Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore, in 1921 - is engaging a US-based firm to put together the course that has been divided into three modules. Vice Chancellor Sujit Kumar Basu said the course has been so framed that it would cater to a beginner as well as anyone wishing to take it further and pursue higher studies in one of the world's most widely spoken languages. The university hasn't yet decided on the fees for the different modules but said it would be "reasonable". BDNEWS/1630 hrs