The Faculty of Asian and African Cultures, University of Warsaw in collaboration with Heidelberg University and Charles University, Prague, invites you to the 6th Bengali Summer School.

Essential Information:

Dates: July 27 – August 7, 2026

Venue: downtown Warsaw; one of the two buildings of the Faculty of Asian and African Cultures, the exact location will be announced in May

Courses: Beginners’ and Advanced levels

Course fee: €290

Registration deadline: June 15, 2026

Inauguration is on July 27 at 09:30 AM

The course ends on August 7 at 2:00 PM

Course Description

Our Summer School offers two parallel courses, a Beginners’ Course and an Advanced Course, with native speakers among the teachers.

Each course includes:

• 60 teaching hours per course (30 classes of 1,5h each)
• Monday-Friday: 9:30 AM – 3:30 PM (3 classes daily)
• Saturday: 9:30 AM – 1:00 PM (2 classes)

Beginners’ Course

This course develops fundamental Bengali language skills in speaking, reading, listening, and writing. Participants will acquire elementary grammatical knowledge, essential vocabulary, and basic conversational skills. Daily activities focus on pronunciation practice and practical language exercises.

Important note: Since the Bengali script will not be formally taught during the course, participants are asked to familiarise themselves with reading the script before arrival using either:

• “Bengali: A Comprehensive Grammar” by Hanne Ruth Thompson (Routledge, London, 2010)
• “Bengali Reference Grammar” by W.L. Smith (Stockholm University, 1997)
• „Gramatyka języka bengalskiego” by E. Walter (Wydawnictwo Dialog, Warszawa, 2008)

Advanced Course

This course builds on existing Bengali skills by expanding vocabulary and deepening grammatical understanding. Sessions include focused grammar exercises, newspaper reading, comprehensive listening activities (films, TV programmes, radio broadcasts), poetry analysis, and extensive conversation practice.

Accommodation

If requested, the organisers will be able to arrange (at an extra cost) a limited number of simple student rooms at a hostel of the University of Warsaw . More details will follow soon.

Unfortunately, the organisers are unable to provide or assist with travel services such as visa services, airport pickup, etc.

How to apply

Please contact Dr Weronika Rokicka (w.rokicka@uw.edu.pl)stating your preferred course level (Beginners’/Advanced), motivation for learning Bengali, and expectations from the Summer School.

Payment deadline: June 15, 2026 (payment details will follow soon)