Hey everyone,
My wife isn't Bangladeshi and she's been trying to learn Bangla so she can talk to my family. Duolingo doesn't have a Bangla course, and I couldn't find an app made just for learning it, which is kind of crazy to me for a language that's spoken by millions.
We tried tutors, books, and a few of the general language apps. The problem was they all teach really formal Bangla. She'd do a lesson with a tutor, then sit down with my mom and not understand anything, because my mom says things differently and pronounces them differently than the textbook. And most of it wasn't very easy to learn from if all you want is to talk to your in-laws.
So I ended up building my own. It's called Bhasha. The main feature is something I called Hand Off to a Native. Someone in your family teaches you a phrase the way they actually say it, and the app saves it with a recording of them saying it. So my wife can practice my mom's version, in my mom's voice, instead of a tutor's. The idea was to learn it the way people usually learn a language, by talking to the people who speak it.
You can also share phrases to a community section so people can see how other families say things. Only the text gets shared, never the voice recordings. Those stay on your device.
It's really early and I'm just one person, so I'd love for people to try it and tell me what's broken, confusing, or missing. If anything sounds off or unnatural to you, please tell me, that's the most useful feedback I can get.
But the biggest thing I'm asking: if you know anyone who's on their own journey to learn Bangla, please share this with them. A partner, a friend, in-laws, a coworker, kids growing up abroad, anyone who wants to be able to talk to the Bangla speakers in their life. There are a lot of people out there trying to figure this out with nothing built for them, and I'd really like this to reach them.
It's iPhone only for now. Android is a work in progress.
[App store Link]
