The 5th Bengali Summer School 2025 is jointly organized by the Institute of Asian Studies at Charles University, Prague, the Department of Modern South Asian Languages and Literatures at Heidelberg University, and the Chair of South Asian Studies at the University of Warsaw.
Essential Information:
Course Description
Our summer school offers two parallel courses, the Beginners‘ Course and Advanced Course.
Each course includes:
Both course will be accompanied by a rich program involving: movies and TV shows, music, native speaker interactions, and cooking lessons of Bengali cuisine
Beginners‘ Course
This course develops fundamental Bengali language skills in speaking, reading, listening, and writing. Participants will acquire elementary grammar knowledge, essential vocabulary, and basic conversation abilities. 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 familiarize themselves with reading the script before arrival using either:
Advanced Course
This course enhances existing Bengali proficiency through expanded vocabulary and deeper grammatical understanding. Sessions include targeted grammar exercises, newspaper reading, comprehensive listening activities (films, TV programs, radio broadcasts), poetry analysis, and extensive conversation practice
Location and accommodation
The courses will be held at the Institute of Asian Studies, Faculty of Arts, Charles University, Celetná 20, Prague 1 (Central location in Prague’s Old Town).
If requested, the organisers are able to provide a limited number of simple student dormitory accomodation at the Charles University Hostel Hvězda:
Alternatively, participants are welcome to arrange their own accommodation according to personal preferences and budget.
How to apply
Please contact Dr. Martin Hříbek (martin.hribek@ff.cuni.cz) with your preferred course level (Beginners/Advanced), motivation for learning Bengali, and expectations from the Summer School.
Payment
Deadline: June 30, 2025. The course fee and accommodation fee must be paid by card via the Faculty of Arts online portal. Fill in the yellow fields only.
For invoices, include billing details in the ‚payment note‘ section if different from your name and email address.
Student life in Prague
For information about living in Prague during your studies, visit the Faculty of Arts international student guide and the Study in Prague portal:
For any additional information, feel free to contact Dr. Martin Hříbek (martin.hribek@ff.cuni.cz)