This episode is also available in Bangla. You can find it in our podcast feed. 

यो शृंखलाको नेपाली संस्करण  हाम्रो पडकास्टको फिडमा उपलब्ध छ।

In this episode, we hear the stories of two New Yorkers from Bangladesh who have devoted much of their life’s work to preserving and nourishing the Bangla language among the Bengali community in Queens.

The first story is about Naznin Seamon, a poet and teacher. In addition to writing poetry in Bangla and English, Naznin is a proud Bangladeshi and teaches her students not only about the Bangla language but also about the history, traditions, and culture.

In the second segment, we’ll hear from Hasan Ferdous, a journalist and retired UN official, who tells us about the origins of the boimela, or Bengali book fair, in Queens, and what the Bangla language has meant to his own life. 

If you’re listening with others and want to discuss, here are some guiding questions: 

1. How do you integrate different languages into your daily life?


2. How do you think we can create a city or society that is more friendly to English language learners?


3. What does the Shahid Minar represent, and why is it so important?


4. Recall a time when language has confused you. How did you feel? In what ways was it similar/different to the way Naznin describes feeling when she heard the word "lemme?"

Resources mentioned in the episode can be found below:

• NYC boimela

This episode was produced by Trisha Mukherjee in conjunction with Melody Cao, Anna Williams, and Natalie Milbrodt. It was hosted by J. Faye Yuan.

Mixing and editing by Cory Choy with music composed by Elias Ravin. 

Voiceover work by Naznin Seamon, Saud Choudhury, and Mita Ganguly.

Special thanks to Dwijen Bhattacharjya.

This podcast has been made possible in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities: Democracy demands wisdom. The views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this episode are those of its creators and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of National Endowment for the Humanities, Queens Public Library, the City University of New York, or their employees.