Learning Nepalbhasa

For those who don’t know, ‘Nepalbhasa’ and ‘Nepali Bhasa’ are not the same. Nepalbhasa is the language of the Newar people, a typical ethnic group, most of whom live in the Kathmandu Valley. This is also one of the national languages of Nepal.

On the other hand, Nepali (Bhasa) is the common language used all across Nepal. I have lived in Kathmandu for many years, but as an English teacher, I didn’t get much to learn or talk in the Newar language. When I was teaching at private schools, mostly known as ‘boarding schools’, English was of prime importance and it would be weird if I didn’t communicate in English during school hours.

Later, when I started teaching at colleges, my medium of teaching had to be in English, and during breaks, I communicated with teaching faculty and staff members either in English or in Nepali. Until then, Nepalbhasa was kind of alien to me. However, things changed a bit when I joined the Master of Philosophy (MPhil) at the Central Department of Linguistics, Tribhuvan University.