Bhutan - Language of the country

Two most spoken languages of Bhutan are Dzongkha and Nepali. Dzongkha, which is the national language of Bhutan, is spoken in most parts of Bhutan, while Nepal is mainly used by the people of southern region, for most of them have their roots Nepal. However, as there are different valleys in Bhutan that are isolated from each other by torrential rivers and deep gorges, many of these valleys developed their own dialect. Some examples of these dialects and or languages spoken are Assamese, Limbu, Santali, Sherpa, Assamese, Gurung, Western Gurung and Eastern Magar.

The national language ( Dzongkhan), which is spoken by about 130,000 people in Bhutan, is a Sino-Tibetan language which is quite closely related to Tibetan and distantly related to Chinese. To give an example of how the Dzongkhan looks like in writing, the diagram below showcases consonants that are used to write most of the common words in Dzongkha :

In addition to the writing, I feel that to gain further insight into Bhutan’s culture, it is important to learn some of the simple sentences in their national language and the way to pronounce it. Hence, listed below are sentences spoken in Dzongkha which I feel are important when travelling to Bhutan :

1) Hello (or greetings). Kuzu Zangpo.

2) How are you? Ga de bay ye?

3) Where is the toilet? Chhabsang ga ti mo?

4) How much is the cost of this item? Di gi gong ga dem chi mo?

However, as globalization continues to spread rapidly around the world, the use of the English language is now more important than ever. According to research, more than 20% of the world’s population speak the English language. Hence, in order to cope with globalization, more emphasis is being place on the English language in Bhutan as well. In Bhutan, most people that are related to the tourism industry can understand and speak English. In schools too, English is used to teach subjects such as mathematics, science and geography. Because of this, I am of the opinion that English has taken precedence over Dzongkha in terms of students' interest and their literacy. With that said, it is important to note that the study of Dzongkha is still compulsory in all schools of Bhutan. This, in my opinion, is done in order to maintain the culture of the country from being “over-diluted” by globalization. In addition, I feel that it is also interesting to know that many sounds in Dzongkha language do not have a match in the English language. Hence, it is difficult to write the exact pronunciation in English.