WhatsApp is one of the most popular messaging apps globally, with over 2 billion monthly active users. While WhatsApp’s default language is English, it supports multiple regional languages, including Bengali. There are around 265 million native Bengali speakers worldwide, making Bengali one of the most spoken languages globally. If you wish to use WhatsApp in Bengali, there are a few simple steps you need to follow. In this comprehensive guide, we will walk you through the process of enabling Bengali script on WhatsApp on both Android and iOS devices.
Prerequisites for Enabling Bengali in WhatsApp
Before you can type and read messages in Bengali on WhatsApp, there are a couple of prerequisites:
- Your phone’s operating system needs to support Bengali as a display language. Most modern Android and iOS versions have built-in support for Bengali.
- You need to have a Bengali keyboard installed on your phone to type in Bengali. On Android devices, this can be done through Gboard or other third-party Bengali keyboard apps. On iOS, you can enable the Bengali keyboard in your device’s settings.
Once you have met these prerequisites, you can go ahead and enable Bengali in WhatsApp through the following steps:
Enabling Bengali Language on Android WhatsApp
Here is how to get Bengali support on WhatsApp for Android phones:
- Go to your phone’s Settings app > System > Languages & input > Languages.
- Tap on Add a language and search for Bengali. Select the Bengali language option.
- Your phone will now have Bengali enabled as a display language. WhatsApp will automatically detect this.
- To set Bengali as your WhatsApp display language, open WhatsApp > tap on the 3-dot menu > Settings > Chats.
- Under LANGUAGE, select ??????????????? (Bengali).
That’s it! WhatsApp will now display all its text and interface elements in Bengali language. You can start chatting with your contacts in Bengali.
Enabling Bengali Keyboard on Android
To type in Bengali on WhatsApp, you need to have a Bengali keyboard installed. Follow these steps:
- Go to Settings > System > Languages & input > Virtual keyboard.
- Tap on Gboard > Languages.
- Select Bengali as an active input language.
- You can switch between English and Bengali keyboards by tapping the Globe icon on your keyboard.
Gboard has an excellent Bengali typing experience with word suggestions, emojis, and more. Some other good Bengali keyboard apps for Android include Ridmik Keyboard, Akkhor Bengali Keyboard, Google Indic Keyboard etc.
Enabling Bengali on iOS WhatsApp
The process is quite similar on iPhones. Here is how to activate Bengali on WhatsApp iOS:
- Go to iPhone Settings > General > Language & Region.
- Tap on Add Language and select Bengali.
- Open WhatsApp > tap on Settings > Chats > Language.
- Select ??????????????? as your WhatsApp language.
This will enable Bengali interface and fonts across WhatsApp on your iPhone. Next, let’s see how to type in Bengali.
Enabling Bengali Keyboard on iOS
- Go to Settings > General > Keyboard > Keyboards.
- Tap Add New Keyboard and select Bengali.
- You can now switch to the Bengali keyboard by tapping the Globe icon while typing.
That’s it! You can seamlessly chat in Bengali on WhatsApp for iPhone now. The iOS Bengali keyboard has emoji, word predictions and other smart features.
Typing Bengali Letters and Matras
The Bengali script has a total of 11 vowel letters known as sworoborno (?????????????????????) and 39 consonant letters known as bonjonboro (?????????????????????). To type the full range of sounds in Bengali, you need to use matras or diacritics along with consonant letters. Here is a quick guide to typing Bengali letters and matras accurately:
| Bengali Letter | Pronunciation | Typing |
|---|---|---|
| ??? | a | a |
| ??? | aa | a + a |
| ??? | i | i |
| ??? | ii | i + i |
| ??? | u | u |
| ??? | uu | u + u |
| ??? | ri | r + i |
| ??? | e | e |
| ??? | ai | a + i |
| ??? | o | o |
| ??? | ou | o + u |
Bengali has 10 pure consonant letters known as shoorgjo shorboshoyo (????????????????????? ??????????????????) and 29 consonants with inherent vowel sound a (?????? ???????????????????????? ??????????????????). To modify their pronunciation, you need to type the appropriate matra after the consonant:
| Letter + Matra | Pronunciation |
|---|---|
| ??? + ??? | ka |
| ??? + ??? | ki |
| ??? + ??? | ku |
| ??? + ??? | ke |
| ??? + ??? | ko |
| ??? + ??? | kha |
| ??? + ??? | gha |
| ??? + ??? | nga |
| ??? + ??? | cha |
| ??? + ??? | ja |
Use this method to type any Bengali letter with matras accurately. Refer to a Bengali alphabet chart for all possible letter combinations. Modern Bengali keyboards will show suggestions and autocorrect to the right letter-matra combinations.
Typing Bengali Words and Sentences
Once you know how to type individual Bengali letters and matras, you can start constructing words and sentences. Here are some tips for seamless Bengali typing on WhatsApp:
- Enable Bengali word suggestions on your keyboard to speed up typing. You can simply tap words instead of typing them fully.
- Use the space bar to separate words and punctuation marks like in English.
- Your keyboard will automatically add the halant/hasant sign where consonant clusters occur.
- Most Bengali keyboards come with commonly used Bengali phrases, greetings, etc to quickly insert.
- You can switch between English and Bengali keyboards anytime without having to change settings.
With regular practice, typing Bengali words and sentences will become very intuitive. You’ll be able to chat comfortably in Bengali on WhatsApp.
Changing Fonts and Styles
WhatsApp allows changing the font style and size for different languages including Bengali. Follow these steps:
- Open WhatsApp > tap on the 3-dot menu > Settings > Chats > Font style.
- Select your preferred Bengali font like Noto Bengali UI, Devanagari Sangam MN, Bengali Sangam MN, etc.
- Adjust the font size as needed. WhatsApp will preview your chosen font.
- You can also enable bold, italic, and monospace styles for Bengali text.
Playing around with fonts can make your Bengali chats on WhatsApp more expressive and fun. But avoid overly ornate or illegible fonts for readability.
Common Problems and Solutions
Here are some common issues you may encounter while using Bengali on WhatsApp and their quick solutions:
Display Issues
- If you see random characters or boxes instead of Bengali, make sure Bengali language support is enabled on your device.
- Check if you have selected Bengali under WhatsApp Language settings. A device restart may help.
- Update to the latest WhatsApp version if older versions have display bugs.
Typing Issues
- Enable Bengali keyboard under your phone’s Keyboard settings if you cannot type.
- Switch to the Bengali keyboard layout by tapping the Globe icon while typing.
- Update your Bengali keyboard app if certain keys don’t work.
- Clean cache and data of problematic keyboard apps and reinstall if issues persist.
Word Prediction Issues
- Ensure you have enabled Bengali word predictions on your keyboard.
- Check for keyboard app updates to get latest prediction data.
- Toggle predictive text on/off under keyboard settings if predictions are inaccurate.
With some troubleshooting, you should be able to resolve most Bengali language issues on WhatsApp. Reach out to WhatsApp support if problems continue to persist.
Conclusion
Adding Bengali language support on WhatsApp is quick and easy on both Android and iOS devices. Just enable Bengali as a display language, install a Bengali keyboard, and switch WhatsApp’s interface language to Bengali. Typing fluently may require some practice initially. But Bengali keyboards offer great typing aids like matra suggestions, emoji, word predictions, etc. With the right troubleshooting, you can fix common Bengali language issues on WhatsApp. So go ahead and use your favorite messaging app in your preferred language!