Part 1: common topics practice

'Where is your home town?'

I'm originally from Sylhet, in the north-east of the country, although I've been living in Dhaka for the past three years for my studies. Sylhet is best known for its rolling tea gardens, and unusually for Bangladesh it's surrounded by hills, so it's greener and a little cooler than the capital.

'Has your home town changed much in recent years?'

Quite a lot, yes. When I was growing up it felt like a fairly sleepy town, but now there are shopping malls, new hotels and far more traffic, partly because so many families have relatives working abroad who send money home. It's more convenient now, though I miss how peaceful it used to be.

'Do you live in a house or a flat?'

A flat. My family lives on the sixth floor of a ten-storey building in Mohammadpur. It's fairly spacious by Dhaka standards, with three bedrooms and a small balcony where my mother grows chillies and tomatoes in pots.

'Which room do you like most?'

My bedroom, even though it's the smallest. It's the only place in a busy household where I can shut the door and concentrate, and it gets a lovely breeze in the evenings when the window's open.

'Do you work, or are you a student?'

I'm a student. I'm studying pharmacy at a public university in Chattogram, and I'm in my final year, so at the moment I'm juggling my thesis with exam preparation.

'Why did you choose that subject?'

Partly because I've always been good at chemistry, and partly for practical reasons. The pharmaceutical industry in Bangladesh is growing fast, so there are decent job opportunities. My aunt is a pharmacist too, and seeing how much she enjoys her work definitely influenced me.

'What's the most difficult part of your studies?'

Probably the sheer volume of things to memorise, especially drug names and their side effects. I've found that making flashcards and testing myself on the bus helps a lot, though it still takes up a huge amount of time.

If you work, 'What do you do?'

I work as a junior software developer for a small company in Banani. We build apps for local businesses, mainly online shops, and I spend most of my day writing and testing code. It's demanding, but I like the fact that I can see the results of my work almost immediately.

'What do you do in your free time?'

These days I'm really into photography. I got into it on a family trip to Bandarban a couple of years ago, when I realised my phone couldn't do justice to the hills at sunrise. Now I go out most Friday mornings to take pictures around Old Dhaka before the streets get too busy.

'What's your favourite food?'

It has to be my mother's beef tehari. It's a rice dish, a bit like biryani but spicier and cooked in mustard oil, and the smell alone is enough to bring the whole family into the kitchen. I've tried it in plenty of restaurants, but nothing quite compares to the home-cooked version.

'What's the weather like where you live?'

Mostly hot and humid, to be honest. We have a long, sticky summer, then the monsoon from around June to September, when it can rain for days on end. The best time of year is winter, roughly December to February, when it's cool and dry and you can actually enjoy being outside.

'How often do you use the internet?'

Pretty much constantly, if I'm honest. It's the first thing I check when I wake up and the last thing before I go to sleep. Most of it is useful, like online classes and banking, but I could definitely spend less time scrolling through social media.

'How do you usually get to work or class?'

I take a rickshaw and then the metro. The rickshaw gets me to the station in about ten minutes, and the train takes me almost to the university gate. Before the metro opened, the same journey used to take well over an hour by bus, so it's been a real game-changer for me.

'Do you prefer to have a few close friends or lots of friends?'

A few close ones, definitely. I've got two friends I've known since primary school, and even though we're studying in different cities now, we video-call almost every week. I'd rather have people I can rely on than a huge circle of acquaintances.

'Do you play a musical instrument?'

Not any more, sadly. I took harmonium lessons for a couple of years as a child, because my grandmother wanted someone in the family to sing Rabindra Sangeet, but I gave up when exams took over. I'd love to pick up the guitar one day, though.

'Do you prefer e-books or printed books?'

Printed books, without a doubt. I like being able to scribble notes in the margins and see how far I've got. E-books are handy for travelling, I admit, but after staring at screens all day for my studies, reading on paper feels far more relaxing.

'Do you prefer shopping online or in shops?'

It depends what I'm buying. For electronics or books, online is far more convenient and usually cheaper. But for clothes I still go to places like New Market, partly because I want to try things on, and partly because I quite enjoy bargaining with the shopkeepers.