Marma is a Tibeto-Burman language of the Lolo-Burmese branch spoken by the Marma people, the second-largest Indigenous community in the Chittagong Hill Tracts of southeastern Bangladesh. Most Marma people live in the Bandarban, Khagrachari, and Rangamati districts, where the language remains an important part of community identity and daily life. Closely related to Arakanese, a variety of Burmese, Marma is spoken by approximately 180,000 people and is considered endangered as younger generations increasingly use Bangla in education, media, and public life.
Marma has its own writing system based on the Burmese script and is known for its rich tonal features, which can vary among the community’s 13 clans. Despite being spoken by a significant number of people, relatively little linguistic research has been conducted on the language, and digital learning resources remain limited. This course was created to help Marma speakers and learners strengthen their reading and writing skills and support the continued use of the language both within Bangladesh and among Marma communities around the world. Special thanks to Mr. Aung Kya Jai Marma, Bhante Indasara, Tongsa, and Ms. Ushing Mya Marma for their contributions to the development of this course.