LearnBanglaStart here
First wordsপ্রথম কথা
আপনি কেমন আছেন?apni kemon achhen?How are you?
স্বাগতমshagotom, welcome
Short daily lessons built around real moments in Bangladesh. Start talking in week one and learn at your own pace.
Shaheed Minar, Dhaka. It honours the students killed on 21 February 1952 for the right to speak Bangla.Jatiyo Smriti Soudho, Savar. The National Martyrs' Memorial honours those who died in the 1971 Liberation War.
The Bangla people speak
পানিভাতচাদুধচিনিমাছখাবার
ধন্যবাদহ্যাঁনাভালোখুবএকটু
মাবাবাভাইবন্ধুমামাআমিআপনি
কতকোথায়কেমনআজএখনআবার
টাকারিকশাদোকানবাসানামসুন্দর
Every lesson teaches Bangladeshi Bangla as you'll hear it on the street. You'll ask for পানি when you want water, call the rickshaw driver মামা, and greet people by the time of day.
6
Bangla courses, from Speaking to Reading & Writing
57
script lessons, from আ to joined letters
16
sound pairs that English speakers often mix up
5min
a day is enough to keep moving
Bangla Courses
Six ways in. Pick the one that fits.
Open now
Speaking
Understand and speak everyday Bangla. Romanised throughout, with the script shown under each line and never tested.
Open nowFull course
Every speaking lesson plus 13 script groups placed between them, so each letter arrives just before you need it.
Open nowKids
Playful lessons for ages 6–8 and 9–12, letters in traditional order.
Explore → Open nowTraveler
Survival Bangla for your trip: rickshaws, taka, tea stalls and help.
Explore → Open nowHeritage
You grew up hearing it. A listening check places you, then you speak.
Explore → Open nowReading & Writing
The script on its own, from আ ই উ to full sentences.
Explore →Not sure where to start?
Take the placement
Answer five quick questions and we'll pick the course and the first lesson for you.
Learn it where you'll use it.
4 lessons
Numbers that matterদরকারি সংখ্যা
দেড় হাজার টাকা।der hajar taka.1,500 taka.
3 lessons
Times of day and daysদিন আর সময়
আজ সোমবার।aj shombar.Today is Monday.
4 lessons
Telling timeসময় বলা
সাড়ে নয়টা বাজে।share noyta baje.It's half past nine.
4 lessons
How a sentence worksবাক্যের গঠন
আমি ভাত খাই।ami bhat khai.I eat rice.
3 lessons
Everyday essentialsপ্রতিদিনের দরকারি
ভাই, ডিমের দাম কত?bhai, dimer dam koto?How much are the eggs?
Capstone
A morning in Dhakaঢাকায় একটি সকাল
মামা, ধানমন্ডি যাবেন?mama, Dhanmondi jaben?Will you go to Dhanmondi?
Inside a lesson
Hear the sounds before you read the script.
Bangla words appear first in plain English letters, so you can say them on day one. The Bangla script sits quietly underneath. If you want to hear the difference between t and T, Precise spelling is in each course's Settings.
- Hear it in a scene. Every lesson opens with a short moment from Sam's day in Dhaka.
- Learn one pattern. Name what you want, add দেন, and you can order anything.
- Say it back. Role-play the stall owner, then the customer.
Tusharmama, duita dudh cha den.মামা, দুইটা দুধ চা দেন।Two milk teas, please.
Sam · youamarta chini chhara.আমারটা চিনি ছাড়া।Mine without sugar.
Tea sellerthik achhe. ar kichhu?ঠিক আছে। আর কিছু?OK. Anything else?
টংDid you know? Small tea stalls are called টং দোকান. Friends gather there for adda: long, lively chats about cricket, politics and everything in between.
Sound Lab
The sounds English doesn't have.
Most learners get stuck on the same few sounds. The Sound Lab trains your ear with word pairs that differ by one sound, then lets you duel against the clock. Tap play to hear each word, then tap a pair to see the trick.
b vs bh · ব / ভ
বাতbatrheumatismorভাতbhatcooked rice
ভ is breathy. Get it right: you want ভাত at dinner.
k vs kh · ক / খ
কালkaltomorroworখালkhalcanal
Hold a tissue in front of your mouth. It should move for খ and stay still for ক.
t vs T · ত / ট
পাতাpataleaforপাটাpatagrinding stone
For ত, touch the back of your top teeth. For ট, curl your tongue back to the roof of your mouth.
nasal vowel · ঁ
কাদাkadamudorকাঁদাkadato cry
Let air flow through your nose on the vowel with ঁ. The little moon over the letter is your signal.
Culture and history
A language people gave their lives for.
21February 1952 · একুশে ফেব্রুয়ারি
In 1948, Pakistan's leaders moved to make Urdu the only state language, though most people in East Bengal spoke Bangla. On 21 February 1952, students in Dhaka defied a ban on gatherings. Police opened fire near Dhaka Medical College.
The Shaheed Minar now stands near that place. Every year, people walk barefoot at dawn to lay flowers there. The day is also International Mother Language Day.
Among those killed were Abul Barkat, Rafiq Uddin Ahmed, Abdul Jabbar, Abdus Salam and, the next day, Shafiur Rahman. They are remembered as the language martyrs.
1952 → 1971
From language to liberationমুক্তিযুদ্ধ
The fight for Bangla grew into a movement for self-rule. Nineteen years after Ekushey, independence was declared on 26 March 1971, and nine months of war ended in victory on 16 December 1971.
স্বাধীনতাshadhinota, independence
Every February
The book fairবইমেলা
All through February, the Amar Ekushey Boi Mela fills the Bangla Academy grounds and Suhrawardy Udyan in Dhaka. Publishers launch hundreds of new Bangla books, writers sign copies, and families spend whole evenings browsing the stalls. It began in 1972 with a few books laid out on a mat outside Bangla Academy.
বইboi, book