Bengali · বাংলা
Learn everyday Bengali with Momo
Momo teaches 227 everyday words and phrases in Bengali, from পানি (PA-nee) for water to এটার দাম কত? (E-tar dam KO-to?) for "How much is this?". You read each word in Bengali script, check the roman hint under it, and hear its own pre-made audio clip, spoken by a clear AI voice set to Bangladeshi Bengali. Short games then reuse the same words.
Hear it
A few of the 227 words
Straight from the app: the word, its pronunciation hint, and the clip Momo plays. The voices are natural AI voices.
What is inside
15 topic decks, the same in every language
227 everyday words and phrases, each with a picture, a pronunciation hint and its own audio clip.
- Hello & Phrases (18)
- My Family (13)
- Animals (22)
- Food & Drink (21)
- Colors (12)
- Shapes (10)
- Numbers (20)
- My Body (15)
- Feelings (12)
- Nature & Weather (16)
- My Things (19)
- Travel Phrases (16) · not in Little Explorer
- School (12)
- Clothes (12)
- Transport (10)
What you learn
Words, phrases and games in Bengali
Start with a deck of picture cards, hear each word, then use the same words in the games.
Fifteen decks of picture cards
Pick a deck such as Food & Drink and go through it card by card. The water card shows পানি, the hint PA-nee and the word in your own language. Momo says the Bengali word first, then yours, and a tap on the card plays it again.
16 travel phrases
Learn what to say when you shop, eat out, check in, find your way or need help. Two examples are এটার দাম কত? (E-tar dam KO-to?) for "How much is this?" and আমার ট্যাক্সি লাগবে (A-mar TAK-see LAG-be) for "I need a taxi". They are in Big Kid and Teens and Grown-ups modes, and Little Explorer does not show them.
Games that speak Bengali
Find it! and I spy name a picture in Bengali and you tap it. Memory match, from Big Kid up, pairs pictures with written Bengali words. In How many?, the question and the correct number are spoken in Bengali and then in your own language. Momo's spoken praise is in Bengali too.
Say it like Momo
Pick a word such as ধন্যবাদ (dhon-no-BAD) for "Thank you", listen, hold to record yourself, then play it back. You can also hear your recording as a chipmunk, slow giant, robot or kitty. Nothing is scored, and the recording stays in your browser and is never uploaded. It is in every age mode, with bigger buttons in Little Explorer.
Stars, stickers and a daily word
Each deck has 3 stars to earn: one for seeing every card in a single visit, one for Find it! and one for Memory match. 40 stickers unlock along the way, a streak counts your days in a row, and Today's word is spoken in Bengali, then in your own language.
Bengali in Momo
Script, hints and family words in Bengali
Each Bengali card gives you the word as it is written and a roman hint for saying it, so you can try a word aloud while the script is still new to you.
- A card has three lines. On the water card they read পানি, then PA-nee, then the word in your own language (English by default).
- Longer hints are split into syllables, usually with one syllable in capitals, as in ধন্যবাদ (dhon-no-BAD). A few sounds are written with letter pairs, such as bh in ভাত (bhat) and chh in মাছ (machh). All 227 words and phrases have a hint, so you have a guide even if you do not read Bengali script.
- Numbers 1 to 20 run from এক (ek) to বিশ (beesh). Each of 11 to 19 is a word of its own, such as এগারো (E-ga-ro) for eleven.
- To ask for a picture, Find it! and I spy say the word and then কোথায়? ("where?"). Momo's Bengali question has no separate plural form, so it is the same for one thing or many. Except in Little Explorer, a small English line under the question gives its meaning. The two phrase decks work differently: Find it! says the phrase itself.
- My Family has four cards for aunts and uncles, and each has its own Bengali word: খালা (KHA-la) and মামা (MA-ma) on your mother's side, ফুফু (FOO-foo) and চাচা (CHA-cha) on your father's side. The English side just says Auntie and Uncle, so the Bengali is what tells them apart.
The voice
A clear AI voice, set to Bangladeshi Bengali
All of Momo's Bengali clips, whether words, phrases, game questions or cheers, come from one clear Microsoft AI (neural) voice called Nabanita, set to Bangladeshi Bengali (bn-BD). It is not a person, and we prefer to say so plainly.
- Each clip is made ahead of time, so ধন্যবাদ sounds the same on the tenth tap as on the first.
- Momo falls back to your device's own voice in two cases: the greeting played when you choose Bengali, and any clip that goes missing or will not play. A device with no Bengali voice reads out the roman hint.
Who it suits
Who Momo's Bengali suits
Families who speak Bengali at home
For children who hear Bengali from parents or grandparents and want to see how everyday words are written. In My Family, Mom is মা (ma), Dad is বাবা (BA-ba), Grandma is দাদি (DA-dee) and Grandpa is দাদা (DA-da). A grown-up learning alongside can use Teens and Grown-ups mode on the same device. Progress is saved per browser: on an ordinary account, everyone sharing a device shares one set of stars, stickers and the streak. A family account (set up by us; you cannot choose one at sign-up yet) gives each of up to 5 people their own.
Children from 2 to 12
Little Explorer (2 to 5) is built around pictures and sound. A child gets learn cards, Find it! with 2 choices, How many? counting up to 5, I spy, Say it like Momo and stickers, and the written word with its hint still shows on every card. Children aged 6 to 12 in Big Kid mode also get Memory match, the 16 travel phrases and a progress page.
Teens and grown-ups
Teens and Grown-ups (13+) gets the same as Big Kid: all 15 decks, the games and speaking practice with playback. If Bengali script is new to you, the roman hint beside each word lets you start speaking while you get used to the shapes. This is vocabulary and short phrases, not a course: no grammar and no conversation practice.
Travelling to Bangladesh
Heading to Bangladesh? Practise phrases such as আপনি কি ইংরেজি বলেন? (AP-nee kee EENG-re-jee BO-len?) for "Do you speak English?" and একটু সাহায্য করুন! (EK-too sha-HAJ-jo KO-roon!) for "Help me, please!" before you go. From Big Kid up, Save offline keeps the Bengali audio on your device (under 10 MB with an English helper), and it keeps working for up to 7 days after the app last checked your membership online.
Questions
Bengali questions
Is this Bangladeshi or Indian Bengali?
Bangladeshi. Momo has one Bengali option, and every Bengali clip uses one AI voice set to Bangladeshi Bengali (bn-BD). There is no separate option for Bengali as spoken in India. If your family speaks a little differently, treat Momo's voice as one clear model and keep your family's way of saying things too.
Is there a slower version of each Bengali clip?
No. Every word has a single pre-made clip, played at one speed in all three age modes. If a phrase such as কেমন আছো? (KE-mon A-chho?), "How are you?", goes by too fast, tap the card again and read the hint as you listen.
Can my child learn to read Bengali with Momo?
No. Bengali in Momo is learned word by word: each card shows one word in Bengali script, a roman hint and an audio clip. There is no alphabet chart, letter practice or tracing for Bengali (those are for Arabic only), so Momo does not teach reading in Bengali. The Reading tutor teaches English phonics, whichever language you pick.
We speak Bengali at home. Can Bengali be the helper language?
Yes, if you are learning another language. On the language screen, choose বাংলা under "I speak" and every card shows the Bengali word beside the word being learned. Momo also says the Bengali word after the new one on learn cards, in Memory match, in Say it like Momo, in Today's word and in the How many? question. Find it!, I spy and the praise stay in the language being learned. When Bengali is the language you are learning, the helper switches to English.
Start learning Bengali
Make an account, pick an age mode and choose Bengali, then tap a card and hear পানি (PA-nee) or any of the other 226 words. The 90-day trial needs no payment card, and Momo works in a modern web browser on a phone, tablet or computer.