Free Bengali learning resources
16 free resources, checked and categorised.
Every link is usable without paying. Some ask for a free account or keep extras behind a paid tier, and those are labelled.
Everything below is usable without paying; where a resource asks for a free account or keeps extras behind a paid tier, the row says so. The list covers the main ways people study Bengali: structured courses to build a foundation, dictionaries to look things up, and listening and reading material to spend real time in the language. Start with one course and one dictionary, then add listening once you can follow simple sentences.
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Searchable English-to-Bengali dictionary with meanings, definitions, pronunciation, parts of speech, examples, synonyms, and antonyms for individual words
Blog posts with Bangla basics, grammar notes, conjuncts, vocabulary, and links to other Bengali learning resources
Collection of Bengali courses, readers, grammar books, and dictionaries, with some downloadable texts, audio files, and online dictionary access for study and reference
Online English-Bengali dictionary with E2B, B2E, and B2B word lists, plus grammar lessons, idioms, proverbs, and translation tools
Vocabulary and phrase lists for Bengali, organized by survival topics like greetings, directions, emergencies, medical terms, and military-related words
YouTube video teaching Bengali through English, focused on Bengali personal pronouns and related words for speaking practice
A thorough guide for Bengali learners with links to useful resources.
Dictionary and translation hub for Bengali with links to multiple English-Bengali dictionaries, translation tools, a Bengali keyboard, and some phrase/vocabulary resources
Download page for Unicode and ANSI Bengali fonts, with preview notes and links for installing and using each font with Avro Keyboard
Searchable Bengali-English dictionary with entry-word and substring search, plus front matter and appendices; use it to look up Bengali or English words and related forms
YouTube channel with free Bengali video lessons and Skype classes with native tutors, aimed at beginners and advanced learners.
Gallery of Bengali Unicode font samples with font names, source notes, and sample links for checking how each typeface renders the script
Free Bengali course with short lessons on grammar and vocabulary, plus alphabet, numbers, phrases, audio, keyboard, dictionary, quiz, and game sections
Bengali online literary magazine with archived seasonal issues and article sections for literature, society, culture, history, and news, where readers browse essays and features
Bengali-language DW news pages with latest articles, videos, and audio on regions, politics, society, rights, and culture
Learn it there, practise it here
Free resources are great for input: reading, listening, explanations. They are weaker at the two things that actually move you forward: speaking Bengali out loud, and remembering what you met once. That is what OwnSlides is for.
Say it out loud
Talk to an AI tutor that answers back, or get matched with other learners and native speakers for a text chat.
Practise what you read
Turn a grammar point or article into exercises, so it moves from recognised to usable.
Keep the words
Save new words to My Words and let spaced repetition bring them back before you forget them.
This directory began from a community-built list of free language resources, a year of collecting and checking by Joanna (u/chlebka) and dozens of contributors who suggested links, shared freely. See the original list. We have since expanded, re-checked and re-categorised it, and we keep the per-resource credits where the original list recorded them.