dog
/dɔːɡ/
dawg
Tier 1 · First words · Ages 1.5–4
Animals
The 10 animal words a Bengali- or Hindi-speaking learner meets first — dog, cat, cow and the rest — each with a picture, the IPA spelling, an easy respelling, and audio in all three languages.
20 words4 topics60 audio clips
Why these words come first
Dog, cat and cow are animals a learner actually sees every day — at home, in the yard, on the way to market — which is why animals-01 sits in tier 1 rather than waiting behind rarer creatures. Tiers order words by how often they turn up in ordinary life, not by theme, so the everyday animals come first and topics further down the animal series can move into later tiers once the words in them get rarer.
Each card below carries the picture, the English word, its IPA transcription, a plain-English respelling you can read aloud without training, and the meaning in Bengali or Hindi. Tap the round button to hear it in the language you picked above.
Pick one topic per sitting — five words is a full session. Say the respelling, not the IPA, when reading aloud, and make the animal's sound together if you like. Play the English clip first and the home-language clip second.
Animals 1
cat
/kæt/
kat
bird
/bɜːrd/
berd
cow
/kaʊ/
kow
fish
/fɪʃ/
fish
Animals 2
duck
/dʌk/
duk
frog
/frɔːɡ/
frawg
monkey
/ˈmʌŋki/
mun-kee
elephant
/ˈɛlɪfənt/
el-uh-funt
mouse
/maʊs/
mows
Animals 3
lion
/ˈlaɪən/
ly-un
tiger
/ˈtaɪɡər/
ty-ger
bear
/bɛr/
behr
snake
/sneɪk/
snayk
deer
/dɪr/
dear
Animals 4
puppy
/ˈpʌpi/
pup-ee
kitten
/ˈkɪtən/
kit-uhn
giraffe
/dʒəˈræf/
juh-raf
zebra
/ˈzɛbrə/
zeb-ruh
penguin
/ˈpɛŋɡwɪn/
peng-win
More word topics
Keep going with another set of everyday English words.
Actions8 topics · 40 wordsAdverbs1 topics · 5 wordsAuxiliary Verbs2 topics · 10 wordsBathroom2 topics · 10 wordsBedroom2 topics · 10 wordsBirds1 topics · 5 wordsBody Parts6 topics · 30 wordsClothing3 topics · 15 wordsColors2 topics · 10 wordsConjunctions1 topics · 5 wordsDeterminers1 topics · 5 wordsEveryday1 topics · 5 wordsFamily3 topics · 15 wordsFarm Animals2 topics · 10 wordsFeelings3 topics · 15 wordsFirst Words4 topics · 20 wordsFood3 topics · 15 wordsFruits3 topics · 15 wordsHome1 topics · 5 wordsHome Objects3 topics · 15 wordsInsects1 topics · 5 wordsJobs1 topics · 5 wordsKitchen2 topics · 10 wordsMeals2 topics · 10 wordsNumbers3 topics · 15 wordsOpposites5 topics · 25 wordsOutdoors3 topics · 15 wordsPeople2 topics · 10 wordsPlaces2 topics · 10 wordsPosition2 topics · 10 wordsPrepositions1 topics · 5 wordsPronouns3 topics · 15 wordsQuantifiers1 topics · 5 wordsQuestion Words1 topics · 5 wordsSchool2 topics · 10 wordsSea Animals1 topics · 5 wordsShapes2 topics · 10 wordsTime2 topics · 10 wordsToys2 topics · 10 wordsVegetables2 topics · 10 wordsVehicles3 topics · 15 wordsWeather1 topics · 5 words
Questions people ask
- Why do dog, cat and cow come before other animals?
- Tiers order words by how often they come up in everyday life. Dog, cat, cow, bird and fish are the animals most learners see or hear about daily, so animals-01 opens tier 1; animals further down the series follow the same everyday-frequency rule, not a theme order.
- Do I have to finish animals-01 before opening animals-02?
- No. Tiers only order the topic list by how common the words are; they never lock anything. Any learner can open any topic on any day.
- Why is elephant such a long English word when its Bengali and Hindi equivalents are so short?
- Word length doesn't match across languages — English dog and cat are one syllable, but elephant is three, while its Bengali and Hindi equivalents, হাতি and हाथी, stay short. The respelling — el-uh-funt — breaks the long word into pieces that are easy to read and say, whatever its length.
Ready to practise?
Turn every word on this page into a quick picture quiz.