Does Duolingo Have Bengali (Bangla)? What to Use Instead

Does Duolingo offer anything close to Bengali?

The nearest course is Hindi. Both are Indo-Aryan languages and share a good deal of vocabulary from Sanskrit, but they're separate languages. Bengali has its own script, a cousin of Hindi's Devanagari, and different grammar: Hindi verbs change for gender, so "I go" is मैं जाता हूँ (main jātā hūn) for a man and मैं जाती हूँ (main jātī hūn) for a woman, while in Bengali both say আমি যাই (ami jai).

A Hindi course will make some words familiar, but it won't teach you Bengali. Babbel and Busuu don't offer Bengali either (checked November 2026).

How to learn Bengali with Qlango

Qlango teaches Bengali at A1 and A2, the first two levels of the CEFR scale. At these levels you introduce yourself, talk about daily life in simple sentences and get through everyday exchanges.

A lesson is a set of short example sentences in Bengali script with the translation in the language you learn from, answered as flashcards, by picking one of two answers, matching pairs, putting scrambled words in order, writing what you hear and writing the translation yourself. While the script is new, you can show a Latin transliteration under the words. An AI voice reads each example aloud, and you can slow it down to hear plain ক (k) against aspirated খ (kh). A finished lesson comes back after one, two, four and eight days and then once more, and examples you needed a hint for return in harder questions later.

You choose the language you learn from, so it needn't be English.

How Bengali script works

Most letters hang from a line along the top, the matra, which joins the letters of a word. Every consonant carries a built-in vowel, an open o written ô in some romanisations, where Hindi's is a. Other vowels are signs attached to the consonant, not always after it:

At the end of a word the built-in vowel usually drops, so নাম is nam, "name". Conjuncts, two or three consonants fused into one shape, such as ক্ষ in ক্ষমা (khoma, forgiveness), are best learned as pictures.

Your first Bengali words

Bengali has three words for "you": আপনি (apni) for strangers and elders, তুমি (tumi) for friends and family, and তুই (tui) for the closest friends and younger siblings. Start with apni and let people move you to tumi. Our full guide to learning Bengali covers the script, the grammar and a first-month plan.

FAQ

Is Bengali (Bangla) on Duolingo?

No. As of November 2026, Duolingo has no course that teaches Bengali, from English or any other language. Bengali appears there only as a language other courses are taught from.

Is Bengali hard to learn?

Harder than Spanish, easier than Japanese. The US Foreign Service Institute puts Bengali in Category III, about 1,012 class hours for English speakers. The script takes the first weeks, but there's no grammatical gender, and simple sentences need no "to be": আমি ছাত্র (ami chhatro) is "I am a student".

How do I start learning Bengali?

Learn the script first, reading aloud ten minutes a day, with the greetings above alongside. Our guide to learning Bengali has a four-week plan.

What is the best app to learn Bengali?

It depends on what you need. If you want a course organised by CEFR level, with Bengali script from the first lesson, Qlango teaches Bengali at A1 and A2. Duolingo, Babbel and Busuu don't offer Bengali (checked November 2026).

Is there a free app to learn Bengali?

Qlango is free to download on iPhone and Android, and you can start your first Bengali lesson without creating an account. It also works in your browser.

Will Duolingo add Bengali?

We can't say. Duolingo adds and removes courses over time, so check its catalogue if you're reading this much later.

See every language Duolingo doesn't teach, or compare Qlango and Duolingo side by side. Your first Bengali lesson takes about five minutes.