The first 100 words
Ten groups, in the order we would teach them. Tap any word to hear it.
Every list of first words is somebody's opinion, so here is ours and here is the reasoning. These hundred words were picked because a child can point at almost all of them, because they combine into sentences early, and because they carry a young learner through their first year without a single word that needs explaining.
The order matters more than the list. Colours first because they attach to everything after them; feelings last because they are the only abstract group here. Teach one group at a time, and do not start the next one until the last is answered without a pause.
🎧 How to use this list
- 1Tap a word to hear it. The audio is your device's own voice, so it works offline and costs nothing.
- 2Take one group at a time and split it into threes. Ten new words in a sitting produces nothing; three produces three.
- 3Print the pack for the group you are on — flashcards, a poster, bingo — and use the same words on paper and on screen.
- 4Come back to a finished group a week later. The second meeting is the one that makes a word permanent.
Tap a word to hear it 🔊
UThese take no "a" and no plural — milk, not "a milk" or "two milks".
1.🌈 Colours
10 wordsFirst, because a colour can be attached to every word that comes after it. Teach three at a time, never ten.
2.🦊 Animals
12 wordsThe set with the most built-in enthusiasm. Each one has a sound, and the sound is what makes the word stick.
3.🔢 Numbers
10 wordsThe first words a child can use with nothing in front of them. Count real objects, not pictures of objects.
4.👨👩👧👦 Family
8 wordsTeach these with a real photograph on the table. Words that point at somebody a child loves are remembered differently.
5.🖐️ My body
10 wordsThe only group on this list that can be taught entirely without sitting down. Say it, touch it, done.
6.🧸 Toys
10 wordsBring the real objects if you can. Holding the thing while saying the word does more than any worksheet.
7.🍓 Fruit
10 wordsThe one group you can eat at the end of the lesson. Do that — it is worth more than another round of cards.
8.🍎 Food and drink
10 wordsWhere "I like" and "I don't like" are born. The first opinion a child can hold in English, and they hold it loudly.
9.🏃 Actions
10 wordsThe fastest words to prove understanding: say it, and a child who understood is already moving.
10.😊 Feelings
10 wordsLast, because it is the most abstract group here — and the one that finally lets a child tell you something true.
➡️ And then what?
A hundred words is a beginning, not a course. The age paths below take the same words and put them in a weekly rhythm with the games, printables and lesson plans that carry them into sentences.
❓ Common questions
Why these hundred words?
Because a child can point at nearly all of them. Concrete, drawable words can be taught without translation and checked without a common language — which is what makes them the right first hundred, ahead of more frequent but abstract words.
How long should a hundred words take?
Anywhere from a term to a year, depending on age and how often you meet. Nobody can give you an honest number without knowing the child — but three new words a session, met again a week later, gets there without anyone suffering.
Should I teach the spelling too?
Not under six. Say it and show the picture; the written form can sit beside it from about seven, when the child already reads in their own language. Spelling from memory comes later still.
Is the audio a real recording?
No — it is your device's own speech synthesis, which is why it is instant, free and works with no connection. It is clear enough to learn from, and it means every word on the site can be heard rather than only the ones somebody recorded.