The first 100 words
Ten groups, in the order we would teach them. Tap any word to hear it.
- 100 words
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".
10 words
1.Colours
First, because a colour can be attached to every word that comes after it. Teach three at a time, never ten.
12 words
2.Animals
The set with the most built-in enthusiasm. Each one has a sound, and the sound is what makes the word stick.
10 words
3.Numbers
The first words a child can use with nothing in front of them. Count real objects, not pictures of objects.
8 words
4.Family
Teach these with a real photograph on the table. Words that point at somebody a child loves are remembered differently.
10 words
5.My body
The only group on this list that can be taught entirely without sitting down. Say it, touch it, done.
10 words
6.Toys
Bring the real objects if you can. Holding the thing while saying the word does more than any worksheet.
10 words
7.Fruit
The one group you can eat at the end of the lesson. Do that — it is worth more than another round of cards.
10 words
8.Food and drink
Where "I like" and "I don't like" are born. The first opinion a child can hold in English, and they hold it loudly.
10 words
9.Actions
The fastest words to prove understanding: say it, and a child who understood is already moving.
10 words
10.Feelings
Last, 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.
Related resources
Interactive Game · 3–10 min
Sorting Orchard
Four fruits on a branch and one that does not belong — or baskets to sort them into. The rule is always said out loud at the end.
Lesson Plan · 45 min
My Family Unit: Extra ESL Activities
Children love talking about their own families. Build the lesson around real people: a drawn family tree, questions and a short dialogue.
Interactive Game · 3–10 min
Dawn Sky Festival
Every letter hangs beneath its own hot-air balloon at sunrise. Guess the word before six balloons drift away, and the whole fleet lifts it into the sky.
Lesson Plan · 45 min
Hello Unit: Extra ESL Activities for Kids
Usually the first unit of the year: children learn to greet, give their name and ask a friend's. This pack turns it into a full lesson with plenty of talking.