Letter sounds

Teach 3 things together:

Letter

IPA / accurate sound

Bangla approximation only as a memory aid

Letter

Accurate pronunciation

IPA

Bangla help

A

ay

/eɪ/

এই

B

bee

/biː/

বী

C

cee

/siː/

সী

D

dee

/diː/

ডী

E

e

/iː/

ঈ

F

ef

/ɛf/

এফ

G

gee

/dʒiː/

জী

H

aitch

/eɪtʃ/

এইচ

I

eye

/aɪ/

আই

J

jay

/dʒeɪ/

জেই

K

kay

/keɪ/

কেই

L

el

/ɛl/

এল

M

em

/ɛm/

এম

N

en

/ɛn/

এন

O

oh

/oʊ/

ওউ

P

pee

/piː/

পী

Q

cue

/kjuː/

কিউ

R

ar

/ɑːr/

আর

S

ess

/ɛs/

এস

T

tee

/tiː/

টী

U

you

/juː/

ইউ

V

vee

/viː/

ভী

W

double-u

/ˈdʌbəljuː/

ডাবল-ইউ

X

ex

/ɛks/

এক্স

Y

why

/waɪ/

ওয়াই

Z

zed (UK) / zee (US)

/zed/ /ziː/

জেড / জী

Important correction

K = /keɪ/ = “kay”

So “খেই” is NOT accurate. It may cause students to produce a খ sound, whereas English K begins with a ক sound.

Similarly:

A → /eɪ/ → ay, not simply “এ”

J → /dʒeɪ/ → jay

K → /keɪ/ → kay

H → /eɪtʃ/ → aitch

W → /ˈdʌbəljuː/ → double-you

A good classroom technique

Tell your students:

“Bangla pronunciation is only a guide. The English pronunciation is the target.”

Then drill:

A — ay — /eɪ/

B — bee — /biː/

C — cee — /siː/

D — dee — /diː/

For young learners, you can initially use “এই, বী, সী…” as a bridge, but make them listen and repeat the actual English sound rather than memorizing the Bengali spelling.

If you're teaching Hopeland English Centre students, I can also prepare a 26-letter pronunciation lesson sheet with mouth position + common phonics sound + example word (A–Apple, B–Ball, etc.).