Mele is an iPhone/iPad app that teaches words in classical Syriac (kthobonoyo), an Aramaic dialect. Mele means "words" in Syriac.
The Mele app is a game that is formed as a quiz. It is currently available in English, Swedish and German. Mele contains about 350 words in ca 20 different categories. Each word has a photo of it and a sound recording of how it is pronounced in Syriac. The Syriac words can be viewed in two scripts: Serto and Estrangelo. Mele has two playing modes: Play and Practice.
In the Play mode, the player gets to see a photo of an object and a translation of it in the chosen language. The player will guess the name of the word in Syriac by choosing one of three options. Each of these contains the Syriac translation of the word, a transcription of the word in latin letters and a sound recording of how it is pronounced in Syriac. The player gets to answer 10 questions (or less, if the category contains fewer questions) and has 15 seconds to answer each question. The player can collect up to 30 points per question, depending on how fast he answers it. Depending on how many correct answers the player gets, he will get 0-3 stars.
In the Practice mode, the player gets to see a picture of and hear a Syriac word. The player will guess what the word represents by pressing one of three options. Each of these contains a photo of the object. In the Practice mode, the player will not get points or stars, but will go through all of the words in the category. This mode is well suited for children.
Mele contains words in the following categories:
Animals
Buildings
Christianity
Classroom
Clothes
Colors
Days of the week
Family
Fruits
Furniture
Human body
Kitchen
Months
Nature
Numbers
Olaf Beth
Rooms
Transport
Vegetables
Mele was developed to help preserving the Syriac/Aramaic language and thus, it is free to download on the AppStore (iOS).
Credits:
Programming: Simon Yildiz
Design: Simon Yildiz
Music & sound effects: Simon Yildiz
Recordings: Gabriel Bar-Sawme
Content & translations: Gabriel Bar-Sawme & Simon Yildiz
Photos: Various sources*
* Most of the photos in Mele are borrowed from various sources and they are either Creative Commons or public domain photos. References to the photos can be seen in the "Information" view of the app.