Surayt (also known as Turoyo) is a Neo-Aramaic language, traditionally spoken by the Syriac Christians (also known as Arameans and Assyrians) in different countries in the Middle East, and today by approximately 250,000 people worldwide. Surayt is classified as ‘severely endangered’ by UNESCO, because of the emigration or expulsion of its speakers from their native areas in the last 60 years. As part of revitalization efforts of this language, the Surayt app is developed by the EC funded Erasmus+ Surayt-Aramaic Online Project (2017-2020) coordinated by Freie Universität Berlin.
The Surayt app is open source, designed as a supportive learning tool according to the levels (A-B-C) specified in CEFR (Common European Framework of Reference for Languages). It is highly recommended to combine the application with the digital learning platform and corpus available at the projects website (www.surayt.com).
The Surayt app is provided in seven languages of instruction (English, German, Swedish, French, Dutch, Arabic and Turkish) and includes texts, dialogues, exercises, grammatical explanations, cultural notes and vocabulary. All textual material is supported with audio material (voiced by male and female narrators).
Developer: Dr Robert Turmbull on behalf of Beth Mardutho Institute, project partner in the Erasmus+ Surayt-Aramaic Online Project