A Biblical Languages Trainer

I have always had a difficult time finding good tools for studying Scripture and the original languages. Most apps or programs out there either feel clunky, look bland, or just don't work the way I need them to. I have several apps on my unit that help me, a Hebrew/Greek interlinear, the Blue Letter Bible, MySword, Ginoskos, Greek Study, Tanakh, Septuagint LXX, but they are all separate. I had not realized it, but I needed a tool that had every function each of these had.

 Not long ago, I was cleaning out my computer files and stumbled across some Hebrew flashcards I had downloaded ages ago and completely forgotten about. Figuring I could use them, I opened it up and tested it, only to be frustrated. The design was old Windows 98-ish, and the limitations were just.. it was not worth keeping. I decided to see if I could tweak the code to my liking. Instead, I just ended up deleting it. But then, I thought, why don't I just build my own?

What started out as a random, playful coding experiment turned into a full week of tinkering. In the end, I actually built a tool from the ground up that functions the way I needed it to. It is humbling to think how a little annoyance can turn into a rewarding project. I am very thankful to have worked on something I can pass on to other students of the languages like myself and be of benefit to the body of Christ.

It is a simple interface, for now, but everything is inside these cards. It is actually a training tool for both Greek and Hebrew using English as its baseline. Each card presents a lesson that you can interact with and track your progress through seven levels of difficulty. You can choose to answer 10, 20, 30, or all tests at a time. It helps familiarize the student with the letters of each language.

The lessons will take the student through introductory stages. There are 12 Greek and 10 Hebrew lessons. Each lesson is one page that grows: Next adds the next section underneath, and the earlier sections stay above so you can scroll back. The bar of steps at the top stays in view — tap a step to jump to it — and tapping a section's heading folds it away. The trainer remembers how far you got (and syncs it). After the last section comes Check yourself (questions that use real words from the Bible), then a passage to read with the new forms colored in. Your best score is kept and synced.

It has a Greek pronunciation selector: Koine is how Greek was spoken in the first century; Erasmian is the pronunciation taught in most classrooms. It changes the sounds on the Alphabet page, in the letter drill and in Greek lesson 1. Transliterations always follow the spelling, letter by letter.

The lessons for the Greek study.

The lessons for the Hebrew study.

Vocabulary sets follow how often words occur, so the first sets cover most of what you will read. A set's next round brings in new words until the whole set has been seen. Progress is shared by dictionary form: learning a word in a passage also counts for the same word in Vocabulary. There are 124 sets for the Greek, and 191 sets for the Hebrew.

Greek vocabulary list.

Hebrew vocabulary list.

The review has 7 levels of learning progress.

The interlinear Bible reader has the ability to present each verse of a particular chapter with an inline and forward contextual breakdown. It includes Strong's concordance and each word's forms as well.

 

Concordance

The Passages

This is the part I worked on the most. It enables you to type in whatever portion of Scripture you select and do an exclusive study on it. Type a reference on the Passages page (for example John 3:16-21, Mark 6, Psalms 23) or pick a book, add a title or an image if the student fancies. It includes Niqqud (Hebrew) show or hide the vowel points. It can show just the original Greek or Hebrew, or show the King James Version beside it verse by verse, and open its interlinear study underneath. Verse numbers are matched where the Hebrew and English Bibles number them differently. The title, book or verses, and image can be edited.

Old testament

New Testament

Inside the selected passage the student can show the Contextual (the English for this word in this verse), Contextual transliterated, English (dictionary meaning), Lexical (dictionary form), Lexical transliterated, Morphology, and Strong's in a pop-up. There is also a Word list. Every word form in the passage with its meaning and progress. Everything in here can be practiced and reviewed.  

It is sort of a zoomed in function of the interlinear. But with a much more complete functionality as can be seen here. The student can also practice the words specific to the chapter in an exam or review style, and build their own vocabulary.

Original text study.

I had no plans for this. I was merely enjoying the building process. It has currently gone through 29 versions and is still in its polishing stage, some fixes need to be addressed, and additional features to be implemented before I can release it as a fully functional version. I have no intention of selling it but I am considering giving it away to anyone interested in exchange for prayer. It is my small offering to the ecclesia.

I have also ported it to my phone, and is running on Android. It syncs both ways from my laptop to my phone and back again. Methinks this will keep me occupied for a good while. A wise use of precious time.