So it's time for Sunday School. The chosen text is in the Bible. Everyone is taking turns reading a verse and your turn is fast approaching. You glance down and of course, you get the verse with the most unusual word:
Apharsathchites.
Say that 10 times fast, or even once! Ezra 4:9 will get you every time.
The Bible Audio Pronunciations App is here to help with nearly-impossible-to-pronounce scriptural situations. Every unique word/name/place or mention from the Bible seems to be included in this long alphabetically organized list. There is also a search box at the top to find a particular word.
Hearing a real person's voice slowly sounding out "a-far-sa-kite" definitely brings the biblical tribe name down to a manageable level. The audio connection combined with the visual of the word helps overall comprehension, in both Sunday School and personal study.
The reference feature of the Bible Pronunciation App is helpful to find the word, hear the pronunciation and then quickly get a definition or more information from the app's search options. The app provides both Google and Wikipedia searches, so there is no need to multitask, switching between a browser and the app.
Children, families and early or first time learners of the Bible would likely benefit from the interaction of touch, sound and text to make the challenge of Bible words more fun.
This app has a pretty basic function and, therefore, is a pretty basic experience. The layout is sometimes too simple and linear. Also, names are only in the list, not by chapter and book and there only one voice option.
Regular teacher of the Bible, especially in a class setting, and serious students of the Bible would find constant use of the app. However, the $1.99 price tag is a little steep for casual purposes.
A "lite" version of the same name is available for free. It still has the audio and search features but less Bible terms. The lite version has an average 5-star rating on iTunes from 17 reviews, while the full app has an average of 4.5 stars from 13 customer reviews.
Made by Pronunciation Apps, this app works with iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch with iOS 3.2 or later.
Take the plunge and try this app.
Livi Whitaker is a freelance writer who blogs about all things positive at thebrightbit.com.