Sylheti dictionary
An offline Sylheti dictionary (for home and for the village)
Phrase lists teach you the first 30 lines. A dictionary is how you survive the 31st word — the one Nanu just used for a fish, a feeling, or a cousin.
A Sylheti dictionary used to mean a photocopied word list, a Facebook group, or asking the oldest person in the room. That still works. It does not work in a moving car between Sylhet town and a village where the signal dies.
Learn Syloti includes an offline Sylheti dictionary and translator on the home screen. The search bar is the first thing you see after the title Learn Sylheti. Type the English word you are reaching for. Practise the Sylheti out loud. No performance for a group chat required.
When offline actually matters
- Village visits and tea-garden roads.
- Aeroplane mode on a long flight from Heathrow or JFK.
- Family dinners where you do not want to “ask Google” in the middle of a sentence.
Dictionary plus lessons beats dictionary alone
A raw word list will not teach you afne versus tui. Use the dictionary for holes in your vocabulary. Use flashcards and dialogues for the sentences those words sit in. That combination is the point of the app: look up, then learn in context.
If you are packing for Bangladesh, download and open the dictionary on Wi-Fi before you travel. If you are staying in the UK, keep it for the words that only appear at biya and Eid. Then read essential phrases so you are not looking up “how are you” every time.
How to look up a word without breaking the conversation
Do it in two beats. First, stay in the talk: nod, repeat the word you heard, or say the English noun inside a Sylheti sentence. Second, later the same day, search it. If you stop a grandparent mid-story to type, they will switch to English for your sake — which is kind, and which kills practice.
On the Learn Syloti home screen the search field sits under সিলেটি ভাষা / Learn Sylheti. That is deliberate. Dictionary and lessons are one app, so a word you look up can become a flashcard habit the next morning.
What a learner dictionary is for (and what it is not)
It is for holes: a vegetable name, a village, a feeling, a body part, an in-law title. It is not a substitute for respect forms. You will not “search” your way to knowing when to say afne. That comes from dialogues.
It is also not Google Translate. General translators are trained on standard Bangla and English. They will often give you a Dhaka-news sentence when you needed a Sylhet-kitchen one. If the result does not sound like your family, trust your family and save the word they used.
Build a personal mini-glossary
Every household has ten words a published list will miss. Keep Notes on your phone with three columns: English, how your family says it, where you heard it. After a month you will have a private dictionary that no app can fully replace — and the in-app search will still save you on the words everyone shares.
Travellers should also pre-search medical and travel terms before they need them. The app’s emergency and safety category exists for that. Looking up “chest pain” for the first time in a clinic queue is the wrong moment to start.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a free Sylheti dictionary?
Paper and community dictionaries exist. Learn Syloti puts a searchable offline dictionary inside a full learning app on iPhone.
Does it work without internet?
Yes. That is a headline feature — for village travel and for practising anywhere.
English to Sylheti or both ways?
The product is described as quick translations from English to Sylheti, designed for learners who think in English first.
