Čiriklo – learn Romani with short, game-like lessons
Čiriklo is a free mobile app for learning Romani (Romani čhib). It teaches North Central Romani, also called Slovak Romani – the most widely spoken Romani variety in Czechia and Slovakia – through 18 units and 72 lessons with pictures, audio, sentence building and spaced review.
Free · iPhone with iOS 17.0 or later
Android: in testing on Google Play, coming soon
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The app’s interface and explanations are in Czech (Čiriklo is made for Czech speakers; Slovak is planned).
What you learn
The course has 18 units, from the basics to everyday life. Together they cover 294 words and 62 everyday phrases, practised in 279 example sentences:
- Unit 1: Greetings
- Unit 2: Introductions
- Unit 3: Family
- Unit 4: Numbers
- Unit 5: Food and drink
- Unit 6: Colours and qualities
- Unit 7: Animals
- Unit 8: Body and health
- Unit 9: Home and town
- Unit 10: Nature and weather
- Unit 11: Time
- Unit 12: What I like doing
Want a taste first? See 73 Romani phrases for beginners from the course.
How the lessons work
Short lessons
Each lesson takes a few minutes. New words are introduced with their pronunciation, many with pictures, and then you practise them in multiple-choice questions, by building sentences from word tiles, by listening and by typing.
Pronunciation
Every word and sentence can be played aloud, also slowed down, so you learn the aspirated sounds čh, kh, ph, th and the soft ď, ť, ň, ľ.
Grammar and culture
Each unit has a short guide with the key phrases and tips – for example when to use the formal “you” and how Roma say goodbye.
Motivation like in a game
Daily streaks, a daily goal, quests, chests with rewards, XP, coins, hearts and achievements keep you coming back, and a reminder at the time you choose helps you keep your streak.
Practise what you forget
Čiriklo remembers which words you are forgetting and brings them back in a personal training session. You can also review your mistakes, practise listening, play a 60-second matching game and look up every word in the dictionary with its pronunciation.
Free, with optional Čiriklo Pro
The whole course is free, with ads, and needs no account – your progress stays on your phone. The optional Čiriklo Pro subscription gives unlimited hearts, removes ads and unlocks 6 real-life conversations (meeting people, at the doctor, in a shop, at home, at a celebration) and 25 Romani proverbs with explanations. In Czechia it costs 99 CZK per month or 599 CZK per year with a 7-day free trial for new subscribers.
Which Romani does Čiriklo teach?
Romani has many dialects, and they are not all interchangeable. Čiriklo teaches North Central Romani (Slovak Romani) in the standard Czech-Slovak spelling, and notes eastern Slovak pronunciations where they differ. Other varieties, such as Vlax (Lovari, Kalderash) or Balkan Romani, are not in Čiriklo yet; we want to add more dialects later. See the list in Romani dialects.
Who makes Čiriklo
Čiriklo is made by an independent developer, Rudolf Cicko, to help keep Romani alive in families where it is no longer passed on. The content is based on academic dictionaries, textbooks and school materials. It is not affiliated with Duolingo. Questions? See the FAQ or our guide How to learn Romani.