Syrian-Irish man behind novel multi-lingual driving test website

A sheep dressed in an Aran wool jumper, a Donegal tweed hat, and a reflective jacket is an unlikely assistant to help one learn the rules of Irish driving. But Sean, the sheep, as the mascot for irishdrivingtester.com, has already helped more than 3,500 Arabic speakers to navigate their preparations for the Irish driving theory test. The recently launched multi-lingual website application operates in English, Arabic and Polish to help driving theory test aspirants, and is expected to add more languages in its fold.

The force behind the project is Mohamad Abo Haileh, a Syrian software engineer who came to Ireland in 2017 as a teenage boy, having escaped from civil war in his homeland on a boat. Mohamad, an alumnus of TUS, Athlone, is currently employed at Ericsson. It was while studying for masters in computer science at TUS that the idea came to him, but it began taking shape only earlier this year.

Six years ago, when he was preparing for his driving test, he relied on one of the free websites to help him navigate the theory questions. Even though he passed the test, the preparatory experience left him wanting for more. He elaborated: “The available websites were basic, free resource, but lacked on many fronts. It was good to browse the questions and attempt mock tests but wasn't engaging enough. And, if you leave the page at a random question like 320 and try to come back, you will be redirected to the start of questions. There also wasn't a choice to filter the wrongly answered questions, to work on them with more attention."

The experience sowed the seed of doing something to plug these gaps, and also reach out to a wider audience which isn't as comfortable with English. "The idea remained with me, and during the masters programme I felt I could put my education to good use and find a solution," shared Mohamad who faced many challenges while executing his plan.

Mohamad sees the web app as a work in progress. He has been improving and bug-fixing, and evolving it since it was test-launched in May this year. "The challenges are ongoing and aplenty. But I am working on it day by day, as we go forward. The whole exercise is helping me as a software engineer. For instance, a few weeks ago the database got locked and no new users were able to register. I fixed it. But unless the problems surface, the solutions won't," explained Mohamad, who found AI to be an ally in this journey.

Also lending a helping hand to him was his father, Ahmad Abo Haileh, who translated the content from English to Arabic. "Arabic isn't supported on many driving test websites, so I made sure my app fixes this issue too. Along the way, I received a feedback from a user that his father can't read the questions. Therefore, I added an audio feature to listen to the questions. The app is built on personal observation and users' feedback," he shared.

The web-app, Mohamad informed, is a completely free resource. "I don't run any ads on it, no subscriptions, no monetary transactions at all. It is free for everyone to use, forever. In return I am getting to improve my understanding of developing a website," he added.

The 26-year-old has bigger plans for his pet-project. At present, the app is solely focussed on the theory test, Mohamad's eventual plan is to also incorporate a practical aspect to the app. "People fail driving tests for silly reasons, like taking a wrong turn. I know that a learner driver is supposed to drive with a full driving license holder, but I believe an app which can follow you as you are driving, via your phone, and understand where you are making a mistake, and correct you, can be a game changer," said the Roscommon resident, who has also pitched the idea to Enterprise Ireland. Progress on the matter is expected by next year.

Google Analytics, the tool Mohamad uses to gather data about his website, tells him that there are 3700 active users, while the total number of views stand at 3,34,000. "I am delighted that so many people are using it. This is without any marketing or ads, only word of mouth," Mohamad explained.

The success of his work is dawning on him slowly. Recently, an online group for Arabic speakers in Ireland had people praising the website. A comment read -- I opened the app and used it for some time. Honestly, it is excellent, and I will use it for my test. Another comment with fewer words has Mohamad beaming. 'I got the license. Thank You,' it read.