in Kazakh texts
Short in Kazakh texts with a translation alongside and comprehension questions. Levels A1–A2: a stock of two or three hundred everyday words is already enough. The translation stands next to it whole, not word by word — a dictionary is still too early at this level: stopping at every other word tears the sentence apart.
All texts
- 📖An ordinary dayA1 · Hello. My name is Aigul, I live in Almaty. In the morning I drink tea and eat bread with…
- 📖At the marketA2 · On Saturday I go to the market with my family. The market is close to home, ten minutes…
- 📖The Saturday bazaarA2 · On Saturday I go to the bazaar early, because in the morning everything is fresh. My…
- 📖A rented flatA2 · We rent a two-room flat on the third floor. The flat has a big kitchen but a small…
- 📖At the pharmacyA2 · Yesterday evening my head hurt and my throat hurt too. I had no fever, so I did not go to…
- 📖Four seasons in AlmatyA2 · In Almaty spring comes early: in March the sun is warm, and in April it often rains. In…
- 📖My jobA2 · My profession is engineer, and I work in a big office. The working day is from nine to…
- 📖By train to TurkestanA2 · Last month I went to Turkestan by train, because the ticket is half the price of a plane…
- 📖A holiday at the lakeA2 · In summer we went up into the mountains and drove to a small lake. There is no sand on…
- 📖Autumn clothesA2 · Autumn has come, so I went to the bazaar looking for warm clothes. I liked a brown…
- 📖A small quarrelA2 · Yesterday I quarreled with a colleague because he did not listen to me. I was angry and…
- 📖The Sunday mealA2 · On Sundays I cook at home, because the whole family gathers. First I wash the vegetables…
- 📖I lost my phoneA2 · Yesterday evening I forgot my phone in a taxi, because I was in a hurry getting out. When…
- 📖A day in the cityA2 · On Saturday I went into the city, because I needed to make it to both the hairdresser and…
- 📖My free timeA2 · My hobby is drawing, but there is little time, so most often I draw only on my day off.…
- 📖The Nauryz holidayA2 · Nauryz is the biggest holiday, celebrated every year in March, and the whole country…
- 📖Our houseA2 · We live in a house on the edge of the city: there is a yard, there is a fence, and a…
- 📖Before the examA2 · Last week the whole class prepared for the exam, because the grades go into the diploma.…
- 📖The monthly budgetA2 · Having received my salary, first I pay the utility bill and the monthly loan payment. I…
- 📖A week at the hospitalA2 · In January my father fell, and the doctor established a fracture. We called an ambulance…
- 📖A new jobA2 · In spring there were layoffs in the department, and I was left without work. For two…
- 📖Renting a flatA2 · We looked for a flat close to the new job, and the agent showed us three options. The…
- 📖On the roadA2 · Last Sunday we rented a car and set off toward the mountains. First we filled up, then I…
- 📖A photo on social mediaB1 · Yesterday I posted a photo taken in the mountains, and then put the phone in my pocket.…
- 📖A night incidentB1 · At night a window in the neighbor's shop broke, and he reported it to the police at once.…
- 📖I am not sureB1 · A friend told me he had received an offer of a new job, but added that he was not sure.…
- 📖The order of the dayA2 · Usually in the morning I first read the letters, then write down the plan for the day.…
- 📖About my grandfatherA2 · My grandfather was a man of medium height, gray-haired, with a deep wrinkle on his…
- 📖After the falling-outA2 · Last week a conflict came up with my close friend; she was hurt with me badly. I was on…
- 📖Pumpkin porridgeA2 · First I peeled the vegetables and chopped the pumpkin finely on the cutting board. Then I…
- 📖At the mallA2 · On our day off we went to the mall, because our son needed a jacket. The jacket in the…
- 📖The washing machine brokeA2 · Yesterday the washing machine started making noise, and then stopped working altogether.…
- 📖A thunderstorm in the villageA2 · In summer, when we came to the village, toward evening the weather turned overcast. First…
- 📖Our districtA2 · We live in a quiet district on the edge of the city. Behind the house there is a park: it…
- 📖How I am learning the languageA2 · A year has passed since I started learning Kazakh on my own. I memorize ten words a day…
- 📖My grandfather's life pathA2 · My grandfather was born in a village, and his childhood fell on hard years. After…
- 📖I learned to ask againA2 · Earlier, talking on the phone, I worried a lot: even if I did not catch something, it…
- 📖My own businessB1 · Two years ago I worked at a factory; then I quit and opened a small workshop. In the…
- 📖The end of the monthA2 · The salary payment arrives on the fifth of each month, but the money runs out by the…
- 📖Trash in the yardB1 · In our district trash recycling began a year ago. First three different bins were put in…
- 📖The book clubB1 · Our book club gathers once a month at the library. Each person picks a novel or a story…
- 📖The final gameA2 · Yesterday the final of the city championship took place. The gym was full, the fans sang.…
- 📖Measure and spaceB1 · Science explains the big with a small measure. At school we were told: the Earth is a…
- 📖Taking care of healthA2 · Last autumn I began to fall ill often. First I caught the flu, then my throat grew…
- 📖The housewarmingA2 · Last Saturday our neighbor held a housewarming. We came early and helped set the table.…
- 📖The dispute in the yardB1 · The dispute in our yard dragged on for a year. One group of residents wanted the road…
- 📖Making a decisionB1 · I was offered a job in another city, and making the decision was not easy. The salary is…
- 📖The old cupboardB1 · The cupboard left from grandfather stands in the corner of the room: the shape is simple…
- 📖In the new districtA2 · When we moved, we did not know the district at all, and in the first week we got lost…
- 📖The family accountB1 · This year we started writing down our household expenses, and after a month the figures…
- 📖The course of the projectB1 · We started the project in spring, and everything had to be done from scratch. In the…
- 📖A small researchB1 · In the school laboratory we carried out a small study of the water quality. First we…
- 📖The village has changedB1 · I was born in this village, and over the last decade everything here has changed. Since…
- 📖The price of waterB1 · In our region summers are dry, and the water resource is not endless. Upstream on the…
- 📖A day in the shop floorA2 · The working day starts at seven with a briefing: we go over the safety rules. Then we put…
- 📖An incident on the roadB1 · Once I was traveling at night on a train, and the carriage was full. Just as I was…
- 📖About characterB1 · I have two friends, and their characters are entirely different. The first is…
How to read a text in a language you barely know
First pass — all the way through, without peeking at the translation. The goal is not to understand but to catch familiar words: there will be more of them than you expect, and that feeling matters more than any rule.
Second pass — with the translation beside you. Now it becomes clear what exactly was in the way: an unknown word, a construction you did not get, or just reading speed.
Third pass — all the way through again. The second pass brings noticeably more, and this step is what makes reading useful: it turns analysis into recognition.
Frequently asked
What level do you need to read texts in Kazakh?
A1–A2: you know the letters and have a stock of everyday words — about two or three hundred. The translation sits next to it, so an unknown word does not stop the reading.
How many times should you reread the text?
Three times: without the translation, with it, and without it again. The third pass is what all of this is for — the second time you recognize noticeably more.