An incident on the road
A short in Kazakh text at level B1. The translation sits next to it: reading with a dictionary is still too early at this level, and without support it will not happen at all. Once I was traveling at night on a train, and the carriage was full. Just as I was falling asleep, the train suddenly…
Text
- Бір жолы мен түнде поезбен келе жатқанмын, вагон толы еді. Дәл ұйықтап бара жатқан кезде кенеттен поезд тоқтап қалды. Соның артынша жарық сөнді, ал адамдар не болғанын сұрап шулай бастады. Кондуктор түсіндірді: алда жол жөнделіп жатыр екен, бір сағат тұрамыз. Сол сәтте қасымдағы кісі әңгіме бастады, ол өз ауылы туралы әсерлі айтты. Түптеп келгенде, сол тоқтау есімде қалды, ал сапардың қалғаны ұмытылды.Once I was traveling at night on a train, and the carriage was full. Just as I was falling asleep, the train suddenly stopped. Right after that the lights went out, and people started making noise, asking what had happened. The conductor explained: the track ahead is being repaired, we will stand for an hour. At that moment the person next to me started a conversation, and he told movingly about his village. In the end it was that stop that stayed in my memory, while the rest of the trip was forgotten.
Comprehension questions
The questions are asked in Russian on purpose: we test your understanding of the text, not your ability to read the question.
- When did the train stop?
- What happened right after the stop?
- What did the conductor explain?
- What stayed in the narrator's memory?
Frequently asked
What level do you need to read this text in Kazakh?
B1. That means: you know the letters and have a stock of everyday words — about two or three hundred.
How to read a text in an unfamiliar language usefully?
First all the way through without peeking at the translation — just to catch the familiar words. Then with the translation. Then all the way through again: the second pass brings noticeably more, and that feeling matters more than any rule.