අලුත් කෙනා
A short in Sinhala 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. A new person came to our office; he is accommodating. At first it seemed to everyone that he was withdrawn. But he is…
Text
- අපේ ඔෆිස් එකට අලුත් කෙනෙක් ආවා, එයා පහසුවෙන් එකඟ වෙන කෙනෙක්. මුලින්ම හැමෝටම හිතුණේ එයා තනියම ඉන්න කැමති කෙනෙක් කියලා. ඒත් එයා සියලු විස්තර බලන කෙනෙක්, වැඩේ නිසි විදිහට කරනවා. කවුරුවත් ගැන කේලාම් කියන්නේ නෑ, ඒක අපිට ලොකු දෙයක්. මම එයාට හොඳයි කියලා කිව්වා, ඒත් එයා ලැජ්ජා වුණා; අපි දැන් සමඟියෙන් ඉන්නවා.apē ofis ekaṭa alut kenek āvā, eyā pahasuven ekanga vena kenek. mulinma hæmōṭama hituṇē eyā taniyama inna kæmati kenek kiyalā. ēt eyā siyalu vistara balana kenek, væḍē nisi vidihaṭa karanavā. kauruvat gæna kēlām kiyannē nǣ, ēka apiṭa loku deyak. mama eyāṭa hondayi kiyalā kivvā, ēt eyā læjjā vuṇā; api dæn samagiyen innavā.A new person came to our office; he is accommodating. At first it seemed to everyone that he was withdrawn. But he is thorough and does the work as it should be. He gossips about no one, and for us that means much. I praised him, but he grew embarrassed; now we get along.
Comprehension questions
The questions are asked in Russian on purpose: we test your understanding of the text, not your ability to read the question.
- What did the new person turn out to be?
- What did they think of him at first?
- What do the colleagues value in him?
- How did he react to the praise?
Frequently asked
What level do you need to read this text in Sinhala?
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.