වෙනස් වුණ ගම
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. My grandfather says that in those years there was no road to the village. The ancestors tilled the field right here…
Text
- මගේ සීයා කියනවා, ඒ අවුරුදුවල ගමට යන්න පාරක් තිබුණේ නෑ කියලා. මුතුන් මිත්තෝ මෙතනම කුඹුරු කරලා, එකම දිනචරියාව අනාදිමත් කාලයක් තිස්සේ තිබුණා. දශකයකට කලින් පාර හැදුවා, දැන් බස් එක දිනපතා දුවනවා. ඉඳහිට තාම කරන්ට් එක යනවා, ඒත් ගිය කාලේ වගේ නෙවෙයි. සීයාට ඒකට හුරු වෙන්න කාලයක් ගියා, ඒත් අන්තිමට එයා හිත හදාගත්තා.magē sīyā kiyanavā, ē avuruduvala gamaṭa yanna pārak tibuṇē nǣ kiyalā. mutun mittō metanama kumburu karalā, ekama dinacariyāva anādimat kālayak tissē tibuṇā. daśakayakaṭa kalin pāra hæduvā, dæn bas eka dinapatā duvanavā. indahiṭa tāma karanṭ eka yanavā, ēt giya kālē vagē neveyi. sīyāṭa ēkaṭa huru venna kālayak giyā, ēt antimaṭa eyā hita hadāgattā.My grandfather says that in those years there was no road to the village. The ancestors tilled the field right here, and one and the same order held since time immemorial. A decade ago the road was built; now the bus runs daily. Now and then the power is still cut, but not as in the old days. It took grandfather time to adapt, but in the end he came to terms with it.
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 was absent in the village in those years?
- When was the road built?
- How often does the bus run now?
- What did grandfather do in the end?
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.