අලුත් අවුරුද්ද සහ පන්සල
A short in Sinhala text at level A2. 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. Every year in April the New Year comes. Before it Mother cleans the house, and I sweep the yard. On the full-moon day…
Text
- හැම අවුරුද්දකම අප්රේල් මාසේ අලුත් අවුරුද්ද එනවා. ඊට කලින් අම්මා ගෙදර පිරිසිදු කරනවා, මම මිදුල අතුගානවා. පොහොය දවසට අපි පන්සල් යනවා. අතන සීනුව ගහනවා, බෙර සද්දේ ඈතට ඇහෙනවා. ගොඩක් අය අලුත් ඇඳුම් අඳිනවා. සමහරු එදාට උපවාස කරනවා. හවසට ජන නැටුම තියෙනවා, පස්සේ හැමෝටම සංග්රහයක්. ආච්චි කියනවා, ඒක අපේ සම්ප්රදාය කියලා. මම මේ දවසට ගොඩක් කැමතියි.hæma avuruddakama aprēl māsē alut avurudda enavā. īṭa kalin ammā gedara pirisidu karanavā, mama midula atugānavā. pohoya davasaṭa api pansal yanavā. atana sīnuva gahanavā, bera saddē ǣtaṭa æhenavā. goḍak aya alut ændum andinavā. samaharu edāṭa upavāsa karanavā. havasaṭa jana næṭuma tiyenavā, passē hæmōṭama saṁgrahayak. āccī kiyanavā, ēka apē sampradāya kiyalā. mama mē davasaṭa goḍak kæmatiyi.Every year in April the New Year comes. Before it Mother cleans the house, and I sweep the yard. On the full-moon day we go to the temple. There a bell rings, and drums are heard from afar. Many put on new clothes. Some fast on that day. In the evening there is a folk dance, and then a treat for everyone. Grandmother says that this is our tradition. I like this day very much.
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 does the New Year come?
- What is heard at the temple?
- What do some do on that day?
- What does the grandmother say?
Frequently asked
What level do you need to read this text in Sinhala?
A2. 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.