පාරේදී වුණ දෙයක්
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. Yesterday I was driving by car to Galle. At rush hour there were many traffic jams, so I took another road. Right after…
Text
- ඊයේ මම කාර් එකේ ගාල්ලට යනවා. රෂ් අවර් එකේ ට්රැෆික් වැඩි නිසා මම වෙන පාරකින් ගියා. පාලමෙන් පස්සේ එකපාරටම ටයර් එක පංචර් වුණා. මම පාරේ කොනට වෙලා නැවැත්තුවා, හෙඩ්ලයිට් එක දාලා පිටිපස්සේ ලකුණක් තිබ්බා. ස්පෙයාර් ටයරේ තිබුණත් මට තනියම මාරු කරන්න බැරි වුණා. මම ටෝ ට්රක් එකක් කෝල් කළා, එයාලා විනාඩි විස්සකින් ආවා. කාර්මිකයා කිව්වා අලුත් ටයරයක් ගන්න වෙනවා කියලා. ගාල්ලට යන ගමන කල් දාලා මම ගෙදර ආපහු ආවා.īyē mama kār ekē gāllaṭa yanavā. raṣ avar ekē ṭræfik væḍi nisā mama vena pārakin giyā. pālamen passē ekapāraṭama ṭayar eka paṁcar vuṇā. mama pārē konaṭa velā nævættuvā, heḍlayiṭ eka dālā piṭipassē lakuṇak tibbā. speyār ṭayarē tibuṇat maṭa taniyama māru karanna bæri vuṇā. mama ṭō ṭrak ekak kōl kaḷā, eyālā vināḍi vissakin āvā. kārmikayā kivvā alut ṭayarayak ganna venavā kiyalā. gāllaṭa yana gamana kal dālā mama gedara āpahu āvā.Yesterday I was driving by car to Galle. At rush hour there were many traffic jams, so I took another road. Right after the bridge I punctured a wheel. I pressed to the roadside and stopped, turned on the headlights and placed a sign behind. There was a spare wheel, but I could not change the wheel myself. I called a tow truck; they came in twenty minutes. The technician said that a new tire would have to be bought. I postponed the trip to Galle and returned home.
Comprehension questions
The questions are asked in Russian on purpose: we test your understanding of the text, not your ability to read the question.
- Why did the author take another road?
- What happened after the bridge?
- What did the author do right after stopping?
- How did the day 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.