කොළඹ මැරතන් එක
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. Last year my friend took part in the marathon in Colombo. For three months he ran every morning and built up endurance.…
Text
- මගේ යාළුවා පහුගිය අවුරුද්දේ කොළඹ මැරතන් එකට සහභාගි වුණා. එයා මාස තුනක් හැම උදෑසනකම දුවලා ස්ටැමිනා වැඩි කර ගත්තා. ආරම්භය උදේ පහටයි, ෆිනිෂ් එකට එන්න පැය හතරක් ගියා. පාර දෙපැත්තේ ආධාරකරුවෝ අත්පොළසන් දුන්නා. පදක්කමක් ලැබුණේ නෑ, ඒත් එයා කියන්නේ ජයග්රහණය කියන්නේ ඒක නෙවෙයි කියලා.magē yāḷuvā pahugiya avuruddē koḷamba mæratan ekaṭa sahabhāgi vuṇā. eyā māsa tunak hæma udǣsanakama duvalā sṭæminā væḍi kara gattā. ārambhaya udē pahaṭayi, finiṣ ekaṭa enna pæya hatarak giyā. pāra depættē ādhārakaruvō atpoḷasan dunnā. padakkamak læbuṇē nǣ, ēt eyā kiyannē jayagrahaṇaya kiyannē ēka neveyi kiyalā.Last year my friend took part in the marathon in Colombo. For three months he ran every morning and built up endurance. The start was at five in the morning; he reached the finish in four hours. On both sides of the road the fans applauded. He did not receive a medal, but he says that victory is not in that.
Comprehension questions
The questions are asked in Russian on purpose: we test your understanding of the text, not your ability to read the question.
- How long did he prepare?
- What time was the start?
- Who was along the sides of the road?
- What did he receive?
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.