ගමේ පන්සල
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. The temple in our village is placed above the village, on a hill. On every full moon a believer goes there from early…
Text
- අපේ ගමේ පන්සල හදලා තියෙන්නේ ගමට උඩින්, කන්දක් උඩ. හැම පොහොය දවසකම ආගම අදහන කෙනා උදේම එතනට යනවා. පන්සලට යනකොට සපත්තු ගලවනවා, ඒ තමයි සිරිත, සහ හාමුදුරුවෝ ඉස්සරහ වැඩිහිටියෝ වඳිනවා. අවුරුද්දකට වතාවක් ගමේ අස්වනු උත්සවය තියෙනවා, ඒ දවසේ අලුත් සහල් පන්සලට ගෙනියනවා. ගමේ ඉන්නේ බෞද්ධයෝ විතරක් නෙවෙයි, ඒත් හැමෝම අනුන්ගේ ආගමට ගරු කරනවා. මගේ සීයා කියනවා ඒක තමයි ගමේ ලොකුම වාසිය කියලා.apē gamē pansala hadalā tiyennē gamaṭa uḍin, kandak uḍa. hæma pohoya davasakama āgama adahana kenā udēma etanaṭa yanavā. pansalaṭa yanakoṭa sapattu galavanavā, ē tamayi sirita, saha hāmuduruvō issaraha væḍihiṭiyō vandinavā. avuruddakaṭa vatāvak gamē asvanu utsavaya tiyenavā, ē davasē alut sahal pansalaṭa geniyanavā. gamē innē bauddhayō vitarak neveyi, ēt hæmōma anungē āgamaṭa garu karanavā. magē sīyā kiyanavā ēka tamayi gamē lokuma vāsiya kiyalā.The temple in our village is placed above the village, on a hill. On every full moon a believer goes there from early morning. Entering the temple, one takes off the shoes — that is the custom — and before the monk the elders fold their palms. Once a year in the village there is a harvest festival, and on that day new rice is carried to the temple. Not only Buddhists live in the village, but everyone respects another’s faith. My grandfather says that this is the greatest advantage of the village.
Comprehension questions
The questions are asked in Russian on purpose: we test your understanding of the text, not your ability to read the question.
- Where does the temple stand?
- What is done when entering the temple?
- What is carried to the temple at the harvest festival?
- What does grandfather consider the main advantage of the village?
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.