LingoflyThe way to the embassy in Sinhala
In the street, asking the way to the embassy in Sinhala. 8 phrases that the conversation is made of: «සමාවෙන්න (samāvenna), තානාපති කාර්යාලය කොහෙද?» (tānāpati kāryālaya koheda) — Excuse me, where is the embassy?; «කෙළින් යන්න (keḷin yanna). ට්‍රැෆික් ලයිට් එකෙන් දකුණට හැරෙන්න» (ṭræfik layiṭ eken dakuṇaṭa hærenna) — Go straight. At the traffic light, turn right. Every line can be played right on the page.
How the whole thing sounds
The situation: in the street, asking the way to the embassy. First the whole conversation, then each line on its own, with a translation.
- samāvenna, tānāpati kāryālaya koheda?Excuse me, where is the embassy?
- puḷuvan, hæbæyi ṭikak durayi. bas hōlṭ eka atanaYou can, but it is a bit far. The bus stop is over there.
- kautukāgāraya issaraha navatina bas eka gannaTake the bus that stops in front of the museum.
- පාර්ක් එකත් ළඟද?pārk ekat ḷangada?Is the park nearby too?
Lines one by one
| Sinhala | Reading | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| සමාවෙන්න (samāvenna), තානාපති කාර්යාලය කොහෙද? (tānāpati kāryālaya koheda) | samāvenna, tānāpati kāryālaya koheda? | Excuse me, where is the embassy? |
| කෙළින් යන්න (keḷin yanna). ට්‍රැෆික් ලයිට් එකෙන් දකුණට හැරෙන්න (ṭræfik layiṭ eken dakuṇaṭa hærenna) | keḷin yanna. ṭræfik layiṭ eken dakuṇaṭa hærenna | Go straight. At the traffic light, turn right. |
| පයින් (payin) යන්න (yanna) පුළුවන්ද (puḷuvanda)? | payin yanna puḷuvanda? | Can I walk there? |
| පුළුවන් (puḷuvan), හැබැයි (hæbæyi) ටිකක් (ṭikak) දුරයි. බස් හෝල්ට් එක (bas hōlṭ eka) අතන (atana) | puḷuvan, hæbæyi ṭikak durayi. bas hōlṭ eka atana | You can, but it is a bit far. The bus stop is over there. |
| මොන (mona) රූට් (rūṭ) එකද (ekada) ගන්න (ganna) ඕන (ōna)? | mona rūṭ ekada ganna ōna? | Which route should I take? |
| කෞතුකාගාරය (kautukāgāraya) ඉස්සරහ (issaraha) නවතින බස් එක (bas eka) ගන්න (ganna) | kautukāgāraya issaraha navatina bas eka ganna | Take the bus that stops in front of the museum. |
| පාර්ක් (pārk) එකත් (ekat) ළඟද? | pārk ekat ḷangada? | Is the park nearby too? |
| ඔව් (ov), පුස්තකාලයට පස්සේ (passē). ගොඩක් (goḍak) ලස්සනයි (lassanayi) | ov, pustakālayaṭa passē. goḍak lassanayi | Yes, right behind the library. Very beautiful. |
How to prepare for a conversation like this
Memorizing the lines is not enough: the other person will say their own thing, not what is written. What helps more is catching the key words by ear and keeping three rescue phrases ready: “I don't understand”, “repeat, please”, “slower”.
And one more thing phrasebooks do not mention: awkwardness gets in the way more than not knowing the words.
- Fear of making mistakes gets in the way of learning a language, and noticeably so. The link turns up study after study, and together those studies cover almost twenty thousand people.checked many timesTeimouri, Goetze & Plonsky, 2019, Studies in Second Language Acquisition 41(2) · 19,933 participants from 23 countries; correlation with results r = −0.36.
- That fear can be dealt with — the methods have been tested and they work.checked many timesXiong et al., 2024, Journal of Language and Social Psychology · 37 studies, anxiety reduced by −0.61. Of the seven conditions examined, only age turned out to matter.
Frequently asked
How do you start a conversation in Sinhala in this situation?
“සමාවෙන්න (samāvenna), තානාපති කාර්යාලය කොහෙද?” (tānāpati kāryālaya koheda) (samāvenna, tānāpati kāryālaya koheda?) — Excuse me, where is the embassy? The first line in such a conversation is almost always the same, and that is the one worth learning: the other person will carry it from there.
What if you did not understand the reply?
Say “I don't understand” and “repeat, please” — both are in the rescue set. Admitting your language is still shaky almost always makes the other person more patient.
Should you memorize the dialogue?
No. It is more useful to catch the key words by ear: the other person will say their own thing, and a memorized line will not always fit their reply.