LingoflyWi-Fi and a charger in Sinhala
In a small cafe, asking for the Wi-Fi password and a socket in Sinhala. 8 phrases that the conversation is made of: «ආයුබෝවන් (āyubōvan), මෙතන වයි-ෆයි තියෙනවද?» (metana vayi-fayi tiyenavada) — Hello, do you have Wi-Fi here?; «තියෙනවා (tiyenavā). පාස්වර්ඩ් එක (pāsvarḍ eka) මේකයි» (mēkayi) — We do. Here's the password. Every line can be played right on the page.
How the whole thing sounds
The situation: in a small cafe, asking for the Wi-Fi password and a socket. First the whole conversation, then each line on its own, with a translation.
- stūtiyi. hæbæyi magē fōn ekē signal nǣThank you. But my phone has no signal.
- dæn væḍa karanavā. magē bæṭariya ivarayi, cājar ekak tiyenavada?It works now. My battery has died — do you have a charger?
- goḍak stūtiyi. oyāgē fōn nambar eka denna, mama āyē kōl karannamThank you very much. Give me your number, I will call back.
Lines one by one
| Sinhala | Reading | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| ආයුබෝවන් (āyubōvan), මෙතන වයි-ෆයි තියෙනවද? (metana vayi-fayi tiyenavada) | āyubōvan, metana vayi-fayi tiyenavada? | Hello, do you have Wi-Fi here? |
| තියෙනවා (tiyenavā). පාස්වර්ඩ් එක (pāsvarḍ eka) මේකයි (mēkayi) | tiyenavā. pāsvarḍ eka mēkayi | We do. Here's the password. |
| ස්තූතියි (stūtiyi). හැබැයි (hæbæyi) මගේ (magē) ෆෝන් (fōn) එකේ (ekē) සිග්නල් නෑ (signal nǣ) | stūtiyi. hæbæyi magē fōn ekē signal nǣ | Thank you. But my phone has no signal. |
| එක (eka) පාරක් (pārak) ඕෆ් (ōf) කරලා (karalā) ආයේ (āyē) ඔන් (on) කරන්න (karanna) | eka pārak ōf karalā āyē on karanna | Turn it off once and on again. |
| දැන් (dæn) වැඩ කරනවා (væḍa karanavā). මගේ බැටරිය ඉවරයි (magē bæṭariya ivarayi), චාජර් (cājar) එකක් (ekak) තියෙනවද (tiyenavada)? | dæn væḍa karanavā. magē bæṭariya ivarayi, cājar ekak tiyenavada? | It works now. My battery has died — do you have a charger? |
| අර (ara) ප්ලග් (plag) පොයින්ට් (poyinṭ) එකේ (ekē) ගහන්න (gahanna) | ara plag poyinṭ ekē gahanna | Plug into that socket over there. |
| ගොඩක් (goḍak) ස්තූතියි (stūtiyi). ඔයාගේ ෆෝන් නම්බර් එක දෙන්න (oyāgē fōn nambar eka denna), මම ආයේ කෝල් කරන්නම් (mama āyē kōl karannam) | goḍak stūtiyi. oyāgē fōn nambar eka denna, mama āyē kōl karannam | Thank you very much. Give me your number, I will call back. |
| හරි (hari). ඊමේල් (īmēl) එකත් (ekat) ලියලා (liyalā) දෙන්නම් (dennam) | hari. īmēl ekat liyalā dennam | Good. And I will write down my email too. |
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?
“ආයුබෝවන් (āyubōvan), මෙතන වයි-ෆයි තියෙනවද?” (metana vayi-fayi tiyenavada) (āyubōvan, metana vayi-fayi tiyenavada?) — Hello, do you have Wi-Fi here? 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.