LingoflyAt the immigration office in Sinhala
At the immigration office: an applicant extends a visa and asks about documents and timelines in Sinhala. 8 phrases that the conversation is made of: «ආයුබෝවන් (āyubōvan), මට වීසා එක දිගු කරගන්න ඕනේ» (maṭa vīsā eka digu karaganna ōnē) — Hello, I need to extend my visa; «පෝරමය (pōramaya) පුරවලා (puravalā) ලියකියවිලි ඔක්කොම පෙන්නන්න» (liyakiyavili okkoma pennanna) — Fill in the form and present all the documents. Every line can be played right on the page.
How the whole thing sounds
The situation: at the immigration office: an applicant extends a visa and asks about documents and timelines. First the whole conversation, then each line on its own, with a translation.
- tiyenavā. uttarayak enna yana kālaya kīyada?There is. What is the review period?
Lines one by one
| Sinhala | Reading | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| ආයුබෝවන් (āyubōvan), මට වීසා එක දිගු කරගන්න ඕනේ (maṭa vīsā eka digu karaganna ōnē) | āyubōvan, maṭa vīsā eka digu karaganna ōnē | Hello, I need to extend my visa. |
| පෝරමය (pōramaya) පුරවලා (puravalā) ලියකියවිලි ඔක්කොම පෙන්නන්න (liyakiyavili okkoma pennanna) | pōramaya puravalā liyakiyavili okkoma pennanna | Fill in the form and present all the documents. |
| මම (mama) පාස්පෝට් (pāspōṭ) එකයි (ekayi) ෆොටෝ (foṭō) කොපියි ගෙනාවා (genāvā) | mama pāspōṭ ekayi foṭō kopiyi genāvā | I have brought the passport and a copy of the document. |
| වැඩ (væḍa) බලපත්‍රයක් (balapatrayak) තියෙනවද (tiyenavada)? නැත්නම් (nætnam) අමාරුයි (amāruyi) | væḍa balapatrayak tiyenavada? nætnam amāruyi | Is there a work permit? Otherwise it will be difficult. |
| තියෙනවා (tiyenavā). උත්තරයක් එන්න යන කාලය (uttarayak enna yana kālaya) කීයද? (kīyada) | tiyenavā. uttarayak enna yana kālaya kīyada? | There is. What is the review period? |
| මාසයක් (māsayak) විතර (vitara). ඒක නිසා (ēka nisā) කලින්ම (kalinma) අයදුම් (ayadum) කරන (karana) එක (eka) හොඳයි (hondayi) | māsayak vitara. ēka nisā kalinma ayadum karana eka hondayi | About a month. So it is better to apply in advance. |
| නොදුන්නොත් මොකද (mokada) වෙන්නේ (vennē)? | nodunnot mokada vennē? | And what if it is refused? |
| ආයෙත් (āyet) අයදුම් (ayadum) කරන්න (karanna) පුළුවන් (puḷuvan). හැබැයි (hæbæyi) හේතුව (hētuva) අහගන්න | āyet ayadum karanna puḷuvan. hæbæyi hētuva ahaganna | You can apply again. But do find out the reason. |
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), මට වීසා එක දිගු කරගන්න ඕනේ” (maṭa vīsā eka digu karaganna ōnē) (āyubōvan, maṭa vīsā eka digu karaganna ōnē) — Hello, I need to extend my visa. 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.