LingoflySigning up for a course in Sinhala
At a language center: the administrator signs a person up for a Sinhala course in Sinhala. 8 phrases that the conversation is made of: «මට (maṭa) සිංහල (siṁhala) කෝස් (kōs) එකක් (ekak) කරන්න (karanna) ඕනේ (ōnē). ලියාපදිංචි (liyāpadiṁci) වෙන්නේ (vennē) කොහොමද?» (kohomada) — I want to take Sinhala courses. How do I sign up?; «ඔයාගේ (oyāgē) භාෂා මට්ටම (bhāṣā maṭṭama) මොකක්ද (mokakda)?» — What is your level in the language? Every line can be played right on the page.
How the whole thing sounds
The situation: at a language center: the administrator signs a person up for a Sinhala course. First the whole conversation, then each line on its own, with a translation.
- mama mēkaṭa alut kenā. hæbæyi mama ikmanaṭa igena gannavāI am a beginner at it. But I learn quickly.
- මට අහලා තේරුම් ගන්න අමාරුයි. ඒකට වෙන දෙයක් තියෙනවද?maṭa ahalā tērum ganna amāruyi. ēkaṭa vena deyak tiyenavada?I find listening hard. Is there something separate for that?
- පන්තියක් මඟ හැරුණොත් මොකද වෙන්නේ?pantiyak maga hæruṇot mokada vennē?And what happens if I miss a class?
Lines one by one
| Sinhala | Reading | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| මට (maṭa) සිංහල (siṁhala) කෝස් (kōs) එකක් (ekak) කරන්න (karanna) ඕනේ (ōnē). ලියාපදිංචි (liyāpadiṁci) වෙන්නේ (vennē) කොහොමද? (kohomada) | maṭa siṁhala kōs ekak karanna ōnē. liyāpadiṁci vennē kohomada? | I want to take Sinhala courses. How do I sign up? |
| ඔයාගේ (oyāgē) භාෂා මට්ටම (bhāṣā maṭṭama) මොකක්ද (mokakda)? | oyāgē bhāṣā maṭṭama mokakda? | What is your level in the language? |
| මම මේකට අලුත් කෙනා (mama mēkaṭa alut kenā). හැබැයි (hæbæyi) මම ඉක්මනට ඉගෙන ගන්නවා (mama ikmanaṭa igena gannavā) | mama mēkaṭa alut kenā. hæbæyi mama ikmanaṭa igena gannavā | I am a beginner at it. But I learn quickly. |
| හොඳයි (hondayi). උච්චාරණය (uccāraṇaya) සහ (saha) ව්‍යාකරණ (vyākaraṇa) මුල ඉඳන් (mula indan) කරනවා (karanavā) | hondayi. uccāraṇaya saha vyākaraṇa mula indan karanavā | Good. We will start pronunciation and grammar from the very beginning. |
| මට අහලා තේරුම් ගන්න අමාරුයි (maṭa ahalā tērum ganna amāruyi). ඒකට (ēkaṭa) වෙන (vena) දෙයක් (deyak) තියෙනවද (tiyenavada)? | maṭa ahalā tērum ganna amāruyi. ēkaṭa vena deyak tiyenavada? | I find listening hard. Is there something separate for that? |
| ඔව් (ov), ඔන්ලයින් (onlayin) කෝස් (kōs) එකකුත් තියෙනවා (tiyenavā). සටහන් (saṭahan) අපි (api) දෙනවා (denavā) | ov, onlayin kōs ekakut tiyenavā. saṭahan api denavā | Yes, there is an online course too. We provide notes. |
| පන්තියක් (pantiyak) මඟ (manga) හැරුණොත් මොකද (mokada) වෙන්නේ (vennē)? | pantiyak maga hæruṇot mokada vennē? | And what happens if I miss a class? |
| කමක් නෑ (kamak nǣ), තනියම (taniyama) කරගන්න (karaganna) පුළුවන් (puḷuvan). පළවෙනි (paḷaveni) පන්තිය (pantiya) නොමිලේ (nomilē) | kamak nǣ, taniyama karaganna puḷuvan. paḷaveni pantiya nomilē | No harm done, you can catch up on your own. The first lesson is free. |
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?
“මට (maṭa) සිංහල (siṁhala) කෝස් (kōs) එකක් (ekak) කරන්න (karanna) ඕනේ (ōnē). ලියාපදිංචි (liyāpadiṁci) වෙන්නේ (vennē) කොහොමද?” (kohomada) (maṭa siṁhala kōs ekak karanna ōnē. liyāpadiṁci vennē kohomada?) — I want to take Sinhala courses. How do I sign up? 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.