LingoflyHow do I get to the station? in Sinhala
A visitor asks a passerby at a crossroads the way to the station in Sinhala. 8 phrases that the conversation is made of: «සමාවෙන්න, මට එකක් අහන්න පුළුවන්ද? (samāvenna, maṭa ekak ahanna puḷuvanda) ස්ටේෂන් එක මෙතන ඉඳලා දුරද?» (sṭēṣan eka metana indalā durada) — Excuse me, may I ask you? Is the station far from here?; «නෑ, පයින් විනාඩි දහයක්» (payin vināḍi dahayak) — No, ten minutes on foot. Every line can be played right on the page.
How the whole thing sounds
The situation: a visitor asks a passerby at a crossroads the way to the station. First the whole conversation, then each line on its own, with a translation.
- samāvenna, maṭa ekak ahanna puḷuvanda? sṭēṣan eka metana indalā durada?Excuse me, may I ask you? Is the station far from here?
- කොහොමද යන්නේ? මැප් එකේ පෙන්නන්න පුළුවන්ද?kohomada yannē? mæp ekē pennanna puḷuvanda?How do I get there? Can you show it on the map?
- ṭræfik layiṭ eka ḷanga dakuṇaṭa hærenna. sṭēṣan eka bæṁkuva idiripiṭaBy the traffic light, turn right. The station is opposite the bank.
- maṭa hariyaṭa tēruṇāda? pālamen passē dakuṇaṭaHave I understood correctly? After the bridge, to the right.
- හරියටම ඒක තමයි. ටැක්සියක් කෝල් කරන්නත් පුළුවන්hariyaṭama ēka tamayi. ṭæksiyak kōl karannat puḷuvanExactly so. You can also call a taxi.
Lines one by one
| Sinhala | Reading | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| සමාවෙන්න, මට එකක් අහන්න පුළුවන්ද? (samāvenna, maṭa ekak ahanna puḷuvanda) ස්ටේෂන් එක මෙතන ඉඳලා දුරද? (sṭēṣan eka metana indalā durada) | samāvenna, maṭa ekak ahanna puḷuvanda? sṭēṣan eka metana indalā durada? | Excuse me, may I ask you? Is the station far from here? |
| නෑ, පයින් විනාඩි දහයක් (payin vināḍi dahayak) | nǣ, payin vināḍi dahayak | No, ten minutes on foot. |
| කොහොමද යන්නේ (kohomada yannē)? මැප් එකේ පෙන්නන්න (mæp ekē pennanna) පුළුවන්ද (puḷuvanda)? | kohomada yannē? mæp ekē pennanna puḷuvanda? | How do I get there? Can you show it on the map? |
| පාර දිගේ කෙළින් යන්න (pāra digē keḷin yanna), පාලම හරහා යන්න (pālama harahā yanna) | pāra digē keḷin yanna, pālama harahā yanna | Go straight along the street and across the bridge. |
| පාලමෙන් පස්සේ (passē)? | pālamen passē? | And after the bridge? |
| ට්‍රැෆික් ලයිට් එක ළඟ (ṭræfik layiṭ eka ḷanga) දකුණට (dakuṇaṭa) හැරෙන්න (hærenna). ස්ටේෂන් (sṭēṣan) එක (eka) බැංකුව (bæṁkuva) ඉදිරිපිට (idiripiṭa) | ṭræfik layiṭ eka ḷanga dakuṇaṭa hærenna. sṭēṣan eka bæṁkuva idiripiṭa | By the traffic light, turn right. The station is opposite the bank. |
| මට හරියට තේරුණාද (maṭa hariyaṭa tēruṇāda)? පාලමෙන් පස්සේ (passē) දකුණට (dakuṇaṭa) | maṭa hariyaṭa tēruṇāda? pālamen passē dakuṇaṭa | Have I understood correctly? After the bridge, to the right. |
| හරියටම ඒක තමයි (hariyaṭama ēka tamayi). ටැක්සියක් (ṭæksiyak) කෝල් (kōl) කරන්නත් පුළුවන් (puḷuvan) | hariyaṭama ēka tamayi. ṭæksiyak kōl karannat puḷuvan | Exactly so. You can also call a taxi. |
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, මට එකක් අහන්න පුළුවන්ද? (samāvenna, maṭa ekak ahanna puḷuvanda) ස්ටේෂන් එක මෙතන ඉඳලා දුරද?” (sṭēṣan eka metana indalā durada) (samāvenna, maṭa ekak ahanna puḷuvanda? sṭēṣan eka metana indalā durada?) — Excuse me, may I ask you? Is the station far from 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.