LingoflyAn argument at the meeting in Sinhala
A residents’ meeting: they argue whether to put a camera at the gate, and almost quarrel in Sinhala. 8 phrases that the conversation is made of: «මගේ (magē) මතය (mataya) කියන්නම් (kiyannam): ගේට්ටුවේ (gēṭṭuvē) සීසීටීවී (sīsīṭīvī) කැමරාවක් (kæmarāvak) දාන්න (dānna) ඕන (ōna).» — I will say my opinion: a surveillance camera must be put at the gate; «මම (mama) ඒකට (ēkaṭa) විරුද්ධයි (viruddhayi). ගාණ (gāṇa) වැඩියි (væḍiyi).» — I am against. It is expensive. Every line can be played right on the page.
How the whole thing sounds
The situation: a residents’ meeting: they argue whether to put a camera at the gate, and almost quarrel. First the whole conversation, then each line on its own, with a translation.
- සද්දේ වැඩි කරන්න එපා. මම කරුණක් කිව්වා විතරයි.saddē væḍi karanna epā. mama karuṇak kivvā vitarayi.Do not raise your voice. I merely named a fact.
- ඒක බුද්ධිමත් යෝජනාවක්. ප්‍රතිවිපාකත් සැලකිල්ලට ගන්න ඕන.ēka buddhimat yōjanāvak. prativipākat sælakillaṭa ganna ōna.That is a reasonable proposal. And the consequences must be considered.
- mama tāma tamangē matayē innavā, ēt tīraṇaya okkomagē.I am still of my opinion, but everyone will decide.
Lines one by one
| Sinhala | Reading | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| මගේ (magē) මතය (mataya) කියන්නම් (kiyannam): ගේට්ටුවේ (gēṭṭuvē) සීසීටීවී (sīsīṭīvī) කැමරාවක් (kæmarāvak) දාන්න (dānna) ඕන (ōna). | magē mataya kiyannam: gēṭṭuvē sīsīṭīvī kæmarāvak dānna ōna. | I will say my opinion: a surveillance camera must be put at the gate. |
| මම (mama) ඒකට (ēkaṭa) විරුද්ධයි (viruddhayi). ගාණ (gāṇa) වැඩියි (væḍiyi). | mama ēkaṭa viruddhayi. gāṇa væḍiyi. | I am against. It is expensive. |
| ඔයාගේ (oyāgē) තර්කය (tarkaya) තේරෙනවා (tērenavā). සල්ලි (salli) ගැන තමයි කතාව (gæna tamayi katāva) නම් (nam), බෙදාගන්න පුළුවන් (puḷuvan). | oyāgē tarkaya tērenavā. salli gæna tamayi katāva nam, bedāganna puḷuvan. | Your argument is clear. If it is about money, it can be divided. |
| සද්දේ (saddē) වැඩි (væḍi) කරන්න (karanna) එපා (epā). මම (mama) කරුණක් (karuṇak) කිව්වා (kivvā) විතරයි (vitarayi). | saddē væḍi karanna epā. mama karuṇak kivvā vitarayi. | Do not raise your voice. I merely named a fact. |
| සමාවෙන්න (samāvenna). මම (mama) අපහාස (apahāsa) කරන්න (karanna) හැදුවේ (hæduvē) නෑ. | samāvenna. mama apahāsa karanna hæduvē nǣ. | Sorry. I did not mean to insult. |
| හොඳයි (hondayi). එහෙනම් (ehenam) සමීක්ෂණයක් කරලා (karalā) බලමු (balamu). | hondayi. ehenam samīkṣaṇayak karalā balamu. | Good. Then let us hold a survey. |
| ඒක (ēka) බුද්ධිමත් (buddhimat) යෝජනාවක්. ප්‍රතිවිපාකත් සැලකිල්ලට (sælakillaṭa) ගන්න (ganna) ඕන (ōna). | ēka buddhimat yōjanāvak. prativipākat sælakillaṭa ganna ōna. | That is a reasonable proposal. And the consequences must be considered. |
| මම (mama) තාම (tāma) තමන්ගේ මතයේ ඉන්නවා (tamangē matayē innavā), ඒත් (ēt) තීරණය (tīraṇaya) ඔක්කොමගේ. | mama tāma tamangē matayē innavā, ēt tīraṇaya okkomagē. | I am still of my opinion, but everyone will decide. |
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?
“මගේ (magē) මතය (mataya) කියන්නම් (kiyannam): ගේට්ටුවේ (gēṭṭuvē) සීසීටීවී (sīsīṭīvī) කැමරාවක් (kæmarāvak) දාන්න (dānna) ඕන (ōna).” (magē mataya kiyannam: gēṭṭuvē sīsīṭīvī kæmarāvak dānna ōna.) — I will say my opinion: a surveillance camera must be put at the gate. 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.