වයි-ෆයි සහ චාජර් එක 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, මෙතන වයි-ෆයි තියෙනවද?» — Hello, do you have Wi-Fi here?; «තියෙනවා. පාස්වර්ඩ් එක මේකයි» — We do. Here's the password. Every line can be played right on the page. The conversation is predictable: few lines, and almost all of them repeat from one exchange to the next.
How the whole thing sounds
The situation: in a small cafe, asking for the wi-fi password and a socket. The conversation is short and predictable — which is exactly what makes it good for a first try: few lines, and almost all of them repeat from one exchange to the next.
- ආයුබෝවන්, මෙතන වයි-ෆයි තියෙනවද?āyubōvan, metana vayi-fayi tiyenavada?Hello, do you have Wi-Fi here?
- තියෙනවා. පාස්වර්ඩ් එක මේකයිtiyenavā. pāsvarḍ eka mēkayiWe do. Here's the password.
- ස්තූතියි. හැබැයි මගේ ෆෝන් එකේ සිග්නල් නෑstūtiyi. hæbæyi magē fōn ekē signal nǣThank you. But my phone has no signal.
- එක පාරක් ඕෆ් කරලා ආයේ ඔන් කරන්නeka pārak ōf karalā āyē on karannaTurn it off once and on again.
- දැන් වැඩ කරනවා. මගේ බැටරිය ඉවරයි, චාජර් එකක් තියෙනවද?dæn væḍa karanavā. magē bæṭariya ivarayi, cājar ekak tiyenavada?It works now. My battery has died — do you have a charger?
- අර ප්ලග් පොයින්ට් එකේ ගහන්නara plag poyinṭ ekē gahannaPlug into that socket over there.
- ගොඩක් ස්තූතියි. ඔයාගේ ෆෝන් නම්බර් එක දෙන්න, මම ආයේ කෝල් කරන්නම්goḍak stūtiyi. oyāgē fōn nambar eka denna, mama āyē kōl karannamThank you very much. Give me your number, I will call back.
- හරි. ඊමේල් එකත් ලියලා දෙන්නම්hari. īmēl ekat liyalā dennamGood. And I will write down my email too.
Lines one by one
| Sinhala | Reading | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| ආයුබෝවන්, මෙතන වයි-ෆයි තියෙනවද? | āyubōvan, metana vayi-fayi tiyenavada? | Hello, do you have Wi-Fi here? |
| තියෙනවා. පාස්වර්ඩ් එක මේකයි | tiyenavā. pāsvarḍ eka mēkayi | We do. Here's the password. |
| ස්තූතියි. හැබැයි මගේ ෆෝන් එකේ සිග්නල් නෑ | stūtiyi. hæbæyi magē fōn ekē signal nǣ | Thank you. But my phone has no signal. |
| එක පාරක් ඕෆ් කරලා ආයේ ඔන් කරන්න | eka pārak ōf karalā āyē on karanna | Turn it off once and on again. |
| දැන් වැඩ කරනවා. මගේ බැටරිය ඉවරයි, චාජර් එකක් තියෙනවද? | dæn væḍa karanavā. magē bæṭariya ivarayi, cājar ekak tiyenavada? | It works now. My battery has died — do you have a charger? |
| අර ප්ලග් පොයින්ට් එකේ ගහන්න | ara plag poyinṭ ekē gahanna | Plug into that socket over there. |
| ගොඩක් ස්තූතියි. ඔයාගේ ෆෝන් නම්බර් එක දෙන්න, මම ආයේ කෝල් කරන්නම් | goḍak stūtiyi. oyāgē fōn nambar eka denna, mama āyē kōl karannam | Thank you very much. Give me your number, I will call back. |
| හරි. ඊමේල් එකත් ලියලා දෙන්නම් | 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 it gets in the way badly. It is one of the most reliably measured findings in the entire field.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, මෙතන වයි-ෆයි තියෙනවද?” (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.