ඒ ගැන දෙපැත්තක් in Sinhala
An argument about a news item from social media: one believes, the other doubts and asks to check in Sinhala. 8 phrases that the conversation is made of: «සමාජ මාධ්ය වල ලොකු කලබලයක් තියෙනවා» — There is a big scandal on social media.; «මොකද වුණේ? මූලාශ්රය මොකක්ද?» — What happened? What is the source? 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: an argument about a news item from social media: one believes, the other doubts and asks to check. 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.
- සමාජ මාධ්ය වල ලොකු කලබලයක් තියෙනවාsamāja mādhya vala loku kalabalayak tiyenavāThere is a big scandal on social media.
- මොකද වුණේ? මූලාශ්රය මොකක්ද?mokada vuṇē? mūlāśraya mokakda?What happened? What is the source?
- පෝස්ට් එකක. එයාලා කිව්වා ඒක ඇත්ත කියලාpōsṭ ekaka. eyālā kivvā ēka ætta kiyalāIn one post. They said it was true.
- මට නම් සැකයි. තොරතුරු හරිද කියලා බලන්න ඕනේmaṭa nam sækayi. toraturu harida kiyalā balanna ōnēIn my view it is doubtful. The information must be checked.
- ඇත්තටම එයාලා ටිකක් වැඩි කරලා කියනවා වෙන්න පුළුවන්ættaṭama eyālā ṭikak væḍi karalā kiyanavā venna puḷuvanActually, they may be exaggerating a little.
- මම ටිකක් දුරට එකඟයි. හැබැයි ඒක තවම කටකතාවක්mama ṭikak duraṭa ekangayi. hæbæyi ēka tavama kaṭakatāvakI partly agree. However, it is a rumor so far.
- ඔයා මොකද හිතන්නේ? මාධ්ය ඒකට බලපානවද?oyā mokada hitannē? mādhya ēkaṭa balapānavada?And what do you think? Do the media influence this?
- බලපානවා. ඒක නිසා මම ප්රවෘත්ති දෙකක් බලලා තමයි විශ්වාස කරන්නේbalapānavā. ēka nisā mama pravṛtti dekak balalā tamayi viśvāsa karannēThey do. So I believe only after watching two news reports.
Lines one by one
| Sinhala | Reading | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| සමාජ මාධ්ය වල ලොකු කලබලයක් තියෙනවා | samāja mādhya vala loku kalabalayak tiyenavā | There is a big scandal on social media. |
| මොකද වුණේ? මූලාශ්රය මොකක්ද? | mokada vuṇē? mūlāśraya mokakda? | What happened? What is the source? |
| පෝස්ට් එකක. එයාලා කිව්වා ඒක ඇත්ත කියලා | pōsṭ ekaka. eyālā kivvā ēka ætta kiyalā | In one post. They said it was true. |
| මට නම් සැකයි. තොරතුරු හරිද කියලා බලන්න ඕනේ | maṭa nam sækayi. toraturu harida kiyalā balanna ōnē | In my view it is doubtful. The information must be checked. |
| ඇත්තටම එයාලා ටිකක් වැඩි කරලා කියනවා වෙන්න පුළුවන් | ættaṭama eyālā ṭikak væḍi karalā kiyanavā venna puḷuvan | Actually, they may be exaggerating a little. |
| මම ටිකක් දුරට එකඟයි. හැබැයි ඒක තවම කටකතාවක් | mama ṭikak duraṭa ekangayi. hæbæyi ēka tavama kaṭakatāvak | I partly agree. However, it is a rumor so far. |
| ඔයා මොකද හිතන්නේ? මාධ්ය ඒකට බලපානවද? | oyā mokada hitannē? mādhya ēkaṭa balapānavada? | And what do you think? Do the media influence this? |
| බලපානවා. ඒක නිසා මම ප්රවෘත්ති දෙකක් බලලා තමයි විශ්වාස කරන්නේ | balapānavā. ēka nisā mama pravṛtti dekak balalā tamayi viśvāsa karannē | They do. So I believe only after watching two news reports. |
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?
“සමාජ මාධ්ය වල ලොකු කලබලයක් තියෙනවා” (samāja mādhya vala loku kalabalayak tiyenavā) — There is a big scandal on social media.. 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.