Lingoflyමාමාගේ ජීවිතේ
A text in Sinhala at level B1. The translation sits next to it for checking, not for support: at this level the text is read whole, and an unknown word is usually guessed from the sentence. My uncle was born in a village. His childhood passed among rice fields; as a child he walked to school. Having finished…
Text
- මගේ මාමා ඉපදුණේ ගමේ. එයාගේ ළමා කාලය ගෙවුණේ කුඹුරු අස්සේ, පොඩි කාලේ එයා ඉස්කෝලේ යන්නේ පයින්. ඉස්කෝලේ ඉවර කරලා එයා කොළඹ ඇවිත් පළවෙනි රස්සාව හොයාගත්තා. ඒ කාලේ කොළඹ ජීවිතේ ලේසි නෑ, හැබැයි එයා අත් ඇරියේ නෑ. අවුරුදු පහකට පස්සේ එයා පවුලක් පටන් ගත්තා. පස්සේ එයාට පිටරට රස්සාවක් ලැබුණා, එයාලා පදිංචියට ගියා. දැන් එයා කියනවා හැම දේම වුණේ හොඳකට කියලා. මට එයාගේ පරණ ෆොටෝ එකක් තියෙනවා, ඒක ලස්සන මතකයක්.magē māmā ipaduṇē gamē. eyāgē ḷamā kālaya gevuṇē kumburu assē, poḍi kālē eyā iskōlē yannē payin. iskōlē ivara karalā eyā koḷamba ævit paḷaveni rassāva hoyāgattā. ē kālē koḷamba jīvitē lēsi nǣ, hæbæyi eyā at æriyē nǣ. avurudu pahakaṭa passē eyā pavulak paṭan gattā. passē eyāṭa piṭaraṭa rassāvak læbuṇā, eyālā padiṁciyaṭa giyā. dæn eyā kiyanavā hæma dēma vuṇē hondakaṭa kiyalā. maṭa eyāgē paraṇa foṭō ekak tiyenavā, ēka lassana matakayak.My uncle was born in a village. His childhood passed among rice fields; as a child he walked to school. Having finished school, he came to Colombo and found his first job. In those times life in Colombo was not easy, but he did not give up. Five years later he started a family. Then he was offered work abroad, and they moved. Now he says that everything turned out for the best. I have his old photograph, and it is a beautiful memory.
Comprehension questions
The questions are asked in Russian on purpose: we test your understanding of the text, not your ability to read the question.
- Where did the uncle’s childhood pass?
- What did he do right after school?
- How many years later did he start a family?
- How does he assess his life now?
Frequently asked
What level do you need to read this text in Sinhala?
B1. That means: everyday topics are behind you, you know about three thousand words, and an unknown word is more often guessed from the sentence than looked up.
How to read a text in an unfamiliar language usefully?
First all the way through without peeking at the translation — just to catch the familiar words. Then with the translation. Then all the way through again: the second pass brings noticeably more, and that feeling matters more than any rule.