බැටික්
“බැටික්” (bæṭik) — batik in Sinhala. Noun, level A1. True batik is uneven when held to the light: the cracks in the wax make the thin lines. In a live sentence: “බැටික් සාරියක්” — A batik sari. You can hear how it sounds right here. Written with the characters බ, ැ, ට, ි, ක, ්. A word from the everyday Sinhala course, level A1.
In short
| Written in Sinhala | බැටික් |
| Read in Latin letters | bæṭik |
| Translation | batik |
| Part of speech | noun |
| Level | A1 |
- බැටික්bæṭikbatik
What it is
Cloth with a pattern applied in wax before dyeing: the wax keeps the dye out, and after it is removed the pattern stays. The Dutch brought the craft from Java; the Lankan batik differs by its subjects — elephants, masks, temples.
This word does not reduce to a translation: the thing it names is not part of everyday life here, so a “translation” would end up a description in brackets. The easiest way to learn it is together with its surroundings — where you meet it and what it is for.
Why it looks that way
True batik is uneven when held to the light: the cracks in the wax make the thin lines
A word with a story stays in memory longer than one learned as a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.
In a live sentence
A single word almost never appears alone in conversation. A sentence shows where it fits and what stands next to it.
- බැටික් සාරියක්bæṭik sāriyakA batik sari
How not to forget this word
Reading a word and remembering it are different jobs. A day later, little survives of a single reading — and that is not bad memory, that is how memory works.
- This has been tested on foreign words too. The difference shows up most when you test yourself a few days later rather than straight away.checked many timesKim & Webb, 2022, Language Learning 72(2) · 48 experiments, 3,411 participants, 98 comparisons.
- Recalling beats re-reading. Covering the translation and trying to remember it does more than reading it ten more times.checked many timesAdesope, Trevisan & Sundararajan, 2017, Review of Educational Research 87(3) · 188 experiments, 272 comparisons. g = 0.61; against plain re-reading 0.51, against passive review 0.93.
- An answer you worked out yourself sticks better than one handed to you.checked many timesBertsch et al., 2007, Memory & Cognition 35(2) · 86 studies, 445 comparisons, d = 0.40.
Frequently asked
How do you say “batik” in Sinhala?
«බැටික්», read “bæṭik”. In a live sentence: “බැටික් සාරියක්” — A batik sari. You can hear how it sounds right on this page. Noun, level A1; written with the characters බ, ැ, ට, ි, ක, ්.
How is “බැටික්” written in Latin letters?
bæṭik. This is a practical spelling — you need it to read aloud and be understood, not to meet an academic standard.
Why does this word look the way it does?
True batik is uneven when held to the light: the cracks in the wax make the thin lines. A word with a story stays in memory longer than a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.
Can I hear how it sounds?
Yes, right on this page: click the word and it will play. The sound works on any phone, and nothing needs to be installed.