If I had known
A short in Serbian text at level B1. The translation sits next to it: reading with a dictionary is still too early at this level, and without support it will not happen at all. If I had known how much a move costs, I wouldn't have left it to the last day. There were no vans, and even if I had…
Text
- Да сам знао колико кошта селидба, не бих је оставио за последњи дан. Комбија није било, а кад бих га и нашао, цена би била двоструко већа. На крају сам све пренео из три пута, углавном сам, и то ми је однело цео викенд. Требало је да позовем пријатеље барем недељу дана раније. Испоставило се да сви радо помогну, само им треба рећи на време.Da sam znao koliko košta selidba, ne bih je ostavio za poslednji dan. Kombija nije bilo, a kad bih ga i našao, cena bi bila dvostruko veća. Na kraju sam sve preneo iz tri puta, uglavnom sam, i to mi je odnelo ceo vikend. Trebalo je da pozovem prijatelje barem nedelju dana ranije. Ispostavilo se da svi rado pomognu, samo im treba reći na vreme.If I had known how much a move costs, I wouldn't have left it to the last day. There were no vans, and even if I had found one, the price would have been twice as high. In the end I moved everything in three runs, mostly alone, and it took all my weekend. I should have called friends at least a week earlier. It turned out everyone is glad to help; you only have to tell them in time.
Comprehension questions
The questions are asked in Russian on purpose: we test your understanding of the text, not your ability to read the question.
- What does he regret?
- What would the price have been if a van had been found?
- How many runs did it take to move everything?
- What turned out in the end?
Frequently asked
What level do you need to read this text in Serbian?
B1. That means: you know the letters and have a stock of everyday words — about two or three hundred.
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.