A small research project
A short in Turkish 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. As a whole class we did a simple study: we measured the air in the school yard. Every morning and every evening we took…
Text
- Sınıfça basit bir araştırma yaptık: okulun bahçesindeki havayı ölçtük. Her sabah ve her akşam bir ölçüm aldık, sonuçları bir aylık gözlem defterine yazdık. Verilerde açık bir örüntü vardı: sabahları rakamlar keskin bir şekilde düşüyordu. İlk sezgimiz trafikti, ama bu sadece bir varsayımdı; kanıt için numune de gerekiyordu. Öğretmen şunu söyledi: bir sonuç ancak doğrulanmışsa inandırıcıdır, gerisi kulaktan dolma bilgidir.As a whole class we did a simple study: we measured the air in the school yard. Every morning and every evening we took a measurement, and we wrote the results in a month-long observation notebook. There was a clear pattern in the data: in the mornings the figures dropped sharply. Our first guess was traffic, but that was only a hypothesis; for proof a sample was needed too. The teacher put it this way: a conclusion is convincing only if it's confirmed, the rest is hearsay knowledge.
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 did the class measure?
- How often did they take a measurement?
- What was the first guess?
- What did the teacher say?
Frequently asked
What level do you need to read this text in Turkish?
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.