The lost wallet
A short in Turkish text at level A2. 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. Once I lost my wallet on the bus; it went like this. Just as I was about to get off, my phone rang, I stood up…
Text
- Bir keresinde otobüste cüzdanımı kaybettim; olay şöyle oldu. Tam da inecekken telefonum çaldı, aniden kalktım ve cüzdan koltukta kaldı. Az kalsın bütün belgelerimi kaybediyordum, çünkü içinde kimliğim de vardı. Akşam bir adam aradı: cüzdanı bulmuş, adresi içindeki kâğıttan öğrenmiş. Ertesi gün getirdi, hiçbir şey istemedi. O günü hâlâ gözümün önünde tutuyorum.Once I lost my wallet on the bus; it went like this. Just as I was about to get off, my phone rang, I stood up suddenly, and the wallet stayed on the seat. I nearly lost all my documents, because my ID was inside too. In the evening a certain man called: it turned out he had found the wallet and learned the address from the slip of paper inside. The next day he brought it and asked for nothing. I still keep that day before my eyes.
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 he lose his wallet?
- Why did the wallet stay on the seat?
- How did the man learn the address?
- What did he ask for in return?
Frequently asked
What level do you need to read this text in Turkish?
A2. 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.