A difficult neighbor
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. Our neighbor from the top floor is very touchy; he takes even the smallest word personally. Last month he reproached me…
Text
- Üst kattaki komşumuz çok alıngan; en küçük sözde bile kendine alınıyor. Geçen ay merdiven parasını iki gün geç verdim diye bana sitem etti. Kötü niyetle yapmadığını biliyorum, ama inatçılığı bazen herkesi yoruyor. Yine de zor günde kimseyi yüzüstü bırakmaz: babam hastalanınca gece hastaneye o götürdü. Karşılıklı olarak anlaştık: o daha sabırlı olacak, biz de gürültüye dikkat edeceğiz.Our neighbor from the top floor is very touchy; he takes even the smallest word personally. Last month he reproached me for being two days late with the stairwell fee. I know he doesn't do it out of malice, but his stubbornness sometimes tires everyone. And yet on a hard day he lets no one down: when my father got sick, it was he who drove him to the hospital at night. We agreed mutually: he will be more patient, and we will mind the noise.
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 is the upstairs neighbor like?
- What did he reproach the narrator for?
- What did the neighbor do when the father got sick?
- What did they agree on?
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.