LingoflyMy father's story
A text in Turkish at level B1. The translation sits next to it for checking, not for support: at this level the text is read whole, and an unknown word is usually guessed from the sentence. My father was born in nineteen sixty in a small village; as a child he would work in the field in summer. After…
Text
- Babam bin dokuz yüz altmışta küçük bir köyde doğdu; çocukken yazları tarlada çalışırdı. Okulu bitirince şehre geldi ve ilk işini bulmak neredeyse bir yıl sürdü. O zamanlar telefon yoktu, mektup yazarlardı; anneme de bir düğünde rastlamış. Erken yaşta aile kurdular, sonra iş değiştirdi ve hayat yavaş yavaş iyiye doğru gitti. Şimdi emekli; eski fotoğraflara bakıyor ve o günleri hiç unutmadığını söylüyor.My father was born in nineteen sixty in a small village; as a child he would work in the field in summer. After finishing school he came to the city, and finding his first job took almost a year. In those times there was no telephone, people wrote letters; he met my mother, they say, at a wedding. They started a family early, then he changed jobs, and life little by little turned for the better. Now he's retired; he looks at old photographs and says he never forgot those days.
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 was the father born?
- How long did it take to find his first job?
- How did they communicate in those times?
- What does he do now?
Frequently asked
What level do you need to read this text in Turkish?
B1. That means: everyday topics are behind you, you know about three thousand words, and an unknown word is more often guessed from the sentence than looked up.
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.