The tale at the police station
A text in Urdu 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. At night my bag was stolen. I went to the police station. There was a long questioning there. The statement is long but…
Text
- رات کو میرا بیگ گم ہو گیا۔ میں پولیس اسٹیشن گیا۔ وہاں پوچھ گچھ ہوئی۔ بیانات لمبا ہے، مگر آسان۔ حفاظت ضروری ہے۔rat ko mera beg gam ho gaya. main polis steshan gaya. wahan puchh gachh hui. baianat lamba hai, magar asan. hifazat zaruri hai.At night my bag was stolen. I went to the police station. There was a long questioning there. The statement is long but simple. Safety above all.
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 happened at night?
- Where did the narrator go?
- What is the statement like?
- What matters, in the narrator’s view?
Frequently asked
What level do you need to read this text in Urdu?
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.