This book teaches the colloquial language of the Sinhala people in a straightforward and thorough manner. With an intuitive transliteration system (explained in the first chapter), a discussion of all major grammatical concepts, and numerous dialogues and exercises, Spoken Sinhala Made Simple is a valuable resource for anyone looking to speak Sinhalese.
This is the second edition of "Learn Spoken Sinhala". This new edition has completely revamped the first edition. The second edition is easier to carry and read, and has been meticulously proofread to remove some typos and inconsistencies. Sinhala language is used and spoken by Sri Lankans, and it is the native language of the Sinhalese, the majority race (more 70% of the population) in Sri Lanka. It is more or less the lingua franca in the country. Linguistically Sinhala is considered as a language belonging to the Indo-European Language family to which English, French, Latin, Spanish, Italian, etc belong. It enjoys a proud history of thousands of years. Sri Lanka being a miraculous and pristine island situated just below the Indian peninsula in a strateically important position along the ancient Silk Road linking the west and east parts of the world. It had been a colony of Portugese, Dutch, and last the English since 1505 up to 1948 AD. Therefore, the Sinhala language has been enriched by those European languages too. Just coming out of an unfortunate terrorist battle in the nothern part of the country, it is again becoming a hub of business, global logistics, knowledge, and tourism. Already many thousands of foreigners are employed in various projects in the country. This book is the only one in the world, which teaches the Spoken Sinhala language based on a sound grammatical underpinning. If you have a working knowledge of the English language, then using this book you can easily understand Sinhala sentence structures and patterns because the book teaches Sinhala in comparison with the English. There are hundreds of thousands of Sri Lankans now living abroad, and this book can be useful for them to teach their kids about the beautiful language Sinhala. Sinhala diaspora all over the world will find this useful. Furthermore linguists who research about various languages throughout the world can use this book for their studies. Now there are a lot of people coming to Sri Lanka as businesspersons and workers on various projects and missions. This book can be very useful for them too. The AUTHOR who is already a chamption in proliferation of (free) knowledge in Sinhala medium is willing to personally help and guide you in case you need further assistance and clarifications.
A book for both kids and adult beginners who want to learn about write Sri Lankan Sinhala Alphabet scripts letters. This book is created with easy understanding and easy trace of Sinhala scripts. This book contains the Selected Thirty-Six (36) Script letters which teach for the beginners.
Sinhala Basic Course - Module 1 is part of the Sinhala Basic Course. FSI Courses are language courses developed by the Foreign Service Institute and were primarily intended for US government employees.This courses are very intense to let a learner achieve proficiency as fast and as efficient as possible. Keep in mind that most of the courses were developed during the cold war area between 1960 and 1990 and the type set in this book is therefore not as accurate as you might expect.
"An extraordinary book. This dignified, just and unbearable account of the dark heart of Sri Lanka needs to be read by everyone." — Roma Tearne, author of Mosquito The tropical island of Sri Lanka is a paradise for tourists, but in 2009 it became a hell for its Tamil minority, as decades of civil war between the Tamil Tiger guerrillas and the government reached its bloody climax. Caught in the crossfire were hundreds of thousands of schoolchildren, doctors, farmers, fishermen, nuns, and other civilians. And the government ensured through a strict media blackout that the world was unaware of their suffering. Now, a UN enquiry has called for war crimes investigation, and Frances Harrison, a BBC correspondent for Sri Lanka during the conflict, recounts those crimes for the first time in sobering, shattering detail.
For nearly four decades, Sri Lanka has been the scene of an escalating ethnic conflict between the majority Sinhalese and the Tamils, who form the largest minority. Language, Religion, and Ethnic Assertiveness traces the development of Sinhalese nationalism by paying particular attention to the Sinhala language and how it relates to Sinhalese national identity. After Sri Lanka became independent from Great Britain in 1948, an official national language had to be chosen - either "Sinhala only" or "parity of status for Sinhala and Tamil". The victory of the "Sinhala only" proposition that won in the general election of 1956 started the antagonism between the Sinhalese and the Tamils that persists to this day. Using hitherto untapped primary sources, K. N. O. Dharmadasa delineates some of the peculiar features of the linkage between state, religion, and ethnicity in traditional Sinhalese society, providing insight into a tragic conflict that has a long and turbulent history. The book has much to offer historians, political scientists, anthropologists, and sociologists of language and religion, as well as students and scholars of South Asia, postcolonialism, ethnicity, cultural identity, and conflict.
In this entertaining and groundbreaking book, Dr. Paul Pimsleur, creator of the renowned Pimsleur Method, the world leader in audio-based language learning, shows how anyone can learn to speak a foreign language. If learning a language in high school left you bruised, with a sense that there was no way you can learn another language, How to Learn a Foreign Language will restore your sense of hope. In simple, straightforward terms, Dr. Pimsleur will help you learn grammar (seamlessly), vocabulary, and how to practice pronunciation (and come out sounding like a native). The key is the simplicity and directness of Pimsleur’s approach to a daunting subject, breaking it down piece by piece, demystifying the process along the way. Dr. Pimsleur draws on his own language learning trials and tribulations offering practical advice for overcoming the obstacles so many of us face. Originally published in 1980, How to Learn a Foreign Language is now available on the 50th anniversary of Dr. Pimsleur’s publication of the first of his first audio courses that embodied the concepts and methods found here. It's a fascinating glimpse into the inner workings of the mind of this amazing pioneer of language learning.
In the mid-1950s, Sri Lanka’s majority Sinhalese politicians began outbidding one another on who could provide the greatest advantages for their community, using the Sinhala language as their instrument. The appeal to Sinhalese linguistic nationalism precipitated a situation in which the movement to replace English as the country’s official language with Sinhala and Tamil (the language of Sri Lanka’s principal minority) was abandoned and Sinhala alone became the official language in 1956. The Tamils’ subsequent protests led to anti-Tamil riots and institutional decay, which meant that supposedly representative agencies of government catered to Sinhalese preferences and blatantly disregarded minority interests. This in turn led to the Tamils’ mobilizing, first politically then militarily, and by the mid-1970s Tamil youth were bent on creating a separate state.
