Learn Sinhala Through Topics You Actually Care About

LingoBear creates short Sinhala passages on topics you choose. Tap any word for an instant English translation and build your vocabulary as you read. Indo-Aryan language of Sri Lanka, Sinhala abugida descended from Brahmi, distinctive diglossia between literary and spoken forms, ~17M speakers.

Tap any word for instant translation

Every word in your Sinhala reading passage is clickable. Get English translations and grammar help as you read the rounded Sinhala abugida.

Read about topics you choose

Type any topic and LingoBear generates a fresh Sinhala reading passage — from Anuradhapura archaeology to Colombo café culture.

What is Sinhala and where is it spoken?

Sinhala (සිංහල) is an Indo-Aryan language native to Sri Lanka, with about 17 million speakers — its closest relative is Maldivian (Dhivehi). It diverged from mainstream Indo-Aryan early, around the 5th century BC, when it was brought to the island by Aryan settlers. Today it is one of Sri Lanka's two official languages alongside Tamil.

What is Sinhala diglossia?

Sinhala has a notable split between literary Sinhala (Sahellu) used in formal writing, news, religion and education, and colloquial Sinhala (Vyavahara) used in everyday conversation. Literary Sinhala preserves Sanskrit-derived verb endings, more conjugations and a richer vocabulary, while colloquial drops many endings and uses simpler verb forms. LingoBear can generate either depending on your topic.