A teaching book for the spoken form of Sinhala, aimed at learners approaching the language from English. W S Karunathilaka was a Sri Lankan linguist, and this is the kind of book that comes out of that background: a structured introduction rather than a phrasebook.
The distinction in the title matters. Sinhala has a literary written form and a colloquial spoken form, and they differ enough in grammar and vocabulary that competence in one does not carry over neatly to the other. A book built around the spoken language is meant for people who want to talk to people — in a shop, on a bus, at a family table — rather than to read newspapers or classical prose.
Text is in Sinhala and English, so a buyer with no prior reading knowledge of the script is not shut out from the start.
It will suit students beginning Sinhala formally, residents and long-stay visitors in Sri Lanka, and members of the diaspora wanting a systematic route back into the language. Published by Godage International Publishers, an established Colombo house issuing work in both Sinhala and English.
