Dialogue

Vocabulary

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Lesson Notes

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Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
John: Hi, everyone, and welcome back to SwahiliPod101.com. This is Intermediate Season 1, Lesson 14 - Choosing the Right Phone in Kenya. John here.
Medina: Hamjambo, I'm Medina.
John: In this lesson, you’ll learn about comparing things. The conversation takes place at someone’s house.
Medina: It's between Maria and Frank.
John: The speakers are family members, therefore, they will speak informal Swahili. Okay, let's listen to the conversation.
DIALOGUE
Maria: Nataka kununua simu lakini sijui ni modeli ipi nzuri.
Frank: Nakubaliana nawe. Kuna modeli nyingi kwenye soko ambazo ni nzuri.
Maria: Hilo ndilo shida langu kubwa.
Frank: Je, unadhania nini kuhusu iphone 6 na Samsung Galaxy S5?
Maria: Nadhania zote ni nzuri lakini gani bora zaidi?
Frank: Samsung inaufahamu na umbo kubwa kushinda Iphone 6. Pia inazinda maji.
Maria: Je, na iphone 6?
Frank: Ina vipengele vingine kama Samsung isipokuwa ni ndogo na haizindi maji.
Maria: Samsung inaonekena bora.
Frank: Hivyo divyo tunavyodhania, lakini inadumu kwa muda mfupi ukilinganishwa na iphone 6.
Maria: Mbona?
Frank: Umbo wa Samsung ni ya plastiki ilhali ya iphone ni aluminiam.
Maria: Nimelipenda Samsung tayari.
John: Listen to the conversation with the English translation.
Maria: I want to buy a phone but I wonder which is the best model.
Frank: I agree with you. There are so many models in the market, most of which look good.
Maria: And that's my biggest problem.
Frank: What do you think about the iPhone 6 or Samsung Galaxy S5?
Maria: I guess they’re both good, but which is better?
Frank: Samsung has better features than the iPhone 6. It’s also water resistant.
Maria: What about the iPhone 6?
Frank: It has some similar features as the Samsung, but it's small in size and not water resistant.
Maria: Samsung looks good.
Frank: Sounds like it, but it seems to have a shorter lifespan than the iPhone.
Maria: Why is that so?
Frank: The Samsung's main body is plastic, whereas the iPhone is aluminum.
Maria: I like Samsung already.
POST CONVERSATION BANTER
John: Do Kenyan people like using smartphones?
Medina: Yes, we do, but you should know that there are lots of counterfeit goods on the Kenyan market, especially phones.
John: How can you know if you bought a counterfeit phone?
Medina: Most of these phones are copies of popular brands and models made from low-quality materials and they are not licensed by the companies.They’re fairly cheap compared to the real handsets.
John: Is the government trying to address the issue?
Medina: In 2012, handsets whose unique numbers were not recognized by an international database were switched off.
John: I wouldn’t want to be a victim if I visit Kenya.
Medina: To be safe, buy or rent phones from mobile operators who can check the authenticity of your handset.
John: Also, which is the Swahili word for "counterfeit"?
Medina: It’s bandia
John: Okay, now onto the vocab.
VOCAB LIST
John: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is...
Medina: modeli [natural native speed]
John: model
Medina: modeli [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Medina: modeli [natural native speed]
John: Next, we have...
Medina: fanana [natural native speed]
John: to resemble
Medina: fanana [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Medina: fanana [natural native speed]
John: Next up is...
Medina: tegemea [natural native speed]
John: to depend
Medina: tegemea [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Medina: tegemea [natural native speed]
John: Next, we have...
Medina: umbo [natural native speed]
John: shaped
Medina: umbo [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Medina: umbo [natural native speed]
John: Next, we have...
Medina: ufahamu [natural native speed]
John: memory
Medina: ufahamu [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Medina: ufahamu [natural native speed]
John: Next, there’s...
Medina: zinda [natural native speed]
John: to be resistant
Medina: zinda [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Medina: zinda [natural native speed]
John: Next up is...
Medina: vipengele [natural native speed]
John: features
Medina: vipengele [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Medina: vipengele [natural native speed]
John: And lastly...
Medina: dumu [natural native speed]
John: to last
Medina: dumu [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Medina: dumu [natural native speed]
KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES
John: Let's have a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first word is...
Medina: kununua simu
John: ...meaning "to buy a phone."
Medina: Kununua means "to buy." You can create its infinitive form by adding the infinitive prefix ku to the stem verb -nunua ("buy"). Simu is the Swahili for "phone."
John: Both words can be used on their own in multiple contexts. Can you give us an example using this word?
Medina: Sure. For example, you can say Watu wengi wanajimudu kununua simu.
John: ...which means "Many people can afford to buy a phone."
John: Okay, what's the next word?
Medina: unaufahamu
John: This means "it has a memory."
Medina: Unaufahamu is a statement that can be broken down into u, in this case the pronoun "it;" na, the present tense marker; and ufahamu for "memory."
John: The translation of this word is very specific, "you/it has the memory" or "you have the understanding."
Medina: Right, una can be used to imply that someone or something has an item or character, like in this case, the phone has memory. Ufahamu can also mean "understanding."
John: Can you give us an example using the whole word?
Medina: Sure. For example, you can say Unaufahamu yale yaliyotendeka jadi?
John: ...which means "Do you have memory of what happened long ago?"
John: Okay, what's the next word?
Medina: zinda maji
John: ...meaning "to be water resistant"
Medina: Zinda means "to be resistant" and maji is "water."
John: This phrase is useful when referring to something that is water resistant, so it's very specific.
Medina: Zinda, as a verb, can be used in different contexts separate from maji (“water").
John: Can you give us an example using this word?
Medina: Sure. For example, you can say Saa hii inazinda maji.
John: ...which means "This watch is water resistant."
John: Okay, now onto the lesson focus.

Lesson focus

John: In this lesson, you'll learn about comparing elements. Let’s start by looking at the modifiers.
Medina: The modifier -ingi means “many” or “a lot” when a noun class marker is attached to it.
John: Since it refers to plural things, it cannot be used for noun classes denoting the singular form.
Medina: The modifier -ingine also has the noun class marker attached to it to mean “another” or “other.” Unlike -ingi, -ingine works for both singular and plural noun classes.
John: Let’s give some examples using different noun classes.
Medina: For example let’s consider mtu and watu for the M / WA class.
John: They respectively mean “person” and “persons.”
Medina: We can add both modifiers to the plural watu. Watu plus -ingi, will be watu wengi meaning “many people,” and watu plus -ingine is watu wengine, meaning “other people.”
John: What about the singular?
Medina: We can combine mtu and -ingine to get mtu mwingine meaning “another person.”
John: Let’s do another example with the class KI / VI.
Medina: For example, kijiko, meaning “spoon,” becomes kijiko kingine. The plural vijiko changes to vijiko vingine which means “other spoons.”
John: Listeners, be sure to check the lesson notes to get samples for all the noun classes. Medina, let’s give some sample sentences using the modifiers.
Medina: Using -ingi, for example, you can say Vitabu vingi vimetupwa.
John: ...meaning “Many books have been thrown away.”
Medina: Using -ingine, for example, you can say Juma amenunua gari lingine.
John: “Juma has bought another car.” Okay, now let’s see how to compare the features between two or more products.
Medina: Here is an example of a comparison sentence. Nadhania zote ni nzuri lakini gani bora zaidi?
John: “I guess they are both good, but which is better?”
Medina: Samsung ina ufahamu na umbo mkubwa kuliko Iphone 6.
John: This means “Samsung has a bigger memory and size than the iPhone 6.” From these examples, you can see that the Swahili comparatives do not follow similar set patterns like English comparatives.
Medina: In the first sentence, zaidi, meaning “more,” comes after the adjective bora (“fine”). So, bora zaidi literally means “more fine” or simply “better.” Zaidi is therefore a word you can use to form a comparison.
John: What about the second sentence?
Medina: The comparison is the phrase with kuliko meaning “than.” Note that it also comes after the adjective kubwa (“big”).
John: Together, they mean “bigger.” These two examples show the easiest pattern to follow - a comparative element preceded by an adjective. Let’s give some more examples.
Medina: Anapesa zaidi ya nchi yetu nzima.
John: “He has a lot of money, more than what our country has.”
Medina: Pale pengine ni pa zuri kuliko hapa.
John: “That other place is a better to live than here.”

Outro

John: Okay, that’s all for this lesson. Thank you for listening, everyone, and we’ll see you next time! Bye!
Medina: Tuonane!

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