Dialogue

Vocabulary

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Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
Matt: Hello, and welcome back to SwahiliPod101.com. This is Absolute Beginner season 1, lesson 12- “Talking about Likes and Dislikes in Swahili”. I’m Matt.
Medina: And I’m Medina.
Matt: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to talk about likes and dislikes in Swahili.
Medina: The conversation takes place at a restaurant between two friends.
Matt: The speakers are friends, so they will use informal language. Okay, let’s listen to the conversation.
DIALOGUE
Juma: Hii ni nini?
Musa: Ah. Hii ni biryani.
Hamisi: Biryani?
Musa: Ndio, ni chakula ambacho kimeongezwa viungo na bidhaa nyingi. Wapenda viungo?
Juma: Ndiyo, ni chakula ambacho ni kitamu sana.
Matt: Let’s hear the conversation one time slowly.
Juma: Hii ni nini?
Musa: Ah. Hii ni biryani.
Hamisi: Biryani?
Musa: Ndio, ni chakula ambacho kimeongezwa viungo na bidhaa nyingi. Wapenda viungo?
Juma: Ndiyo, ni chakula ambacho ni kitamu sana.
Matt: Now let’s hear it with the English translation.
Juma: Hii ni nini?
Matt: What is this?
Musa: Ah. Hii ni biryani.
Matt: Ah. This is Biryani.
Hamisi: Biryani?
Matt: Biryani?
Musa: Ndio, ni chakula ambacho kimeongezwa viungo na bidhaa nyingi. Wapenda viungo?
Matt: Yes, a lot of spices have been added. Do you like spices?
Juma: Ndiyo, ni chakula ambacho ni kitamu sana.
Matt: Yes. It is a dish that is very delicious.
POST CONVERSATION BANTER
Matt: Medina, let’s talk about Kenyan delicacies.
Medina: Sure, this is one of my favorite topics! Most Kenyan dishes are prepared with a lot of tasty spices. People in Kenya spend considerable time on preparing delicious dishes that promote a healthy appetite.
Matt: Kenyans really seem to love their food.
Medina: It’s true! In the countryside, people still worry less about weight gain and more about when they lose some kilos. But not in the urban areas. Especially women are a bit more sensitive about what they eat, and how it affects their weight and shape.
Matt: Even so, I heard that people usually want to look a little bigger than other people.
Medina: That’s right. The bigger you look, the healthier and wealthier you appear to others. That’s why men are less concerned about having a big beer belly, because it can be interpreted as a sign of wealth.
Matt: I see. Okay, now let’s move on to the vocab.
Vocab list
Matt: Let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson.
: The first word we shall see is:
Medina: biryani [natural native speed]
Matt: type of rice
Medina: biryani [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Medina: biryani [natural native speed]
: Next:
Medina: viungo [natural native speed]
Matt: spices
Medina: viungo [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Medina: viungo [natural native speed]
: Next:
Medina: bidhaa [natural native speed]
Matt: ingredients
Medina: bidhaa [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Medina: bidhaa [natural native speed]
: Next:
Medina: wapenda [natural native speed]
Matt: do you like
Medina: wapenda [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Medina: wapenda [natural native speed]
: Next:
Medina: chakula [natural native speed]
Matt: food
Medina: chakula [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Medina: chakula [natural native speed]
: Next:
Medina: hii ni nini? [natural native speed]
Matt: what is this?
Medina: hii ni nini? [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Medina: hii ni nini? [natural native speed]
: Next:
Medina: kitamu sana [natural native speed]
Matt: very delicious
Medina: kitamu sana [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Medina: kitamu sana [natural native speed]
: And Last:
Medina: ndio [natural native speed]
Matt: yes
Medina: ndio [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Medina: ndio [natural native speed]
KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES
Matt: Let’s take a closer look at the usage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson.
Medina: First we have Biryani.
Matt: This is “a type of rice.” It’s a very common food in Kenya, especially in the coastal area.
Medina: That’s right. When Kenyan people eat Biryani, we prepare it with viungo “spices” and many other bidhaa or “ingredients.”
Matt: If you want to know what spices or ingredients are used with the rice, you can say..
Medina: Hii ni nini? That means “what is this?”, and it will get you the answer.
Matt: Okay, what’s the next word?
Medina: Next we have.. Wapenda.
Matt: meaning “do you like..?”. You can use it when you’re asking about someone’s likes and dislikes. Can you give us an example?
Medina: Sure. You can simply put a noun such as viungo meaning “spices” after wapenda to ask about someone’s preferences.
Matt: So in Swahili, “Do you like spices?” is..
Medina: Wapenda viungo? Note that mnapenda is the plural form of wapenda. You can use mnapenda when you’re speaking to more than one person.
Matt: What’s the word for “to dislike?”
Medina: The opposite of wapenda is haupendi. In the plural, you can say.. hampendi.
Matt: Okay, now onto the grammar.
GRAMMAR POINT
Matt: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to talk about likes and dislikes in Swahili. Let’s look at an example from the dialogue. In the dialogue, one of the friends asked...
Medina: Hii ni nini?
Matt: meaning “What’s this?” Then the friend explained what it was, then he asked..
Medina: Wapenda viungo?
Matt: meaning “Do you like spices?”
Medina: As we talked about in the previous lesson, wapenda is the word meaning “do you like..” in the singular form.
Matt: Then how can you say if you like the object?
Medina: To say that, you can simply say Je, wapenda, then the name of the object you like. For example, you can say.. Je, wapenda Biryani.
Matt: meaning “Yes, I like Biryani rice.”
Medina: If you want to ask someone if they don’t like something, you can use the verb sipendi which means “to dislike.”
Matt: Okay, so how can we ask.. “Do you dislike Biryani rice?”
Medina: The format is the same. You can say.. sipendi first, then the name of the object. So it would be sipendi biryani?
Matt: Okay, then how can you answer the question?
Medina: If you don’t like the food and want to express your opinion, you can use the word sipendi, which means “to dislike.”
Matt: So how can you say, “No, I don’t like Biryani rice”?
Medina: You can use this form - Hapana, sipendi biryani.
Matt: Alright. But these are only the singular forms, right?
Medina: Yes. The plural form for “to like” is twapenda. And for “to dislike” you need to use hatupendi. When you really don’t like something and you want to say you “hate” it, you can use the word nachukia.
Matt: And listeners, please note that there’s no difference between “to love” and “to like” in Swahili.
Medina: Yes. So you can use the word napenda to mean “to love”, not just “to like.”
Matt: Okay. How can you say.. “I love my mother” in Swahili using this word?
Medina: You can say.. Nampenda mama yangu.

Outro

Matt: Alright, that’s all we have for this lesson. Thanks for listening, everyone!
Medina: Remember to check the expressions in the lesson notes for more information.
Matt: We’ll see you next time. Bye!
Medina: Mpaka wakati mwingine, Kwaheri ya kuonana!

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