Lesson Transcript

It’s Medina again. Welcome to swahilipod101 Swahili Top Words. Today, we are going to look at 10 Questions You Should Know. Welcome and have fun.
1. Jina lako ni nani? "What's your name?"
To answer that, you’ll say,
Jina langu ni Medina.
If you’re Juma, you’ll say,
Jina langu ni Juma. “My name is Juma.”
2. U hali gani? "How are you?"
To answer that, you’ll say,
Njema. "I’m fine." Or “Fine”
U hali gani? “Fine” “I am fine”
3. Ulizaliwa wapi? "Where are you from?"
To answer that, I’ll give the name of my country. Kenya.
Ulizaliwa wapi? Kenya. If you’re born in the United States, you’ll say, America.
Ulizaliwa wapi America.
4. Siku yako ya kuzaliwa ni lini? "When is your birthday?"
To answer that, you’ll say,
Siku yangu ya kuzaliwa ni Aprili 3. “My birthday is April 3rd.”
5. Unaishi wapi? "Where do you live?"
Ninaishi Nairobi. "I live in Nairobi."
Naibori is quite a big place. Actually, it’s a province in itself. So you won’t say you are living in the whole Nairobi. We have to be specific.
So if you live in Langata, you’ll say, Ninaishi Langata.
That is when we will assume you are in Nairobi and you are talking within people in Nairobi. They will understand where Langata is. But if you are out of Nairobi, you’ll say, Ninaishi Nairobi Langata to just be specific.
6. Unafanyakazi wapi? "Where do you work?"
To answer this, you’ll say,
Jijini - (Mombasa)
Again, Jijini - (Mombasa)
Mombasa is the name of the place. Jijini means town. So if you are working in Kisumu, you’ll say,
Jijini Kisumu just to be specific. “I work in Mombasa.” “I work in Kisumu.”
7. Ulijifunza wapi Kiswahili? "Where did you learn Swahili?
For that, you can answer by saying,
Katika SwahiliPod101.com "From SwahiliPod101.com."
8. Je, unapenda chakula cha Kenya? "Do you like Kenyan food?"
To answer that, you’ll say,
Ndio napenda. "Yes. I love it."
Yes, I like Kenyan food. In Kenya, we have varieties of food and I am sure you’ll like it. The most staple food in Kenya is Ugali. Ugali is like cornbread. It is made from white flour. White cornflour. It’s not very hard. Something like rice but you know, in the flour form but cooked. You don’t eat the flour, it’s cooked. So it’s cornbread. Now, you eat cornbread with different kinds of stews. You can eat it with bean stew, beef stew. Name any kind of stew and then we also have vegetables. I am sure you will like it. Try it out.
9. Umeshawahi kuwa Kenya? "Have you been to Kenya?"
You can answer this by saying,
Hapana. Ni mara yangu ya kwanza. "No. It is my first time."
This is a very common question for tourists who visit Kenya. So be prepared and it will really sound cool if you can answer in Swahili, Hapana. Ni mara yangu ya kwanza.
10. Hii unauza pesa ngapi? "How much is this?"
To answer that, you can say,
Shillingi kumi za Kenya. Kumi is the price. So you can keep changing that and say - Shillingi hamsini za Kenya, 50 Shillings, Kenya Shillings.
This will be a very useful phrase to use when you’re going shopping. Of course, I am sure you’re going to buy souvenirs for your family members back in your country. So having this word on your fingertips will be very useful.
Yeay! We are done. Thank you so much for keeping up with me until the end of this lesson. Do you remember all those questions? They are very handy and I really recommend that you have them at your fingertips whenever you visit Kenya. See you next time. Kwaheri. Bye.

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