Learn how to talk about your ethnicity in Swahili using the verb meaning "to be"
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Gabriella: Hi everyone. Gabriella here, and welcome to SwahiliPod101.com. This is Basic Bootcamp Lesson 1, Self Introduction: Basic Greetings in Swahili. This is the 1st in a 5-part series that will help you ease your way into Swahili. |
| Medina: Hello, mimi ni Medina. I’m Medina! In this lesson, you'll learn how to introduce yourself and ask someone their name! |
| Gabriella: Now, what could be more basic than that? I promise that you'll have this conversation no fewer than 200 times in your first month in Kenya! |
| Medina: Hmm, or maybe more. |
| Gabriella: This conversation is between strangers. |
| Medina: The language they are going to use is polite, because they don’t know each other, but it's not overly formal. |
| Gabriella: Let’s listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Wema: Hello. Jina langu ni Wema. Jina lako ni nani? |
| Maria: Hello Wema. Jina langu ni Maria. |
| Wema: Nimefurahi kukutana na wewe. |
| Maria: Mimi pia. |
| Wema: Hello. Jina langu ni Wema. Jina lako ni nani? |
| Wema: Hello. My name is Wema. What's your name? |
| Maria: Hello Wema. Jina langu ni Maria. |
| Maria: Hello Wema. My name is Maria. |
| Wema: Nimefurahi kukutana na wewe. |
| Wema: Nice to meet you. |
| Maria: Mimi pia. |
| Maria: Me too. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Gabriella: So Medina, what do people in Kenya do when they first meet? Is there any particular custom? |
| Medina: For the first time, it’s enough for men to shake hands and for women to smile while introducing themselves. |
| Gabriella: So shaking hands is a must in Kenya. |
| Medina: Yes, but once you become friendlier with Kenyans, we hug and tap each other on the back. |
| Gabriella: Close friends aren't afraid to show affection in Kenya. |
| Medina: But for the first meeting, it’s better to stick to handshakes and smiles. |
| Gabriella: And in a business situation? |
| Medina: Again, a handshake is your best bet. |
| Gabriella: Sounds pretty easy to me! Ok, now let’s take a look at the vocabularies for this lesson. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Medina: Mimi [natural native speed] |
| Gabriella: I |
| Medina: Mimi [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: Mimi [natural native speed] |
| Medina: Hello [natural native speed] |
| Gabriella: hello |
| Medina: Hello [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: Hello [natural native speed] |
| Medina: langu [natural native speed] |
| Gabriella: my |
| Medina: langu [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: langu [natural native speed] |
| Medina: jina [natural native speed] |
| Gabriella: name |
| Medina: jina [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: jina [natural native speed] |
| Medina: ni [natural native speed] |
| Gabriella: is (to be, present tense) |
| Medina: ni [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: ni [natural native speed] |
| Medina: nimefurahi [natural native speed] |
| Gabriella: nice |
| Medina: nimefurahi [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: nimefurahi [natural native speed] |
| Medina: kukutana [natural native speed] |
| Gabriella: to meet |
| Medina: kukutana [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: kukutana [natural native speed] |
| Medina: mimi pia [natural native speed] |
| Gabriella: me too |
| Medina: mimi pia [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: mimi pia [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Gabriella: Let’s take a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. First, we have... |
| Medina: Hello |
| Gabriella: This means "Hello." Wait a minute... there’s another word that means ‘Hello’, too right? |
| Medina: That’s right. Hallo is also Swahili and sounds more like "hello," but it's kind of awkward to use it here. It’s more often used to check if somebody is at home, or when saying "Hi" to an acquaintance. |
| Gabriella: It can also be used when greeting someone you're meeting for the first time. |
| Medina: This will be casual, though. |
| Gabriella: Ok. |
| Medina: The person starting the greeting may also introduce themselves by saying jina langu ni Wema. Of course, you would substitute Wema with your own name. |
| Gabriella: Then the other person should respond with their name. |
| Medina: So Maria says jina langu ni Maria. |
| Gabriella: What’s the next phrase? |
| Medina: In the conversation, we also heard Nimefurahi kukutana na wewe. |
| Gabriella: Which means something along the lines of "Delighted to meet you." Of course, in this situation, the speaker is “delighted” to meet the other person. So here it has the sense of the English expression “Nice to meet you.” But let’s break this phrase down a bit. First is... |
| Medina: Nimefurahi |
| Gabriella: It means "I am delighted”. And the second word... |
| Medina: kukutana |
| Gabriella: This means “to meet.” |
| Medina: Then comes na |
| Gabriella: meaning ‘to’. Then finally... |
| Medina: wewe |
| Gabriella: Meaning “you.” So altogether this will be... |
| Medina: Nimefurahi kukutana na wewe |
| Gabriella: Listeners, listen and repeat after Medina. |
| Medina: Nimefurahi kukutana na wewe (pause) Nimefurahi kukutana na wewe |
| Gabriella: Now, of course, I can’t help but want to respond "Me too." Which is... |
| Medina: mimi pia, |
| Gabriella: Can we break that down? |
| Medina: The first word mimi means “I” or "me." And the second word pia means “also.” |
| Gabriella: So altogether, "me too" is... |
| Medina: mimi pia |
| Gabriella: Ok. So let’s hear it again slowly. |
| Medina: mimi pia |
| Gabriella: Listeners, listen and repeat after Medina. |
| Medina: mimi pia (pause) mimi pia |
| Gabriella: Now that wasn't so difficult, was it? I hope everyone isn’t getting too overheated in this boot camp. Maybe it’s time for some push-ups! |
| Medina: Hmm, maybe later! |
| Gabriella: (laughs) Okay, now onto the grammar. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Gabriella: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to greet someone in Swahili. Okay, let’s just go ahead and ask someone for their name! |
| Medina: Unaitwa nani? This is how your question should sound. |
| Gabriella: Literally, it means "What are you called?" The first part is... |
| Medina: Unaitwa |
| Gabriella: This means "you are called." Let’s hear it one time again slowly. |
| Medina: Unaitwa |
| Gabriella: And one time again fast. Listeners, repeat after Medina. |
| Medina: Unaitwa |
| Gabriella: The next word is... |
| Medina: nani |
| Gabriella: This means "who." Let’s hear it slowly, please. |
| Medina: nani |
| Gabriella: And fast again. Listeners, repeat after Medina. |
| Medina: nani |
| Gabriella: So all together, the question is... |
| Medina: Unaitwa nani? |
| Gabriella: Listeners, listen to the phrase, and repeat it out loud. |
| Medina: Unaitwa nani? (pause) Unaitwa nani? |
| Gabriella: Not too hard for your first boot camp lesson, huh? |
| Medina: And if you just use this little bit of Swahili, you're already going a long way towards impressing anyone you might meet in Kenya. |
| Gabriella: That’s right. There’s no better way to signal your interest and respect for the culture than to try to speak a little bit of the language, even if you only know the basics. |
| Medina: That’s right. Now to recap, let’s try a short dialogue. Try to answer the question out loud with the phrase we learned in this lesson. |
| Gabriella: Great! Now, what if someone says to you... |
| Medina: Ninanifuraha kukutana nawe. |
| Gabriella: What do you say? |
| Medina: (pause) Mimi pia. |
| Gabriella: Great! Now, what do you say if you want to learn someone’s name? |
| Medina: (pause) Jina lako ni nani? |
| Gabriella: There you go listeners, you've taken the first step in speaking Swahili! |
| Medina: Well done! |
Outro |
| Gabriella: That's all for this lesson. See you guys next time! |
| Medina: Thanks for listening, everyone. kwaheri |
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