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 Beginner Season 1 Lesson 11 - Homecooked Kenyan Food is the Best Kind of Kenyan Food! John Here.
Medina: Hamjambo, I'm Medina.
John: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to use adjectives to describe food. The conversation takes place at home.
Medina: It's between Maria and her mother.
John: The speakers are family members, so they will use informal Swahili. Okay, let's listen to the conversation.
DIALOGUE
Maria: Mmmhhh....mama umepika chakula tamu sana.
Mama: Ndio binti yangu. Singetaka kupika chakula kina viungo vingi kwa sababu yako.
Maria: Aaa..mama! mimi ni mkubwa na naweza kula chakula kina hata viungo vikali.
Mama: Haya basi chukua chakula unichemshie kwa vile ni baridi.
Maria: Haya basi. Na kina nyama nyororo sana.
Mama: Kina chumvi ya kutosha.
Maria: Sipendi chakula ambacho si kitamu.
Mama: Ndio. Nami sipendi chakula ambacho hakina supu na kina mafuta mengi.
John: Listen to the conversation one time slowly.
Maria: Mmmhhh....mama umepika chakula tamu sana.
Mama: Ndio binti yangu. Singetaka kupika chakula kina viungo vingi kwa sababu yako.
Maria: Aaa..mama! mimi ni mkubwa na naweza kula chakula kina hata viungo vikali.
Mama: Haya basi chukua chakula unichemshie kwa vile ni baridi.
Maria: Haya basi. Na kina nyama nyororo sana.
Mama: Kina chumvi ya kutosha.
Maria: Sipendi chakula ambacho si kitamu.
Mama: Ndio. Nami sipendi chakula ambacho hakina supu na kina mafuta mengi.
John: Listen to the conversation with the English translation
Maria: Mmmmmhh...mom, you have cooked a very delicious meal!
Mother: Yes my daughter. I would not want to prepare spicy food because of you.
Maria: Hey mom, I am all grown up and I can now handle hot spicy food
Mother: Okay, take that food and warm it since it's cold.
Maria: Okay. The meal has very tender meat.
Mother: It has enough salt.
Maria: I don’t like food that is bland.
Mother: Yeah. I don’t like food that is too dry or too oily.
POST CONVERSATION BANTER
John: Food is a major topic in every society's daily life.
Medina: Right, and Kenya is no different. Kenyans enjoy discussing how food looks, tastes, and the ingredients. Young people discuss food on social media and others check recipes on the Internet.
John: So do people usually look for recipes online?
Medina: Yes, but mature and middle aged people still prefer using offline cooking resources.
John: Okay, and what is a popular dish in Kenya?
Medina: I’ll answer in Swahili, Ugali na kuku ni chakula kitamu na kinachopendwa sana na wakenya.
John: which means "Posho and chicken are delicious, and it's a favourite dish among Kenyans."
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: chakula [natural native speed]
John: food
Medina: chakula[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Medina: chakula [natural native speed]
John: Next we have..
Medina: tamu [natural native speed]
John: delicious
Medina: tamu[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Medina: tamu [natural native speed]
John: Next we have..
Medina: viungo [natural native speed]
John: spices
Medina: viungo[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Medina: viungo [natural native speed]
John: Next we have..
Medina: kali [natural native speed]
John: hot
Medina: kali[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Medina: kali [natural native speed]
John: Next we have..
Medina: chemsha [natural native speed]
John: to warm
Medina: chemsha[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Medina: chemsha [natural native speed]
John: Next we have..
Medina: chumvi [natural native speed]
John: salt
Medina: chumvi[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Medina: chumvi [natural native speed]
John: Next we have..
Medina: kubwa [natural native speed]
John: large
Medina: kubwa[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Medina: kubwa [natural native speed]
John: And last...
Medina: mafuta mengi [natural native speed]
John: too oily
Medina: mafuta mengi[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Medina: mafuta mengi [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: chemsha
John: meaning "to heat"
Medina: Chemsha is a verb that means "to warm" something.
John: This phrase is often used when people are just warming cooked food or drinks which have become cold.
Medina: Chemsha can also mean "to boil" something. For example, chemsha maji means "boil some water," and something which has been boiled is --imechemshwa.
John: Can you give us an example using this verb?
Medina: Sure. For example, you can say.. Nyama yenye imechemshwa ni tamu sana.
John: ..which means "Boiled meat is very delicious." Okay, what's the next word?
Medina: mkubwa
John: meaning "grown up"
Medina: Mkubwa can be used as an adjective and also a noun.
John: As an adjective, it describes the size or age of something, while as a noun, it refers to a boss or someone in a high position in an organization. Can you give us an example using this word?
Medina: Sure. For example, you can say.. Huyu mtoto ni mkubwa, nguo zake hazimtoshei.
John: .. which means "This baby is big, his clothes cannot fit him." Okay, now onto the lesson focus.

Lesson focus

John: In this lesson, you'll learn how to use adjectives to describe food. First let’s take a look at how to express opinions about food.
Medina: People in Kenya freely give their opinions about food using adjectives like tamu sana meaning “very delicious,” mbaya “awful,” baridi “cold,” and bila rangi, “plain.” For example, Chakula hii ni mbaya sana.
John: which means “This food is so awful.”
Medina: Kenyans are also fond of describing food using adjectives such as chenye chumvi nyingi
John: meaning ”salty,”
Medina: chenye viungo
John: “spicy,”
Medina: chenye ladha
John: “tasty,”
Medina: For example you can say Mama alipika chakula chenye ladha sana.
John: Which means “Mom cooked very tasty meals.”
Medina: The quality of food is usually described using adjectives such as nyororo
John: meaning “tender,”
Medina: ngumu
John: “tough,”
Medina: For example, you can say Nyama hii ni ngumu sana.
John: “This meat is very tough.” Ok, now let’s take a look at what to say if you need to complain about food.
Medina: There is an example in the dialogue, Nami sipendi chakula ambacho hakina supu na kina mafuta mengi.
John: meaning "I don’t like food which is too dry or too oily."
Medina: If the food you are eating is not up to your expectations, you can complain using adjectives such as baridi
John: “cold,”
Medina: bila ladha
John: “tasteless,”
Medina: hakina mchuzi
John: “dry,”
Medina: kina mafuta kidogo
John: “has little oil,”
Medina: or, haribika
John: “gone bad.”
Medina: If you want to add more emphasis, you may add the word sana “too,” or kabisa “completely,” after each of these adjectives. For example, Chakula hiki hakina mchuzi kabisa.
John: “This food is completely dry.”
Medina: Here are some other sentences you can use to complain – Chakula hiki hakina ladha.
John: “This food is tasteless.”
Medina: Chakula hiki kimeharibika.
John: “This food has gone bad.” Finally, let’s see some vocabulary and sentences you can use when talking about cooking.
Medina: When you want to talk about kupika, “cooking,” in Swahili, you use verbs such as kuchoma “to roast,” kuchemsha “to boil,” kukaranga “to fry,” and so on.
John: Ok, let’s give some examples using these verbs.
Medina: Sure thing. Chakula kama mahindi huchemshwa.
John: “Food such as maize is boiled.”
Medina: Nyama huchomwa.
John: “Meat is roasted.”
Medina: Mandazi hurushwa kwa mafuta.
John: “Mandazis are deep fried.”

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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