Learn how to discuss the weather
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| INTRODUCTION |
| John: Hi everyone, and welcome back to SwahiliPod101.com. This is Beginner Season 1 Lesson 16 - You Can Always Talk About the Weather in Swahili! John Here. |
| Medina: Hamjambo, I'm Medina. |
| John: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to discuss the weather. The conversation takes place on a bus. |
| Medina: It's between Maria and Mohamed. |
| John: The speakers are acquaintances, therefore, they will speak informal Swahili. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Maria: Leo kuna jua kali sana. |
| Mohamed: Ndio. Vumbi pia ni nyingi angani. |
| Maria: Amerika kuna mvua ya theluji sasa hivi. |
| Mohamed: Jana jioni kulikuwa na upepo mkali mno. |
| Maria: Mimi husikia huko nchi za Amerika wamezoea theluji. |
| Mohamed: Ndio. Huko majira hubadilika. |
| Maria: Haya siku njema mimi nimefika. Nashuka. |
| John: Listen to the conversation one time slowly. |
| Maria: Leo kuna jua kali sana. |
| Mohamed: Ndio. Vumbi pia ni nyingi angani. |
| Maria: Amerika kuna mvua ya theluji sasa hivi. |
| Mohamed: Jana jioni kulikuwa na upepo mkali mno. |
| Maria: Mimi husikia huko nchi za Amerika wamezoea theluji. |
| Mohamed: Ndio. Huko majira hubadilika. |
| Maria: Haya siku njema mimi nimefika. Nashuka. |
| John: Listen to the conversation with the English translation. |
| Maria: Today the sun is very hot. |
| Mohamed: Yes. There’s a lot of dust in the air, too. |
| Maria: In America, it's raining and even snowing right now. |
| Mohamed: Yesterday I can remember there were very strong winds. |
| Maria: I heard in America they’re accustomed to snow. |
| Mohamed: Yes. In those places seasons change. |
| Maria: Okay. Good day. I’ve arrived so I’m getting off. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| John: The weather! That seems like a pretty safe topic in most countries. |
| Medina: I think so too. It’s a good topic when you want to make small talk in Swahili! |
| John: Yeah, it’s a topic you can discuss with friends and strangers. |
| Medina: It’s especially good with strangers. |
| John: Yes, it’s not personal, and everyone knows something about the weather. |
| Medina: Complaining about the weather can bring people together. |
| John: Yeah, there’s nothing like whining about the cold to make friends! |
| Medina: You might not have many chances to complain about the cold in Kenya though! |
| John: Yeah, it’s not a very cold country, is it? |
| Medina: It’s near the equator, so the weather is usually hot or sunny. |
| John: How do we say “weather” in Swahili? |
| Medina: Hali ya anga |
| 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: anga [natural native speed] |
| John: atmosphere |
| Medina: anga[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: anga [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Medina: jua [natural native speed] |
| John: sun, sunny |
| Medina: jua[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: jua [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Medina: sikia [natural native speed] |
| John: to hear |
| Medina: sikia[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: sikia [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Medina: upepo [natural native speed] |
| John: windy |
| Medina: upepo[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: upepo [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Medina: theluji [natural native speed] |
| John: snow |
| Medina: theluji[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: theluji [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Medina: majira [natural native speed] |
| John: season |
| Medina: majira[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: majira [natural native speed] |
| John: And last... |
| Medina: zoea [natural native speed] |
| John: to be accustomed to |
| Medina: zoea[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: zoea [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: sikia |
| John: meaning "to hear." What can you tell us about this? |
| Medina: This is a verb. It comes from the word sikio, which is Swahili for "ear." |
| John: You can use this when you want someone to listen to something. |
| Medina: Or you can use it to refer to news that you hear in the society or the world. |
| John: Are there any related words? |
| Medina: There is a synonym, sikiza, but the meaning of this is “to listen.” |
| John: Can you give us an example using this word? |
| Medina: Sure. For example, you can say, Sikiza redio utasikia ule wimbo uupendao zaidi. |
| John: ...which means "Listen to the radio and you will hear your favorite song." |
| John: Okay, what's the next word? |
| Medina: majira |
| John: meaning "season." What can you tell us about this word? |
| Medina: This is a noun. It remains the same in both singular and plural forms. |
| John: What type of season is it used for? |
| Medina: It’s used for weather seasons, and for different climates. |
| John: What type of weather seasons are there in East Africa? |
| Medina: There’s majira ya joto, meaning the "hot season," and majira ya baridi, meaning the "cold season." |
| John: Can you give us an example using this word? |
| Medina: Sure. For example, you can say, Majira ya joto hapa Kenya husababisha joto hata ya nyusi ya 40. |
| John: ...which means "During the hot season here in Kenya, the temperature rises up to 40 degrees celsius." |
| John: Okay, what's the next word? |
| Medina: zoea |
| John: meaning "to be accustomed to." What can you tell us about this word? |
| Medina: This is a verb. |
| John: It means to go through a situation or condition, anything until you are used to it. |
| Medina: Yes, it can also be used for physical things that your body needs to get used to. |
| John: Can you give us an example using this word? |
| Medina: Sure. For example, you can say, Waendeshaji magari wengi wamezoea kuweko kwa msongomano wa magari katika miji mikuu. |
| John: ...which means "Most motorists are accustomed to the heavy traffic jams in major cities." |
| John: Okay, now onto the lesson focus. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| John: In this lesson, you'll learn about discussing the weather. In the vocabulary section, we said that there are two seasons in East Africa - the hot season and the cold season. Let’s start by learning how to talk about cold weather. |
| Medina: Cold weather is majira ya baridi. Some useful verbs are kunyesha theluji. |
| John: Which means “to snow.” Snow in Kenya is usually found in the mountains. |
| Medina: And kunyesha mvua, “to rain.” |
| John: How about some adjectives? How do we say “cold?” |
| Medina: kuna baridi. Kuna theluji is “snowy.” |
| John: Let’s look at an example sentence. How do we say “It is raining heavily, so if possible let’s postpone our meeting?” |
| Medina: Kunanyesha mvua nyingi sana kwa hivyo ikiwezekana wacha tuahirishe mkutano wetu. |
| John: There are more examples in the lesson notes, of course! Let’s move onto a nicer topic now, and look at words for the hot weather. |
| Medina: In Swahili, hot weather is referred to as Jua kali. |
| John: What are some good words for hot weather? |
| Medina: You might hear kuwa na vumbi, which means “to be dusty.” Or kuchoma, meaning “to scorch.” |
| John: Wow, those are some words for some extreme heat! |
| Medina: You might also need to use ukame, which means “drought.” |
| John: Let’s hear an example sentence. How do we say “It is very hot, to the extent that I fear going out of the office.” |
| Medina: Kuna jua kali sana inafanya naogopa kutoka kwa ofisi. |
| John: We might need to describe exactly how hot or rainy it is. Is it a little rainy? Is it raining a lot? |
| Medina: We can use words such as nzito, |
| John: meaning “heavy,” |
| Medina: nyingi, |
| John: meaning “a lot,” |
| Medina:and mkali, |
| John: meaning “strong.” I think it’ll be good to hear these words in example sentences. |
| Medina: Right. Kulikuwa na mvua nzito sana huko milimani |
| John: “There was very heavy rainfall in the mountains.” |
| Medina: Mvua inayonyesha huko nje ni rasha rasha nyepesi. |
| John: “The rainfall outside is light.” And one more, please? |
| Medina: Kule Mombasa kuna jua kali sana. |
| John: “In Mombasa the sun is very hot.” |
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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