Learn how to ask for directions
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| INTRODUCTION |
| John: Hi everyone, and welcome back to SwahiliPod101.com. This is Beginner Season 1 Lesson 24 - Getting To Where You Need to Go in Kenya. John Here. |
| Medina: Hamjambo, I'm Medina. |
| John: In this lesson, you’ll learn about asking about the way. The conversation takes place on the streets. |
| Medina: It's between Rehema and Mark. |
| John: The speakers are strangers, therefore, they will speak formal Swahili. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Rehema: Habari yako bwana? |
| Mark: Mzuri dada. Nikusaidie vipi? |
| Rehema: Naomba unieleze njia ya kwenda kwenye hoteli ya Hilton. |
| Mark: Ukiwa hapa katika barabara ya Koinange, utarudi nyuma mita kama mia moja. |
| Rehema: Ehe halafu. |
| Mark: Ugeuke kushoto, ufuate barabara ya Moi mpaka ulione jumba kubwa yenye rangi ya samawati. |
| Rehema: Haya halafu nikifika hapo je? |
| Mark: Upenduke kulia halafu utaona maandishi. |
| Rehema: Imeandikwa Hilton Hotel? |
| Mark: Ndio. |
| Rehema: Haya asante. |
| Mark: Karibu. |
| John: Listen to the conversation one time slowly. |
| Rehema: Habari yako bwana? |
| Mark: Mzuri dada. Nikusaidie vipi? |
| Rehema: Naomba unieleze njia ya kwenda kwenye hoteli ya Hilton. |
| Mark: Ukiwa hapa katika barabara ya Koinange, utarudi nyuma mita kama mia moja. |
| Rehema: Ehe halafu. |
| Mark: Ugeuke kushoto, ufuate barabara ya Moi mpaka ulione jumba kubwa yenye rangi ya samawati. |
| Rehema: Haya halafu nikifika hapo je? |
| Mark: Upenduke kulia halafu utaona maandishi. |
| Rehema: Imeandikwa Hilton Hotel? |
| Mark: Ndio. |
| Rehema: Haya asante. |
| Mark: Karibu. |
| John: Listen to the conversation with the English translation. |
| Rehema: How are you, sir? |
| Mark: I am fine, madam. How may I help you? |
| Rehema: Please direct me to the Hilton hotel. |
| Mark: From here on Koinange Street, go back a hundred metres. |
| Rehema: Yes...then... |
| Mark: Turn to your left, follow Moi Avenue up until you see a tall blue building. |
| Rehema: Okay, and when I reach there? |
| Mark: Turn to your right then you will see the big writing. |
| Rehema: Does it say Hilton Hotel? |
| Mark: Yes. |
| Rehema: Okay, thank you. |
| Mark: You’re welcome. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| John: It’s easy to get lost when you don’t know the town. |
| Medina: It’s easy to get lost even if you do know the town you’re in! |
| John: Yeah, for me at least! If we’re lost in Kenya and need to ask for help, how should we approach this? |
| Medina: It’s important to be polite. We’re asking people for help, after all. |
| John: Of course! How should the conversation be started? |
| Medina: You can use a general greeting, such as jambo. |
| John: And then what? |
| Medina: You should use tafadhali, meaning “please.” |
| John: How do you ask someone to show you the way? |
| Medina: You can say Kunioyesha njia. |
| 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: saidia [natural native speed] |
| John: to help |
| Medina: saidia[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: saidia [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Medina: eleza [natural native speed] |
| John: to explain |
| Medina: eleza[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: eleza [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Medina: hoteli [natural native speed] |
| John: hotel |
| Medina: hoteli[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: hoteli [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Medina: barabara [natural native speed] |
| John: road |
| Medina: barabara[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: barabara [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Medina: kushoto [natural native speed] |
| John: left |
| Medina: kushoto[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: kushoto [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Medina: jumba [natural native speed] |
| John: building |
| Medina: jumba[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: jumba [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Medina: kulia [natural native speed] |
| John: right |
| Medina: kulia[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: kulia [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Medina: penduka [natural native speed] |
| John: to turn |
| Medina: penduka[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: penduka [natural native speed] |
| John: And lastly... |
| Medina: maandishi [natural native speed] |
| John: text, writings |
| Medina: maandishi[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: maandishi [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: kusaidia |
| John: meaning "to help." |
| John: What can you tell us about this word? |
| Medina: You can use this for any type of help. |
| John: So you can use this to ask for help, or to ask someone if they need your help? |
| Medina: Yes. It comes from the word saidia. The ku at the start of the word shows the noun class. |
| John: Can it be used in formal and informal situations? |
| Medina: Yes, it’s fine in both. |
| John: Can you give us an example using this word? |
| Medina: Sure. For example, you can say, Nataka kusaidia rafiki yangu kupokea wageni wake. |
| John: ...which means "I want to help my friend receive her guests.” |
| John: Okay, what's the next word? |
| Medina: kupenduka |
| John: meaning "to turn." Can you break this down for us? |
| Medina: This comes from penduka, and ku is a prefix. |
| John: What kind of turns can it be used with? |
| Medina: We use it say “turn left,” “turn right,” or “turn around.” |
| John: Is this word also okay to be used in both formal and informal situations? |
| Medina: Yes, it is. |
| John: Can you give us an example using this word? |
| Medina: Sure. For example, you can say, Penduka kushoto utaniona. |
| John: ...which means "Turn left and you'll see me." |
| John: Okay, now onto the lesson focus. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| John: In this lesson, you'll learn about asking for the way. We heard a little earlier about what greetings we should use, so now let’s hear about how we can actually ask for directions. |
| Medina: You can use naulizia, |
| John: which means “I’m asking,” |
| Medina: and njia which means “way.” |
| John: Then you follow it with the directions you are asking for. Let’s hear an example. |
| Medina: Naulizia njia ya kwenda Kitale. |
| John: “I am asking for the way to town” |
| Medina: Another way is to use unionyeshe, meaning “show me.” |
| John: Let’s hear an example using this word. |
| Medina: Naomba unionyeshe njia ya kwenda mjini. |
| John: “Please show me the way to town.” |
| Medina: Maybe this next sentence will come in handy. Naomba unionyeshe msalani. |
| John: “Please show me the toilet.” Yes, I can see that one being useful! |
| Medina: That’s two easy ways to ask for directions. |
| John: After asking, we need to be able to understand the explanation we’re given. |
| Medina: Some of the verbs you might hear include ugeuke or penduka. |
| John: Both of them mean “turn.” |
| Medina: Or mfuate. |
| John: Which means “straight.” We won’t go through any more words here as they’re listed in the lesson notes. But, let’s hear an example sentence, if that’s okay, Medina? |
| Medina: Of course! Nenda kulia, kisha ukiliona jumba ndogo sana ugeuke kulia. |
| John: “Go right, when you see the small house, turn right.” And finally, we need to understand distances. |
| Medina: When talking about umbali, or “distance,” we use numerals, quantitative words, and estimates. |
| John: Yes. You might also hear measures of distance such as meter and kilometer. |
| Medina: mita and kilomita, respectively. |
| John: Let’s finish with a couple of examples using distances. |
| Medina: Ukifika hapo, nyumba yake ni karibu sana, kitu mita hamsini |
| John: “When you get there, his house is very close, around fifty metres.” |
| Medina: Hospitalini ni mita mia moja ivi kutoka hapa. |
| John: “The hospital is around a hundred metres from here.” |
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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