Learn how to discuss past events
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| INTRODUCTION |
| John: Hi everyone, and welcome back to SwahiliPod101.com. This is Beginner Season 1 Lesson 3 - Getting Some Good Swahili Advice. John Here. |
| Medina: Hamjambo, I'm Medina. |
| John: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to ask for and give suggestions. The conversation takes place at home. |
| Medina: It's between Ali and Fatuma. |
| John: These speakers are acquaintances, so they will use informal Swahili. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Fatuma: Ali mwanangu, mimi ni rafiki ya mama yako. |
| Ali: Ndio nakukumbuka. Wewe ni mkuu wa elimu wilayani. |
| Fatuma: Wewe ni mtoto mwelevu sana. |
| Ali: Asante. Nitafanya aje niweze kufuzu katika masomo yangu? |
| Fatuma: Sikiza waalimu vizuri na usome vitabu vyako. |
| Ali: Aha, kumbe niko kwa njia mwafaka. |
| Fatuma: Ndio kama wewe hufanya hivyo. |
| Ali: Haya basi Bi Fatuma. Mimi narudi kusoma na wenzangu. |
| Fatuma: Haya mwanangu. Nakutakia kila la heri. |
| John: Listen to the conversation one time slowly. |
| Fatuma: Ali mwanangu, mimi ni rafiki ya mama yako. |
| Ali: Ndio nakukumbuka. Wewe ni mkuu wa elimu wilayani. |
| Fatuma: Wewe ni mtoto mwelevu sana. |
| Ali: Asante. Nitafanya aje niweze kufuzu katika masomo yangu? |
| Fatuma: Sikiza waalimu vizuri na usome vitabu vyako. |
| Ali: Aha, kumbe niko kwa njia mwafaka. |
| Fatuma: Ndio kama wewe hufanya hivyo. |
| Ali: Haya basi Bi Fatuma. Mimi narudi kusoma na wenzangu. |
| Fatuma: Haya mwanangu. Nakutakia kila la heri. |
| John: Listen to the conversation with the English translation |
| Fatuma: Ali my son, I am a friend of your mom. |
| Ali: Yes I remember you. You are the head of district education office. |
| Fatuma: You are an intelligent child. |
| Ali: Thank you. What should I do to make sure I pass in my studies? |
| Fatuma: Listen to your teachers carefully and read your books. |
| Ali: Oh, so I am on the right path. |
| Fatuma: Yes, if that is what you do. |
| Ali: Okay Mrs. Fatuma. Let me go back to read with my mates. |
| Fatuma: Okay my child. I wish you luck. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| John: Medina, how do children usually refer to their elders in Kenya? |
| Medina: Children do not call their elders by their real names. They mostly use official titles. For example Bi Fatuma, meaning “Mrs. Fatuma.” referring to one’s mother. |
| John: I suppose they do the same for other adults too. |
| Medina: Right, they also call the mothers and fathers of other children by their relationship, for example baba Rehema, "father of Rehema." |
| John: So they address them with a lot of respect – the same respect they give their parents. |
| Medina: Exactly. Elders or parents treat others’ children as their own and refer to them as such too, giving them advice and congratulating them when they exhibit good behavior. |
| John: So how would you refer to a child who is not your son or daughter? |
| Medina: For example, I could say Ali mwanangu. |
| John: which means “Ali my son." Okay, now onto the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| John: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is.. |
| Medina: rafiki [natural native speed] |
| John: friend |
| Medina: rafiki[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: rafiki [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have.. |
| Medina: elimu [natural native speed] |
| John: education |
| Medina: elimu[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: elimu [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have.. |
| Medina: mwerevu [natural native speed] |
| John: intelligent |
| Medina: mwerevu[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: mwerevu [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have.. |
| Medina: kufuzu [natural native speed] |
| John: to pass |
| Medina: kufuzu[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: kufuzu [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have.. |
| Medina: sikiza [natural native speed] |
| John: to listen |
| Medina: sikiza[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: sikiza [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have.. |
| Medina: njia [natural native speed] |
| John: way, driveway |
| Medina: njia[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: njia [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have.. |
| Medina: kama [natural native speed] |
| John: if |
| Medina: kama[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: kama [natural native speed] |
| John: And last... |
| Medina: kutakia [natural native speed] |
| John: to wish |
| Medina: kutakia [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: kutakia [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: mwerevu |
| John: meaning "Intelligent" |
| Medina: This word comes from the basic root -elevu and has the added prefix mwe-, since the qualifying noun belongs to the noun class m-wa. You can use this word to refer to a smart person. |
| John: Can you give us an example using this word? |
| Medina: Sure. For example, you can say... Mtoto wake ni mwerevu sana shuleni. |
| John: ..which means "Her child is very intelligent in school." |
| Medina: The opposite of the word mwerevu is mjinga, meaning "foolish person." |
| John: Okay, what's the next phrase? |
| Medina: Mkuu wa elimu wilayani |
| John: meaning "Head District Education Officer" |
| Medina: This is a four word phrase. Mkuu means the head of something. Wa is "of", a joining word. Elimu means "education" and wilayani means "in the district." |
| John: You can use this title phrase to refer to the head of education in the district. Medina, can you give us an example using this phrase? |
| Medina: For example, you can say.. Mkuu wa elimu wilayani lazima awe na cheti cha chuo kikuu. |
| John: .. which means "Head of district education office must have a university degree." Okay, what's the last phrase? |
| Medina: kutakia kila la heri |
| John: meaning "to wish luck" |
| Medina: The phrase is composed of four words – kutakia means "wish," kila means "all" la "of,” and heri "luck" |
| John: You can use this phrase to wish luck to someone who is engaging in exams or trying a new venture. The phrase can also be used in a formal situation. Medina, can you give us an example using this word? |
| Medina: Sure. For example, you can say.. Nakutakia kila la heri katika biashara yako mpya. |
| John: .. which means "I wish you luck in your new business." Okay, now onto the lesson focus. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| John: In this lesson, you'll learn how to ask for and give suggestions. We’ll review the present tense and see the future tense as well. |
| Medina: In Swahili “present tense” is wakati uliopo and “future tense” is wakati ujao. They are both nyakati which means “tenses.” |
| John: Let’s hear a sentence from the dialogue with the present tense. |
| Medina: Mimi narudi kusoma na wenzangu. |
| John: This means “I am going back to read with my friends.” |
| Medina: The present tense in Swahili uses the prefix na-, in the sentence that is narudi meaning “I’m going back.” |
| John: What about the future tense? Do we have any examples of that in the dialogue? |
| Medina: We have Nitafanya aje niweze kufuzu katika masomo yangu? |
| John: Meaning “What should I do to pass in my studies?” |
| Medina: The future tense in Swahili uses the prefix ta-, in the sentence that is nitafanya literally meaning “I will do.” Ni refers to the subject “I,” ta- is used in the future tense, and fanya is the verb. |
| John: So there are different prefixes for each tense. |
| Medina: Right, the verbs in present tense are prefixed with na-, but in the future tense we usually use ta-. |
| John: Let’s give some examples. Let’s consider the verb “to read” |
| Medina: which in Swahili is Soma. The present is ninasoma. |
| John: meaning “I read” |
| Medina: the future is nitasoma |
| John: meaning “I will read.” Do these forms change when you’re referring to a different person? |
| Medina: Yes, every person has a different prefix. |
| John: What’s the Swahili for “you read”? |
| Medina: the prefix for “you” is u-, so “you read” is unasoma |
| John: meaning “he reads” |
| Medina: the prefix for “he” or “she” is a-, so “he reads” or “she reads” is anasoma |
| John: What about “we read”? |
| Medina: tunasoma |
| John: “you read” plural? |
| Medina: mnasoma |
| John: “they read”? |
| Medina: wanasoma |
| John: Ok, let’s now take a look at the main topic, asking and giving suggestions in Swahili. What is an example of a suggestion request from the dialogue? |
| Medina: Nitafanya aje niweze kufuzu katika masomo yangu? |
| John: This means “What should I do to pass in my studies?” Ali is asking the expert to advise him on how he can pass his exams. |
| Medina: In Swahili, most asking sentences start with an action verb followed by a question word such as nini “what,” kwa nini “why,” aje “how,” and wapi “where.” |
| John: The sentence structure is not like in English where the question word comes before the verb and other parts of a sentence. Let’s give another example. |
| Medina: Je, unaonelea twende wapi? |
| John: “Where do you suggest we go?” |
| Medina: In this case, the question word wapi, meaning “where” comes at the end. Here is another example – Nitajua siku yake ya kuzaliwa aje? |
| John: “How will I know his birthday?” |
| Medina: Also in this case the question word, aje, “how,” comes at the end. |
| John: Ok, now let’s take a look at how to give suggestions. |
| Medina: To give suggestions you simply start with a present tense verb or with a suggestive expression. For example, in the dialogues we have Sikiza waalimu vizuri na usome vitabu vyako. |
| John: ...meaning “Listen to your teachers well and read your books.” |
| Medina: you can start by using certain expressions, such as naonelea for “I suggest,” for example, Naonelea ni vizuri uende sokoni kwanza halafu uoge baadaye. |
| John: which means “I suggest you first go to the market and shower afterwards.” |
| Medina: another expression is Maoni yangu ni kuwa... |
| John: which means “My opinion is that...” |
| Medina: For example, Maoni yangu ni kuwa uende kwenye mkutano kwanza halafu uende kazini. |
| John: “My opinion is that you should go to the meeting first, then to your workplace.” |
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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