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 4 - Getting Nostalgic in Kenya. I’m John.
Medina: Hamjambo, I'm Medina.
John: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to discuss past events. The conversation takes place at a coffee shop.
Medina: It's between Mark and Fadhili.
John: The speakers are co-workers, so they will use informal Swahili. Okay, let's listen to the conversation.
DIALOGUE
Mark: Wacha tukunywe kahawa moto sasa.
Maria: Unakumbuka wakati tulikuwa na yule mdosi, wa asili ya kijerumani?
Mark: Aha! Najua wataka kusema nini. Hakukukuwa kunakosa kahawa ofisini.
Maria: Ukweli kabisa. Karibu tuwe wanywaji sugu wa kahawa.
Mark: Huyo mdosi alikuwa mzuri sana.
Maria: Ndio. Tulikuwa na vinywaji na vitafunio afisini kila wakati.
Mark: Haya basi. Wacha tuagize kahawa nyeusi na vitafunio.
Maria: Hizo kumbukumbu zimenirudisha mbali sana.
Mark: Sawa. Kunywa kahawa twende.
John: Listen to the conversation one time slowly.
Mark: Wacha tukunywe kahawa moto sasa.
Maria: Unakumbuka wakati tulikuwa na yule mdosi, wa asili ya kijerumani?
Mark: Aha! Najua wataka kusema nini. Hakukukuwa kunakosa kahawa ofisini.
Maria: Ukweli kabisa. Karibu tuwe wanywaji sugu wa kahawa.
Mark: Huyo mdosi alikuwa mzuri sana.
Maria: Ndio. Tulikuwa na vinywaji na vitafunio afisini kila wakati.
Mark: Haya basi. Wacha tuagize kahawa nyeusi na vitafunio.
Maria: Hizo kumbukumbu zimenirudisha mbali sana.
Mark: Sawa. Kunywa kahawa twende.
John: Listen to the conversation with the English translation
Mark: Let’s have some hot coffee now.
Maria: Do you remember when we had a boss with German origins?
Mark: Hey! I know what you want to say. There was no one time there wasn't coffee in the office.
Maria: Very true. We almost became coffee addicts.
Mark: The boss was very nice.
Maria: Yes. We always had drinks and snacks in the office.
Mark: Okay then. Let us order some black coffee and snacks.
Maria: Those memories have taken me way back in time!
Mark: Okay. Drink your coffee and let us go.
POST CONVERSATION BANTER
John: Medina, would you say Kenyans are prone to nostalgia?
Medina: Yes, Kenyans like remembering past events, but more than that, let’s say that Kenyans love eating and anyone who satisfies their appetite is usually remembered fondly!
John: Do Kenyans have a specific favorite food?
Medina: Yes, there are many, as each Kenyan tribe has its favorite food, for example the Kikuyus like Githeri
John: which is a traditional meal that is made from beans.
Medina: While the Luos like more Ugali and fish.
John: Ugali is a dish that resembles porridge.
Medina: And Swahilis from the coast like pilau and so on.
John: We hope you get to try all those dishes when you visit Kenya, listeners! Okay, now onto the vocab.
VOCAB LIST
John: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is..
Medina: kahawa [natural native speed]
John: coffee
Medina: kahawa[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Medina: kahawa [natural native speed]
John: Next we have..
Medina: mdosi [natural native speed]
John: boss
Medina: mdosi[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Medina: mdosi [natural native speed]
John: Next we have..
Medina: ofisini [natural native speed]
John: office
Medina: ofisini[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Medina: ofisini [natural native speed]
John: Next we have..
Medina: sugu [natural native speed]
John: addict
Medina: sugu[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Medina: sugu [natural native speed]
John: Next we have..
Medina: asili [natural native speed]
John: origin
Medina: asili[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Medina: asili [natural native speed]
John: Next we have..
Medina: vitafunio [natural native speed]
John: snacks
Medina: vitafunio[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Medina: vitafunio [natural native speed]
John: Next we have..
Medina: agiza [natural native speed]
John: to order
Medina: agiza[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Medina: agiza [natural native speed]
John: Next we have..
Medina: kumbu kumbu [natural native speed]
John: memories
Medina: kumbu kumbu[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Medina: kumbu kumbu [natural native speed]
John: And lastly..
Medina: kunywa [natural native speed]
John: to drink
Medina: kunywa[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Medina: kunywa [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 phrase is..
Medina: wanywaji sugu wa kahawa
John: meaning "coffee addicts"
Medina: Wanywaji is a Swahili word for “drinkers” and it belongs to the noun class m-/wa-. Its singular version is mnywaji. The second word is the adjective sugu, meaning "addict" and kahawa is a noun meaning "coffee."
John: You use this phrase to refer to people who drink coffee excessively and cannot do without it.
Medina: The phrase is usually used in official settings. In informal settings, people may choose to use taki in place of sugu.
John: Can you give us an example using this phrase?
Medina: Sure. For example, you can say. Wanywaji sugu wa kahawa hawapati usingizi.
John: ..which means "Coffee addicts do not usually get sleep."
John: Okay, what's the next word?
Medina: asili ya kijerumani
John: meaning "German origin"
Medina: Asili means "origin", ya stands for "of," and kijerumani, made with the prefix ki-, which indicates origin, and jerumani, meaning "German," translates to "of German." Asili is commonly used to refer to something's origin.
John: In this case, it is used to express German origin. Can you give us an example using this phrase?
Medina: Sure. For example, you can say.. Watu wa asili ya kijerumani ndio pekee wanaweza kufunza kijerumani vizuri.
John: .. which means "People of German origin are the only ones who can teach you German well." Okay, what's the next word?
Medina: kahawa nyeusi
John: meaning "black coffee"
Medina: Kahawa means "coffee" and nyeusi means "black." You usually use this phrase to refer to a coffee drink that doesn’t have milk in it.
John: How do you refer to coffee with milk added?
Medina: kahawa nyeupe or literally “white coffee”
John: Can you give us an example using these phrases?
Medina: For example, you can say.. Kahawa nyeusi ni kali kuliko kahawa nyeupe.
John: .. which means "Black coffee is stronger than white coffee." Okay, now onto the lesson focus.

Lesson focus

John: In this lesson, you'll learn how to discuss past events.
Medina: That’s right, we’ll take a look at the past tense in Swahili.
John: What’s an example using the past tense in the dialogue?
Medina: For example Tulikuwa na vinywaji na vitafunio afisini kila wakati.
John: meaning “We always had drinks and snacks in the office.”
Medina: In Swahili, “past tense” is Wakati uliopita
John: Is there a typical prefix or infix for the past tense, as there is for other tenses?
Medina: For the past tense, the prefix li- is used with the verb. An example is tuli-kuwa meaning “we had.”
John: Which is the singular form?
Medina: The singular form is nili-kuwa meaning “I had.” Kuwa means “to have” or in some cases “to be.” When kuwa means “to have,” it’s always followed by na, for example Kuwa na kitu cha kula meaning “To have something to eat.”
John: Can you give an example with the same verb when meaning “to be”?
Medina: Kuwa mpole.
John: “To be quiet.” The conjugation is pretty simple, right?
Medina: Yes it is. The most important thing is to remember the personal prefixes.
John: Let’s review them. “I” is...
Medina: ni-
John: “you” singular is...
Medina: u-
John: “he” or she” is...
Medina: a-
John: “we” is...
Medina: tu-
John: “you” plural is...
Medina: m-
John: “they” is
Medina: wa-. All you have to do is to choose the right personal prefix, add the tense infix, and finally the stem of the verb. For example Walikuwa.
John: Which means “they were”. Ok, now let’s take a look at the adverbs of time.
Medina: There is an example in the dialogue, Wacha tukunywe kahawa moto sasa.
John: It means “Let’s have hot coffee now.”
Medina: Sasa, “now,” is the adverb of time used in the sentence.
John: Adverbs of time are words that express how soon an action will take place. In Swahili, the adverb of time appears after the verb in a sentence. What are some other Swahili adverbs of time?
Medina: wiki jana
John: “last week,”
Medina: jana
John: “yesterday,”
Medina: baadaye
John: “later,”
Medina: Here are some examples – Rehema alienda shuleni jana.
John: Meaning “Rehema went to school yesterday.”
Medina: Nilienda sokoni wiki jana.
John: “I went to the market last week.”
Medina: Wewe enda matembezi kwanza tutaonana baadaye.
John: “You go touring first then we’ll meet later.”

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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