Learn how to use the imperative mood
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| INTRODUCTION |
| John: Hi everyone, and welcome back to SwahiliPod101.com. This is Intermediate Season 1 Lesson 21 - Getting Your Equations Right in Kenya. John Here. |
| Medina: Hamjambo, I'm Medina. |
| John: In this lesson, you’ll learn more about the imperative mood. The conversation takes place in a classroom. |
| Medina: It's between a teacher, Victor, and Rehema. |
| John: The speakers are a teacher and his students, therefore, they will speak both formally and informally in Swahili. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Mwalimu: Nani anaufahamu fomula hii—a+b=x (a ongeza ba ikupe x) ? |
| Rehema: Je, ni sawa kusema ni mlingano wa alijebra? |
| Mwalimu: Sawa kabisa. |
| Victor: Alijebra? Hilo silo somo la wahandisi na wanasayansi? |
| Mwalimu: Linatuhusu sisi sote. Ukiwajikoni, dukani au mahala popote. |
| Rehema: Nikiongeza viungo tofauti ninapopika keki, hiyo pia ni alijebra? |
| Mwalimu: Sawa. Tuseme tunaongeza mchanganyiko wa a na ule wa b kupata keki x. |
| Victor: Ndivyo ilivyo? |
| Mwalimu: Ndio. |
| Victor: Kweli alijebra inatumika kwa maisha ya kila siku. |
| Mwalimu: Hivyo basi, sikizeni kwavile somo hili ni muhimu sana. |
| John: Now listen to the conversation with the English translation. |
| Teacher: Who knows this formula—a+b=x? |
| Rehema: Is it right to say it's an algebraic equation? |
| Teacher: That’s right. |
| Victor: Algebra? Is it not a subject for engineers and scientists? |
| Teacher: It concerns us all. Be it in the kitchen, shop, or any other place. |
| Rehema: If I add different ingredients when I am making a cake, is that algebra? |
| Teacher: Let's say we add mixture a to that of b to get cake x. |
| Victor: Is that so? |
| Teacher: Yes. |
| Victor: True, algebra is used in our daily lives. |
| Teacher: That's why I will urge you to be attentive because this lesson is crucial. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| John: I know that the dialogue in this lesson was all about math, but I don’t want to talk about math today. |
| Medina: What’s wrong John, don’t you like math? |
| John: I think it’s more that math doesn’t like me! |
| Medina: But math can be so important for many different things. Budgeting needs math, for example. |
| John: Budgeting is important. I love to travel, so I always have to check my budget. |
| Medina: Exactly! If you budget and plan well, you can travel far and wide across Kenya. |
| John: Yeah, you can prioritize what is important. I love sightseeing in unusual places, but don’t care that much about my hotel. |
| Medina: So you can spend less money on hotels, and more on safaris. |
| John: That sounds good. I love walking too, and finding new places that way. |
| Medina: If you use your math and budget well, then you can have a vacation that is perfect for you. |
| John: Medina, what is the Swahili word for “vacation?” |
| Medina: It is likizo. |
| 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: mlingano [natural native speed] |
| John: equation |
| Medina: mlingano [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: mlingano [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Medina: alijebra [natural native speed] |
| John: algebra |
| Medina: alijebra [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: alijebra [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Medina: wanasayansi [natural native speed] |
| John: scientists |
| Medina: wanasayansi [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: wanasayansi [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Medina: husu [natural native speed] |
| John: to concern |
| Medina: husu [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: husu [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: mchanganyiko [natural native speed] |
| John: mixture |
| Medina: mchanganyiko [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: mchanganyiko [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Medina: kusihi [natural native speed] |
| John: to urge |
| Medina: kusihi [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: kusihi [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Medina: somo [natural native speed] |
| John: lesson |
| Medina: somo [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: somo [natural native speed] |
| John: And lastly... |
| Medina: makini [natural native speed] |
| John: keen |
| Medina: makini [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: makini [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: mlingano wa alijebra |
| John: meaning "algebra equation" |
| John: Can you break this phrase down? |
| Medina: Okay. The first word mlingano, means “equation,” wa, means “of” and the last word is alijebra. |
| John: This is a loanword from English meaning “algebra.” |
| Medina: You can use this phrase when talking about algebra. |
| John: Is this the only time that you’d use these words? |
| Medina: Well, you can use mlingano in other circumstances as it also means “harmony” and “resemblance.” |
| John: Can you give us an example using this phrase? |
| Medina: Sure. For example, you can say... Usidhani mlingano wa alijebra ni ngumu. |
| John: ...which means "Don't think algebra equations are difficult." |
| John: Okay, what's the next word? |
| Medina: linatuhusu |
| John: meaning "it concerns us" |
| John: Let’s break this word down into its components. |
| Medina: First is li, which is the pronoun marker for the subject, na is the tense marker. Then there is tu. |
| John: This is the personal pronoun. |
| Medina: Finally is -husu which means "to concern" or "to be about." |
| John: So together, it all means “it concerns us.” You can use this to educate people on how to be responsible. |
| Medina: You can also use it to remind the public that efforts are being made to reach an objective. |
| John: Can you give us an example using this word? |
| Medina: Sure. For example, you can say... Masilahi ya kila mtu hapa inatuhusu. |
| John: ...which means "The welfare of everyone here concerns us." |
| John: Okay, what's the next phrase? |
| Medina: viungo tofauti |
| John: meaning "different ingredients" |
| John: Can you explain the two words for us? |
| Medina: The first word is viungo, the plural form of kiungo. |
| John: This means “ingredients.” |
| Medina: The second word is tofauti. |
| John: This means “different.” This is a common phrase used when discussing recipes and how to cook meals. |
| Medina: With the singular kiungo, it can mean “joints,” “switches,” or “articulation.” |
| John: Can you give us an example using this phrase? |
| Medina: Sure. For example, you can say... Ongeza viungo tofauti ili iwe tamu. |
| John: ...which means "Add different ingredients to make it delicious." |
| John: Okay, now onto the lesson focus. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| John: In this lesson, you'll learn more about the imperative mood. Imperatives are words or short phrases that we can use to make requests, give orders or ask someone to perform a task. |
| Medina: At this point, you should already know the basics of the imperative mood. |
| John: There are some “borrowed verbs” in Swahili. |
| Medina: These refer to words taken from other languages, such as Arabic. Often, these words are irregular because they do not end with -a like most Swahili verbs. |
| John: The plural form of commands with irregular verbs are also different. |
| Medina: Yes, they have -ni added to their suffix. |
| John: Let’s hear an example. Can we hear the singular, and then plural for “Give me!”? |
| Medina: Nipe! and Nipeni! |
| John: What about “Try!” |
| Medina: The singular is Jaribu! and the plural is Jaribuni! |
| John: Let’s hear one in context. |
| Medina: Haribuni tu! Wazazi wenu watalipa. |
| John: “Keep spoiling! Your parents will pay for it.” The imperative form changes if you are talking to multiple recipients. |
| Medina: Yes, it takes the -eni suffix when indicating multiple recipients. |
| John: How do we say “Hurry up and let’s go!” when speaking to multiple people? |
| Medina: Fanyeni haraka twende! |
| John: Okay. So the topic of the dialogue was about basic algebra, so let’s look at some Swahili terms. |
| Medina: We heard a few words earlier, but here’s another new word - kanuni. |
| John: This means “formula.” How do we say “difference?” |
| Medina: tofauti. And jumla is “sum.” |
| John: How about “function?” |
| Medina: That is dhamira. |
| John: Let’s finish this lesson with a couple of sentences. |
| Medina: Unapokusanya data, inabidi uzingatie kutofautiana kadhaa. |
| John: “When collecting the data, you have to consider several variables.” |
| Medina: Mienendo na tabia zinatabiriwa kupitia algoriti ngumu. |
| John: “Trends and tendencies are predicted through complex algorithms.” |
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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