Learn Swahili - Jifunze Kiswahili

 Learn Swahili - Jifunze Kiswahili

Dear people, what can I do? My divine is getting on my nerves! Now she is learning German and to my surprise I now have to learn Swahili. What an effort! But, on the other hand, what doesn't one do to please one's divine? Yes, really, the next thing will be that she will chase me over hot coals! That'll be the day!

People who speak Swahili as their only mother tongue are usually referred to as Waswahili, but this name refers only to their language and does not denote any specific ethnic or tribal entity. Swahili is widely spoken as a lingua franca in: Tanzania, where it is the language of administration and primary education; Kenya, where it is the main language for these purposes after English; Congo (Kinshasa), where a form of Swahili is one of the four administrative languages, the main language for this purpose being French; and Uganda, where the main language is again English. Swahili has been greatly influenced by Arabic; there are an enormous number of Arabic loan words in the language, including the word swahili, from Arabic sawāḥilī (a plural adjectival form of an Arabic word meaning “of the coast”). This is from the Encyclopedia Britanica. Swahili is on the move, the vocabulary is constantly being expanded through cultural and economic exchange. That's what makes this language exciting.

I've just arrived at Utangulizi (the introduction). On page 1. It's moving fast! I have to say.

Matamshi (pronunciation). Adabu - politeness, I've already learned. This is nothing new for me, my father taught me that. He always said to me: "Politeness doesn't cost anything, that's what the Japanese say." and thats the way it is.

The second word is grandfather (babu). I can hardly remember my grandfather. He died when I was 6 years young.

Chupa, the bottle, probably the most important word. Here in Austria there is a sentence that says it all: "Beer, beer or I'll fall over!"

I'm taking a break for today. The 1st day I learn Swahili. I don't want to exaggerate. I have to go slowly, since it's been a while since I tried to learn something.