Learn how to ask what someone is doing
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| Introduction |
| John: Welcome to 3-Minute Swahili Season 1, Lesson 12 - Asking What Someone is Doing. In this lesson, you’ll learn how to ask and answer the question "What are you doing?" in Swahili. |
| Body |
| John: Here's the way to ask "What are you doing?" in Swahili. |
| Medina: [Normal] Unafanya nini? |
| John: First is a word meaning "you are doing." |
| Medina: [Normal] Unafanya [Slow] Unafanya |
| John: Last is the word meaning "what." |
| Medina: [Normal] nini [Slow] nini |
| John: Note the rising intonation. Listen again to the question meaning "What are you doing?" |
| Medina: [Slow] Unafanya nini? [Normal] Unafanya nini? |
| John: Here's a slightly different way to ask, "What are you doing?" |
| Medina: [Normal] Wewe unafanya nini? |
| John: First is a word meaning "you." |
| Medina: [Normal] wewe [Slow] wewe |
| John: Next is the word meaning "you are doing." |
| Medina: [Normal] unafanya [Slow] unafanya |
| John: Last is the word meaning "what." |
| Medina: [Normal] nini [Slow] nini |
| John: Note again the rising intonation. Listen again to the question meaning "What are you doing?" |
| Medina: [Slow] Wewe unafanya nini? [Normal] Wewe unafanya nini? |
| John: Here's a response meaning "I am studying." |
| Medina: [Normal] Ninasoma. |
| John: This expression has only one word meaning "I am studying." |
| Medina: [Normal] ninasoma [Slow] ninasoma |
| John: Listen again to the response, "I am studying." |
| Medina: [Slow] Ninasoma. [Normal] Ninasoma. |
| John: Here's a response meaning, "I'm doing nothing special." |
| Medina: [Normal] Sifanyi jambo lolote spesheli. |
| John: First is a word meaning "I'm not doing." |
| Medina: [Normal] sifanyi [Slow] sifanyi |
| John: Next is the word literally meaning "issue." |
| Medina: [Normal] jambo [Slow] jambo |
| John: Next is the word meaning "any." |
| Medina: [Normal] lolote [Slow] lolote |
| John: Last is the word meaning "special." |
| Medina: [Normal] spesheli [Slow] spesheli |
| John: Listen again to the response, "I'm doing nothing special." |
| Medina: [Slow] Sifanyi jambo lolote spesheli. [Normal] Sifanyi jambo lolote spesheli. |
| Cultural Insight |
| John: Now it's time for a quick cultural insight. |
| Medina: "What are you doing?" is a common question asked to find out whether a person is busy before suggesting something else for them to do. You can use it when you are bored and want someone to talk to or go shopping with you or do a task. |
Outro |
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| John: And that’s all for this lesson. Don’t forget to check out the lesson notes, and we’ll see you in the next lesson! |
| Medina: Tuonane! |
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