Learn how to ask what something is and how to welcome visitors
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Matt: Hello and welcome back to SwahiliPod101.com. This is Absolute Beginner Season 1 lesson 11. What is This Delicious Kenyan Dish? My name is Matt. |
| Medina: And I’m Medina. Together, we are going to take you through this lesson where you’ll learn how to ask about delicious food, and also how to welcome visitors in Swahili. |
| Matt: By the end of the lesson you’ll be able to express yourself in Swahili while eating and know how to ask about what something is. |
| Medina: The conversation takes place at Futuma’s house. There are two foreigners who are visiting. |
| Matt: The conversation is between friends, so they will be using informal Swahili. Let’s listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Moses: Je, kuna mtu yeyote nyumbani? |
| Mary: Hodi. Tumefika! |
| Fatuma: Naja! (anafungua mlango) |
| Fatuma: Karibuni ndani chakula ki tayari. |
| Moses &Mary: Chakula kipi umetuandalia? |
| Fatuma: Wali wa nazi. |
| Matt: Let’s hear the conversation one time slowly. |
| Moses: Je, kuna mtu yeyote nyumbani? |
| Mary: Hodi. Tumefika! |
| Fatuma: Naja! (anafungua mlango) |
| Fatuma: Karibuni ndani chakula ki tayari. |
| Moses &Mary: Chakula kipi umetuandalia? |
| Fatuma: Wali wa nazi. |
| Matt: Now let’s hear it with the English translation. |
| (kengele inalia) |
| Matt(The bell rings) |
| Moses: Je, kuna mtu yeyote nyumbani? |
| Matt: Anybody home? |
| Mary: Hodi. Tumefika! |
| Matt: Here we are! |
| Fatuma: Naja! (anafungua mlango) |
| Matt: I am coming (she opens the door) welcome, the food is ready. |
| Fatuma: Karibuni ndani chakula ki tayari. |
| Matt: Which food have you prepared for us? |
| Moses &Mary: Chakula kipi umetuandalia? |
| Matt: Coconut rice. |
| Fatuma: Wali wa nazi. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Matt: Medina, how do Kenyan people welcome someone who's visiting their home? |
| Medina: When Kenyans have visitors, they offer them delicious meals and tasty drinks. Visitors are never expected to serve themselves. |
| Matt: And in the countryside, I think people often talk to others about how they were treated. |
| Medina: That’s right. If you offer a visitor something yummy, the visitor understands that you honor and respect them, and they may talk about it for days or even months to come. |
| Matt: Doesn’t that mean that the host is always under a lot of pressure? |
| Medina: Not really - every Kenyan host wants to make his or her guests happy, so this hospitality comes naturally. |
| Matt: As a host, how can you tell when your visitors are enjoying themselves? |
| Medina: It’s hard not to notice! The expressions and the questions they ask tell you a lot about your service. |
| Matt: For instance, when they are enjoying the food, they might ask about the ingredients. |
| Medina: Yes, and that’s why our topic is how to ask about delicious food and drinks, because we don’t want the listeners to send out the wrong message! |
| Matt: So what you’ll learn in this lesson is very useful, listeners! Okay, now let’s move on to the vocab. |
| Vocab list |
| Matt: Let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| : The first word we shall see is: |
| Medina: nyumbani [natural native speed] |
| Matt: home |
| Medina: nyumbani [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: nyumbani [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Medina: tumefika [natural native speed] |
| Matt: we have arrived |
| Medina: tumefika [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: tumefika [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Medina: naja [natural native speed] |
| Matt: I am coming |
| Medina: naja [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: naja [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Medina: karibu ndani [natural native speed] |
| Matt: welcome inside |
| Medina: karibu ndani [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: karibu ndani [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Medina: kipi [natural native speed] |
| Matt: which |
| Medina: kipi [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: kipi [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Medina: chakula [natural native speed] |
| Matt: food |
| Medina: chakula [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: chakula [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Medina: wali wa nazi [natural native speed] |
| Matt: coconut rice |
| Medina: wali wa nazi [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: wali wa nazi [natural native speed] |
| : And Last: |
| Medina: tayari [natural native speed] |
| Matt: ready |
| Medina: tayari [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: tayari [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Matt: Okay, Let’s take a closer look at the usage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson. What’s the first word? |
| Medina: First we have.. chakula kipi meaning “which food?” |
| Matt: This is a very common Swahili phrase for asking about food. What can you tell us about the words Medina? |
| Medina: Well, Kipi is a pronoun that changes its form depending on the object in question. Instead of kipi, you can also use gani to ask “which food?” |
| Matt: Ok. What do we have next? |
| Medina: Tayari |
| Matt: This means “ready.” It’s an adjective that you use to say that something which was being prepared is ready for use. |
| Medina: For instance, in the dialogue, the host says that the food is ready for consumption, or “chakula ki tayari”. |
| Matt: Another example is when someone is done getting ready to go somewhere. In that case, he or she may say.. |
| Medina: “niko tayari kwenda ” |
| Matt: meaning “I am ready to go”. Medina, is there anything else that’s important to know here? |
| Medina: There is! The phrase “Here we are” is said as “hodi tumefika!” Make sure you use an exclamation mark at the end to show excitement and your great appetite for the food being served. |
| Matt: Okay, now onto the grammar. |
| GRAMMAR POINT |
| Matt: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to express yourself in Swahili while eating, and how to ask about what something is. Medina, let’s say I’m invited to your home. What would you say to me first? |
| Medina: When you knock on the door, or ring the bell, I’d say Naja which means “I’m coming.” |
| Matt: Like we had in the dialogue, right? |
| Medina: Exactly. Then, after opening the door, I’d say Karibuni ndani, chakula ki tayari. |
| Matt: which means “Welcome inside, the food is ready”. |
| Medina: Karibuni ndani is the phrase meaning “welcome inside” while chakula ki tayari means “the food is ready.” |
| Matt: But there’s also another phrase to welcome visitors, right? |
| Medina: Yes. we have karibu tule. Another simple and probably the most common way of welcoming people into your home while at the door is karibu tule. It means “Welcome, let’s eat.” |
| Matt: And in Kenya, it’s important to ask others about the food to show your interest. To do this, you can say... |
| Medina: Chakula kipi umetuandalia?” |
| Matt: Meaning “which food have you prepared for us?” |
| Medina: Kipi can be used to ask about food, as well as other things, though the form changes depending on the object in question. As we’ve already introduced, you can use lipi instead of kipi. Both mean “which” or “what.” |
| Matt: Using that word, you would say.. |
| Medina: Chakula lipi umetuandalia?” |
| Matt: It means the same as “which food have you prepared for us?” |
| Medina: And the word chakula means “food.” And also, you can use other words, such as mlo or maamkuli to mean “foods.” |
| Matt: It may be a bit complicated to explain the difference between these words now, so we’ll leave that for more advanced series! |
| Medina: But before we wrap up, I’d like to remind you all that the plural form of chakula is vyakula. Once more, vyakula. |
| Matt: Listeners, don’t forget to check the lesson notes for more examples and information. |
Outro |
|---|
| Matt: And that just about covers it for this lesson. Thanks for listening, everyone, and we’ll see you next time. Bye! |
| Medina: Kwaheri! |
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