Learn how to talk about the weather
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Matt: Hello and welcome back to SwahiliPod101.com. This is Absolute Beginner, Season 1 lesson 15, Talking About the Weather in Swahili. My name is Matt. |
| Medina: Jambo and I'm Medina. |
| Matt: In this lesson, you'll learn how to talk about the weather in Swahili. |
| Medina: The conversation takes place outdoors and it's between three friends, who are discussing the weather. |
| Matt: The speakers know each other, so they'll be using informal language. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Juma: Hii hali ya anga! Leo kuna jua kali sana. |
| Musa: Ndio, kuna joto pia. |
| Amina: Kuna uwezekano kutanyesha jioni. |
| Juma: Joto, Jua na mvua kwa siku moja? |
| Musa: Ndio inawezekana katika upande huu wa dunia. |
| Matt: Let’s hear the conversation one time slowly. |
| Juma: Hii hali ya anga! Leo kuna jua kali sana. |
| Musa: Ndio, kuna joto pia. |
| Amina: Kuna uwezekano kutanyesha jioni. |
| Juma: Joto, Jua na mvua kwa siku moja? |
| Musa: Ndio inawezekana katika upande huu wa dunia. |
| Matt: Now let’s hear it with the English translation. |
| Juma: Hii hali ya anga! Leo kuna jua kali sana. |
| Matt: This weather! The sun is very bright today. |
| Musa: Ndio, kuna joto pia. |
| Matt: Yes, and it's really hot. |
| Amina: Kuna uwezekano kutanyesha jioni. |
| Matt: There's also a possibility of rain in the evening. |
| Juma: Joto, Jua na mvua kwa siku moja? |
| Matt: Heat, sunshine, and rain all in one day? |
| Musa: Ndio inawezekana katika upande huu wa dunia. |
| Matt: Yes, it's possible in this part of the world. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Matt: Medina, why is it important to know how to talk about the weather in Swahili? |
| Medina: The weather makes up a big part of most people’s discussions. It's very unpredictable in Kenya and the whole of East Africa. |
| Matt: I think it’s mostly because the equator runs through this area. |
| Medina: That’s right. Equatorial rainfall and other weather conditions are quite unpredictable. |
| Matt: Then how do Kenyan people handle the weather? |
| Medina: During hot and dry days, you are likely to find people in kangas. |
| Matt: You mean the colorful garment people wrap around their waists, right? |
| Median: : Yes, that’s right. Or some go from the shoulders down past the waist. |
| Matt: And there’s also a tribe in Kenya that’s managed to maintain their unique indigenous culture throughout the years. Which one is it? |
| Medina: That's the Maasai community. They're pastoralists who live in the dry parts of the country. They use kikoi and dry animal skins to cover their body. |
| Matt: So they don't have tailored clothes like shirts and trousers? |
| Medina: Some do, but they prefer to hold on to their culture because it's so close to their hearts. |
| Matt: Wow, that's really interesting. Okay, now let’s move on to the vocab. |
| VOCABULARY LIST |
| Matt: Let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| : The first word we shall see is: |
| Medina: hali ya anga [natural native speed] |
| Matt: weather |
| Medina: hali ya anga [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: hali ya anga [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Medina: jua [natural native speed] |
| Matt: sunshine |
| Medina: jua [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: jua [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Medina: joto [natural native speed] |
| Matt: heat |
| Medina: joto [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: joto [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Medina: mvua [natural native speed] |
| Matt: rain |
| Medina: mvua [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: mvua [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Medina: kali sana [natural native speed] |
| Matt: very hot |
| Medina: kali sana [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: kali sana [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Medina: siku moja [natural native speed] |
| Matt: one day |
| Medina: siku moja [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: siku moja [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Medina: uwezekano [natural native speed] |
| Matt: possibility |
| Medina: uwezekano [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: uwezekano [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Medina: upande [natural native speed] |
| Matt: part |
| Medina: upande [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: upande [natural native speed] |
| : And Last: |
| Medina: ulimwengu [natural native speed] |
| Matt: world |
| Medina: ulimwengu [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: ulimwengu [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Matt: Let’s take a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. |
| Medina: The first phrase we'll look at is hali ya anga |
| Matt: Which means "weather." |
| Medina: It's composed of the words hali, meaning "condition,” and anga, meaning “atmosphere.” |
| Matt: What are some weather-specific words? |
| Medina: We have jua and joto. jua, which translates as "sunshine," causes joto, which means "heat." |
| Matt: It's hard to describe the weather in the hot season without mentioning these two words! |
| Medina: Definitely! To describe cool weather, you can use another pair of words, which are unyevu nyevu and baridi, which mean “moist atmosphere” and “cold” respectively. |
| Matt: And what are some other words? |
| Medina: Well, we have a very common word to describe rainfall, which is mvua. |
| Matt: Is that used as a noun or a verb? |
| Medina: Mvua is the noun. And the related verb is nywea or nyesha. Nywea describes the action of being rained on. Meanwhile, nyesha describes the action of rain falling from the clouds to the ground. |
| Matt: Okay, now onto the grammar. |
| GRAMMAR POINT |
| Matt: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to talk about the weather in Swahili. |
| Medina: In the dialogue, they made some observations about the weather. For example, Leo kuna jua kali sana. |
| Matt: That means "The sun is very hot today." |
| Medina: As you may remember from previous lessons, sana is an adverb that's used for emphasis. It shows the extent or degree of something, in this case "sunshine." |
| Matt: To describe the weather well, our listeners should also be able to describe the time associated with certain weather conditions. |
| Medina: You may have a point there. For instance, leo was used in the sentence to mean “today.” If you want to refer to the weather of the day before, then you'll use jana. |
| Matt: That means "yesterday." |
| Medina: Right. You can use this formal sentence pattern. First, you say Hali ya anga ya, followed by the time, the word ni, and finally the weather condition. |
| Matt: And that means "The weather at [such and such time] is [such and such condition]." How else can I describe the weather in informal or casual situations? |
| Medina: To be more casual, the word hali ya anga, meaning "the weather," can be left out entirely. |
| Matt: That sounds easy! What are some useful phrases for talking about the weather casually right here and now? |
| Medina: Kuna joto |
| Matt: which means "it’s hot" |
| Medina: kuna mvua |
| Matt: "its rainy" |
| Medina: kuna jua |
| Matt: and "its sunny". Let's practice each one. Listener's please repeat after Medina. First is... |
| Medina: Kuna joto |
| Matt: (pause) "it's hot." |
| Medina: (slow) Kuna joto (normal) Kuna joto |
| Matt: The next one was... |
| Medina: kuna mvua |
| Matt: (pause) "its rainy." |
| Medina: (slow) kuna mvua (normal) kuna mvua |
| Matt: And the last one was... |
| Medina: kuna jua. |
| Matt: "its sunny" |
| Medina: (slow) kuna jua (normal) kuna jua |
| Matt: Listeners, for more expressions and phrases, please be sure to check the lesson notes. |
Outro |
|---|
| Matt: And that’s all we have for this lesson. Thanks for listening, and we’ll see you next time. Bye! |
| Medina: Mpaka wakati mwingine, Kwaheri ya kuonana! |
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