Learn how to introduce one friend to another
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Brandon: Hello everyone, and welcome back to SwahiliPod101.com. This is Absolute Beginner, season 1, lesson 8 - Introducing Your Friend in Swahili. I’m Brandon. |
| Medina: And my name is Medina. |
| Brandon: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to introduce a friend to someone you know in Swahili. So, how do Kenyans say, “My friend’s name is?” |
| Medina: Let’s find out! |
| Brandon: The conversation is between three speakers. Two are new to each other but they share a common friend, and the common friend introduces the two strangers to each other. |
| Medina: The conversation is formal because they’re not acquainted with each other. |
| Brandon: Let’s listen to the conversation. |
Lesson conversation |
|---|
| Yoshua: Tusimame kidogo. |
| Hamisi: Kwa nini? |
| Yoshua: Tumsalimie huyu rafiki yangu Juma. |
| Yoshua: Hamisi, kutana na rafiki yangu aitwaye Juma. |
| Hamisi: Habari Juma, ninafuraha kukujua. |
| Juma: Ninafuraha pia. |
| Yoshua: Habari ya siku nyingi Juma. |
| Juma: Salama kabisa. |
| Yoshua: Haya, tuonane siku nyingine. |
| Brandon: Let’s hear the conversation one time slowly. |
| Yoshua: Tusimame kidogo. |
| Hamisi: Kwa nini? |
| Yoshua: Tumsalimie huyu rafiki yangu Juma. |
| Yoshua: Hamisi, kutana na rafiki yangu aitwaye Juma. |
| Hamisi: Habari Juma, ninafuraha kukujua. |
| Juma: Ninafuraha pia. |
| Yoshua: Habari ya siku nyingi Juma. |
| Juma: Salama kabisa. |
| Yoshua: Haya, tuonane siku nyingine. |
| Brandon: Now let’s hear it with the English translation. |
| Yoshua: Tusimame kidogo. |
| Brandon: Let’s stop for a while. |
| Hamisi: Kwa nini? |
| Brandon: Why? |
| Yoshua: Tumsalimie huyu rafiki yangu Juma. |
| Brandon: Let’s greet my friend Juma. (They stop next to Juma) |
| Yoshua: Hamisi, kutana na rafiki yangu aitwaye Juma. |
| Brandon: Hamisi, meet my friend. His name is Juma. |
| Hamisi: Habari Juma, ninafuraha kukujua. |
| Brandon: Hi Juma, it’s a pleasure meeting you. (They shake each others hand ) |
| Juma: Ninafuraha pia. |
| Brandon: It’s my pleasure, too. |
| Yoshua: Habari ya siku nyingi Juma. |
| Brandon: How have you been, Juma? |
| Juma: Salama kabisa. |
| Brandon: Very fine. |
| Yoshua: Haya, tuonane siku nyingine. |
| Brandon: Okay, take care, see you another day. (They part ways). |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Brandon: So Medina, what are some things our listeners should know about, when they’re introducing friends in Swahili? |
| Medina: Well, Kenyans introduce their friends to others using given names, or first names, as well as family names in formal situations. |
| Brandon: In informal situations, introductions just involve given names. |
| Medina: Kenyans are fond of shaking hands to show appreciation for their new acquaintances. |
| Brandon: The two acquaintances may behave formally and might not even talk a lot, but after two or three meetings they become real friends. |
| Medina: I can’t blame them – meeting new friends is always a pleasure! |
| Brandon: People might act shy during the first few meetings, but as they get to know their new friends, they also learn to let their guard down. |
| Medina: Kenyans teach their children to be very careful with strangers, and so this explains why people might not feel comfortable immediately. That’s probably why Hamisi and Juma stick to the formalities and don’t speak to each other much. |
| Brandon: I see. Okay, let’s move on to the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Brandon: Let's review the vocabulary for this lesson. The first word is... |
| Medina: ...rafiki. [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: friend |
| Medina: Rafiki. [slowly - broken down by syllable] Rafiki. [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: Next we have... |
| Medina: ...huyu. [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: this is... |
| Medina: Huyu. [slowly - broken down by syllable] Huyu. [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: Our next word is... |
| Medina: ...yangu. [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: my |
| Medina: Yangu. [slowly - broken down by syllable] Yangu. [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: Next... |
| Medina: ...anaitwa. [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: he’s called… |
| Medina: Anaitwa. [slowly - broken down by syllable] Anaitwa. [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: Next we have... |
| Medina: ...habari. [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: How have you been? |
| Medina: Habari. [slowly - broken down by syllable] Habari. [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: Our next word is... |
| Medina: Ninafuraha. [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: I’m happy |
| Medina Ninafuraha. [slowly - broken down by syllable] Ninafuraha. [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: Next... |
| Medina: ...kukujua. [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: to know you |
| Medina: Kukujua. [slowly - broken down by syllable] Kukujua. [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: Our last word is... |
| Medina: ...pia. [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: too, likewise |
| Medina: Pia. [slowly - broken down by syllable] Pia. [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Brandon: Let’s take a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. |
| Medina: The first phrase is anaitwa …. |
| Brandon: Meaning, “He’s or she’s called,” or “His or her name is...” This is a common phrase used when people introduce someone else. |
| Medina: It’s a phrase made up of the verb itwa or “to call.” And it can be used with either gender. It’s not gender specific. |
| Brandon: Our next phrase is… |
| Medina: Huyu rafiki yangu. Huyu is a demonstrative pronoun which means “This is...” And yangu is a possessive pronoun that means “mine.” |
| Brandon: Altogether, this phrase means, “This is my friend.” |
| Medina: As we saw earlier, the friend being introduced will respond, usually with a handshake to the new friend, by saying ninafuraha kukujua. |
| Brandon: Which means “It’s a pleasure to meet you.” |
| Medina: The new friend will answer back by saying, Ninafuraha pia. |
| Brandon: Meaning “It’s a pleasure for me too.” Okay, now on to the grammar. |
Lesson focus |
| Brandon: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to introduce your friends and relatives in Swahili. |
| Medina: Yes, this is a “must,” especially when you want your friends to enjoy each others’ company. |
| Brandon: So how do you say “My friend’s name is...” in Swahili? |
| Medina: That’s Jina la rafiki yangu ni… And in the dialogue kutana na rafiki yangu translates to... |
| Brandon: …“meet my friend.” |
| Medina: After this phrase, you can state the name of the person you’re introducing, or add the phrase aitwaye and then the name of the person. |
| Brandon: Medina, can you use these phrases in an example? |
| Medina: Sure! Here’s the sentence from the dialogue Hamisi, kutana na rafiki yangu aitwaye Juma. |
| Brandon: Meaning, “Hamisi, meet my friend. His name is Juma.” Another ready-to-use structure is... |
| Medina: Jina lake ni …. |
| Brandon: Which also means, “His name is…” |
| Medina: Now, when two people first meet, they usually speak formally but the situation may change during the encounter. During introductions, people just say, ninafuraha kukujua. |
| Brandon: Meaning, “It’s my pleasure to know you.” |
| Medina: If you leave the two friends to introduce themselves to each other, each will say, jina langu ni...and then their name. |
| Brandon: Meaning, “My name is…” |
| Medina: This phrase can be used in both formal and informal situations. Usually, in informal situations, Kenyans say naitwa, followed by their name or names. |
| Brandon: So they leave out the noun and pronoun? |
| Media: That’s right. They drop jina langu. So, among friends, we don’t use the complex sentence structure. You can just point and mention their names. |
| Brandon: Wow, that sounds simple! Medina, what would you do if you met a new friend through your best friend? |
| Medina: I could actually just point at myself and say “Medina.” |
| Brandon: I think we need to give our listeners some more examples. |
| Medina: I have one. If you want to ask someone what his or her name is, you can use the phrase, jina lako ni nani? or unaitwa nani? These both mean “what is your name?” |
| Brandon: That’s helpful! Can you tell us how to ask someone what his or her friend’s name is? |
| Medina: Sure! Rafiki yako anaitwa nani? As we know, rafiki means... |
| Brandon: “Friend,” right? |
| Medina: Right! So the whole sentence means, “What’s the name of your friend?” Yako means “your” and anaitwa means “is called,” while nani translates to “who.” |
| Brandon: So the direct translation from Swahili to English is, “Your friend is called who?” |
| Medina: Right. But this doesn’t sound natural in English, so we can translate it as “What’s the name of your friend?” |
| Brandon: Great! Now our listeners can introduce their friends to people they know in Swahili without any problems! |
Outro |
| Brandon: And that’s all for this lesson. For more in-depth information, remember to check out the lesson notes. |
| Medina: Thanks for listening, and we’ll see you next time! Kwaheri ya kuonana. |
| MARKETING PIECE |
| Medina: Do you know the number one reason people don't study a second language? |
| Brandon: Not enough time. |
| Medina: You’re very busy. |
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| Medina: Subscribe on iTunes. |
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| Brandon: Save time. Spend more time studying. |
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