Learn how to say numbers 1-100
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Gabriella: Hi everyone. Gabriella here, and welcome back to SwahiliPod101.com. This is Basic Bootcamp Lesson 3 - Useful Phrases for Learning Swahili. This is the 3rd in a 5-part series that will help you ease your way into Swahili. |
| Medina: Helo, Mimi ni Medina. I’m Medina! |
| Gabriella: In this lesson, you'll learn several essential phrases to help you learn Swahili, in Swahili. |
| Medina: Using Swahili to learn Swahili can help you improve much faster! |
| Gabriella: So listen to Medina and I try to overcome some language difficulties by asking simple but very useful phrases, and try to keep up! |
| Gabriella: Let’s listen to the conversation! |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Gabriella: Now you'll never be at a loss for words again. |
| Medina: That's right. Even if you find yourself in one of the major tourist spots, where people are used to non-Swahili speakers, there's no longer any excuse not to try out these phrases. I guarantee you'll improve your Swahili! |
| Gabriella: With these expressions, you can turn everyone you meet into a walking, talking dictionary. |
| Medina: Of course, that shouldn’t be your main reason to learn these phrases. |
| Gabriella: But the Kenyans you meet will love the fact that you are making an effort by trying to communicate in Swahili. |
| Medina: Absolutely! Maybe they'll even give you a tip on how to find your way to some of the other cultural treats that Kenya has to offer. |
| Gabriella: Yes, a guidebook can only get you so far. So it's definitely a good idea to ask the locals where to go for that authentic Kenyan experience. |
| Medina: Right. There are just so many hidden spots that you can’t learn about from a book. |
| Gabriella: And there’s no experience quite like totally immersing yourself in another culture. |
| Medina: Now that you’ve learned these important Swahili phrases, you'll be on your way in no time! |
| Gabriella: Exactly! Okay, now onto the vocab. |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Gabriella: Let’s take a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first one is... |
| Medina: kunradhi, which you can use both as "Excuse me" and "I'm sorry." Its meaning is defined by its usage! |
| Gabriella: Could you say that one more time slowly? |
| Medina: kunradhi |
| Gabriella: And one more time fast? |
| Medina: kunradhi |
| Gabriella: That’s a very useful expression. With it, and the other vocabulary words, you know everything you need to sort out misunderstandings. |
| Medina: If you don't understand a word the first time you hear it, you have the phrase for "Could you say it once again." |
| Gabriella: Which is? |
| Medina: tafadhali rudia tena |
| Gabriella: Slowly? |
| Medina: tafadhali rudia tena. |
| Gabriella: And one more time fast? |
| Medina: tafadhali rudia tena. |
| Gabriella: And if you still have problems understanding the person speaking, you can ask them to speak slower with the phrase... |
| Medina: Tafadhali, tamka polepole. (slowly)Tafadhali, tamka polepole. (regular speed) Tafadhali, tamka polepole. |
| Gabriella: And if you think the word is useful, you can ask someone to show you how to write the word, or to help you with your Swahili writing. |
| Medina: Niadikie kwa kiswahili tafadhali. |
| Gabriella: "Write this down in Swahili for me, please." Can we hear it again? |
| Medina: (slow) Niadikie kwa kiswahili tafadhali. (regular speed) Niadikie kwa kiswahili tafadhali. |
| Gabriella: I used to carry a notebook. Once I had the word and its English equivalent, I would just open the book any time I had a moment—on the bus or wherever—and study the words. |
| Medina: Oh, that's what I do too. |
| Gabriella: Once the word is somewhere in your brain, you just need to give yourself the chance to encounter it a few times in different circumstances. |
| Medina: Yes, this method of writing down words is great, because once you hear a word and write it down, you're giving yourself a chance to see it again, and use it later. |
| Gabriella: And it only takes a few times till you remember it! |
| Medina: Soon you’ll have the vocabulary of a native Swahili speaker! |
| Gabriella: Definitely! Okay, now onto the grammar. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Gabriella: In this lesson, you’ll learn some useful phrases that you can use when asking something in Swahili. |
| Medina: The first phrase we had was Kunradhi, Unasemaje.[blank]..kwa Kiswahili? |
| Gabriella: "Excuse me, how do you say.[blank]..in Swahili?" |
| Medina: Let’s break it down. The first word is Kunradhi, which means "Excuse me" if you put it at the beginning of a question sentence. |
| Gabriella: It can also mean "I'm sorry" if you use it in a different context. But in our case, it expresses a request for help. Therefore, we use Kunradhi with the meaning of "excuse me." |
| Medina: The next word is Unasemaje, which means "how do you say?" The good news is, this is more or less used in the same way that you'd ask this question in English. So don’t worry. |
| Gabriella: Great! Easy, isn't it? |
| Medina: Usually Unasemaje is followed by the word you want to know, for example in this case we have “cheese”, which is jibini in the dialogue. |
| Gabriella: This is then followed by... |
| Medina: kwa Kiswahili. |
| Gabriella: We can translate this as "in Swahili." Now you just need to hope that your companion speaks enough English to understand which word you want to know. So in the dialogue we heard this sentence... |
| Medina: Kunradhi, Unasemaje “cheese” kwa Kiswahili? |
| Gabriella: Right. How would we use the same phrase, but with “ticket” instead of “cheese”? |
| Medina: Kunradhi, Unasemaje “ticket” kwa Kiswahili? |
| Gabriella: Listeners, listen and repeat! |
| Medina: Kunradhi, Unasemaje “ticket” kwa Kiswahili? |
| Gabriella: (pause) Okay, let's move on to the second phrase. |
| Medina: Samahani, sikuelewa. Rudia tena tafadhali. “Samahani” is an important word to remember. |
| Gabriella: That’s because it indicates politeness, especially in asking for a favor. In this case, you're asking for someone to repeat the word you would like to know. |
| Medina: That's right, but our next verb, sikuelewa, is a bit more tricky. |
| Gabriella: It means "I didn't understand." |
| Medina: Sikuelewa is a one-word sentence incorporating the subject in the negative form siku, meaning “I did not.” This is followed by the verb, elewa, meaning “understand.” |
| Gabriella: So all together that gives us... |
| Medina: Samahani, sikuelewa. |
| Gabriella: "I didn't understand." This is followed by...... |
| Medina: rudia. Which means “repeat”. |
| Gabriella: Next is... |
| Medina: tena |
| Gabriella: This is like the English word “again”. And last is... |
| Medina: Tafadhali, which means "please." |
| Gabriella: So the whole phrase means "I'm sorry, I didn't understand. Say it once again, please." Listeners, listen carefully, and repeat. |
| Medina: Samahani, sikuelewa. Rudia tena tafadhali. (pause) |
| Gabriella: Let's move to the next sentence, which was... |
| Medina: Tafadhali, tamka polepole. |
| Gabriella: We heard the first word in the previous sentence, didn't we? |
| Medina: That's right. Tafadhali means "please." |
| Gabriella: The next word is... |
| Medina: tamka |
| Gabriella: This means "to say.” It's followed by... |
| Medina: polepole |
| Gabriella: Which means "slower." It's a comparative adjective. |
| Medina: Right. Polepole means "slower" in Swahili. |
| Gabriella: Let's say the whole sentence once more. Listeners, pay close attention, and repeat. |
| Medina: Tafadhali, tamka polepole. |
| Gabriella: (pause) And finally, the last phrase for this lesson. |
| Medina: Niandikie kwa kiswahili tafadhali. |
| Gabriella: "Write this down in Swahili for me, please." |
| Medina: We start with Niandikie, which means "write for me" |
| Gabriella: Next is... |
| Medina: hii, which means "this." |
| Gabriella: Then you need the phrase "in Swahili." |
| Medina: kwa kiswahili |
| Gabriella: And it's followed by the familiar word for “please”... |
| Medina: tafadhali |
| Gabriella: In this case, it's used to ask for a favor. Listeners, listen to the whole phrase again, and repeat out loud. |
| Medina: Niandikie kwa kiswahili tafadhali. |
| Gabriella: (pause) "Write this down in Swahili for me, please." |
Outro |
| Gabriella: That's all for this lesson. |
| Medina: Thanks for listening. |
| Gabriella: And we’ll see you next time, bye! |
| Medina: Bye. |
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