Learn how to provide reasons for actions
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| INTRODUCTION |
| John: Hi everyone, and welcome back to SwahiliPod101.com. This is Beginner Season 1 Lesson 13 - Are You Making Your Kenyan Friends Wait? John Here. |
| Medina: Hamjambo, I'm Medina. |
| John: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to provide reasons for actions. The conversation takes place at a coffee shop. |
| Medina: It's between Mohamed and Rehema. |
| John: The speakers are friends, therefore, they will speak informal Swahili. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Mohamed: Nimekasirika sana. |
| Rehema: Kwa nini huna furaha. |
| Mohamed: Tuliambiana tukutane asubuhi na sasa ni adhuhuri. Kwa nini umechelewa? |
| Rehema: Nimechelewa kwa sababu nilipitia njia iliyokuwa na msongamano wa magari. |
| Mohamed: Mimi nilikwambia nitakuja hapa saa tatu asubuhi. |
| Rehema: Pole lakini nilikuwa nimetoka nyumbani mapema. |
| Mohamed: Haya sawa lakini umekosa. |
| Rehema: Nasema pole kwa vile ni mimi nimekuweka. |
| John: Listen to the conversation one time slowly. |
| Mohamed: Nimekasirika sana. |
| Rehema: Kwa nini huna furaha. |
| Mohamed: Tuliambiana tukutane asubuhi na sasa ni adhuhuri. Kwa nini umechelewa? |
| Rehema: Nimechelewa kwa sababu nilipitia njia iliyokuwa na msongamano wa magari. |
| Mohamed: Mimi nilikwambia nitakuja hapa saa tatu asubuhi. |
| Rehema: Pole lakini nilikuwa nimetoka nyumbani mapema. |
| Mohamed: Haya sawa lakini umekosa. |
| Rehema: Nasema pole kwa vile ni mimi nimekuweka. |
| John: Listen to the conversation with the English translation. |
| Mohamed: I’m very mad. |
| Rehema: Why are you unhappy? |
| Mohamed: We agreed we’d meet in the morning and now it's afternoon. Why are you late? |
| Rehema: I’m late because I passed through a route which had a lot of traffic. |
| Mohamed: I told you I would come at nine in the morning. |
| Rehema: Sorry, but I left home early. |
| Mohamed: Well, you have wronged me. |
| Rehema: I’m saying sorry because I’m the one who kept you waiting. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| John: Medina, is it common to arrive so late at a date in Kenya? |
| Medina: It depends on the person! |
| John: But if you’re late, the person who is waiting will get upset, no matter what their cultural habits may be. |
| Medina: Right. On most occasions, such as dates, both parties should be on time. |
| John: And if someone is late, they should apologize and provide a reason for the lateness. What is the most common excuse used in such a situation? |
| Medina: People in Kenya often blame lateness on the heavy traffic jams common in the city So you might hear Kwa sababu, msongamani wa magari. |
| John: which means "because, traffic jam." |
| John: Okay, now onto the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| John: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is... |
| Medina: kasirika [natural native speed] |
| John: to be mad |
| Medina: kasirika[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: kasirika [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Medina: furaha [natural native speed] |
| John: happiness |
| Medina: furaha[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: furaha [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Medina: kwa nini [natural native speed] |
| John: why |
| Medina: kwa nini[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: kwa nini [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Medina: chelewa [natural native speed] |
| John: to be late |
| Medina: chelewa[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: chelewa [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Medina: msongamano [natural native speed] |
| John: traffic jam |
| Medina: msongamano[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: msongamano [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Medina: nyumbani [natural native speed] |
| John: home |
| Medina: nyumbani[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: nyumbani [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Medina: kuweka [natural native speed] |
| John: to keep |
| Medina: kuweka[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: kuweka [natural native speed] |
| John: And last... |
| Medina: kosa [natural native speed] |
| John: to fail (to do something) |
| Medina: kosa[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: kosa [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| John: Let's have a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first word is... |
| Medina: Kasirika |
| John: meaning "to be mad" or “to become upset.” It’s the verb commonly used to refer to a feeling or emotional state of being made unhappy by someone or something. |
| Medina: When someone does something to you, you can say nimekasirika |
| John: Which means “I am mad.” Can you give us another example using this word? |
| Medina: Sure. For example, you can say, Kukasirika bila sababu ni vibaya sana. |
| John: ...which means "Getting mad for no reason is very bad." |
| John: Okay, what's the next word? |
| Medina: umekosa |
| John: meaning "you have wronged." |
| Medina: This is a phrase made of Ume, "you have," and the verb kosa, "to wrong." |
| John: This phrase is used to express being wronged by someone in the recent past, especially in the same day. |
| Medina: Sometimes you may see umekosea instead of umekosa. |
| John: The two phrases mean the same thing and can be used interchangeably. Medina, can you give us an example using one of these phrases? |
| Medina: Sure. For example, you can say, Umekosa kwa kumwaga maziwa. |
| John: ...which means "You have made a mistake by spilling the milk." |
| John: Okay, now onto the lesson focus. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| John: In this lesson, you'll learn about providing reasons for actions. It seems we had some examples in the dialogue. |
| Medina: Right, for example, when explaining her delay, Rehema says, Nimechelewa kwa sababu nilipitia njia iliyokuwa na msongamano wa magari. |
| John: Which means “I’m late because I passed through a route which had a lot of traffic.” |
| Medina: She also says Nasema pole kwa vile ni mimi nimekuweka. |
| John: “I’m saying sorry because I’m the one who kept you waiting.” |
| Medina: In Swahili, the word kwa sababu means “because.” |
| John: It’s used to give reasons. |
| Medina: A common synonym is kwa vile. |
| John: How do you construct the sentence using these words? |
| Medina: You start with an explanation in the form of an action, then the conjunction kwa sababu, followed by a reason. |
| John: Except for this, there are no rules when giving reasons. Medina, let’s give some more examples. |
| Medina: Sure. For example you can say, Sitakula chakula kwa sababu nimekula saa hii tu. |
| John: meaning “I will not eat because I have just eaten.” |
| Medina: Mimi niko na usingizi kwa vile niliamka mapema. |
| John: “I am sleepy since I woke up early.” |
| Medina: Niliamua kujifunza kiswahili kwa sababu nataka kuanza biashara Nairobi. |
| John: “I decided to learn Swahili because I want to start a business in Nairobi.” Ok, now let’s see how to ask for reasons. Is there an example in the dialogue? |
| Medina: Kwa nini umechelewa? |
| John: meaning “Why are you late?” Which word means “why?” |
| Medina: It’s the adverb kwa nini. If you want to construct a question which doesn’t necessarily ask for a reason, you can use aje or wapi. |
| John: Respectively meaning “how” and “where.” |
| Medina: In a sentence, kwa nini, meaning “why,” is placed at the beginning. The other parts follow. |
| John: Let’s have some more examples. |
| Medina: Kwa nini umeamka mapema? |
| John: “Why did you wake up early?” |
| Medina: Kwa nini hukuenda kazini? |
| John: “Why didn’t you go to work?” And what about questions which don’t ask for reasons? |
| Medina: Uliskia wapi kutuhusu? |
| John: “Where did you hear about us?” |
| Medina: Nitaenda aje kutoka kwa uwanja wa ndege? |
| John: “How will I go from the airport?” In these examples, the question word is the second word. |
| Medina: Right, the only rule associated with asking questions or asking for reasons is the use of a question mark at the end. |
| John: Finally, to close this lesson, let’s see how to describe when an action takes place. |
| Medina: To talk about order of events in Swahili, you can words such as mapema or chelewa |
| John: meaning “early” and “late” respectively. |
| Medina: kabla or baada |
| John: meaning “before” and “after.” |
| Medina: There are also other adverbs of time, such as asubuhi |
| John: meaning “morning,” |
| Medina: and jioni |
| John: meaning “in the evening.” Let’s wrap up by giving a couple of examples using this new vocabulary. |
| Medina: Unafaa utoke mapema kama unapanga safari ya mbali. |
| John: “You’re supposed to leave early if you are planning a long journey.” |
| Medina: Nitaenda kwa hiyo arusi adhuhuri halafu baadaye usiku niende kwa karamu. |
| John: “I will go to that wedding in the afternoon, then later at night I will go to the party.” |
Outro |
| John: Okay, that’s all for this lesson. Thank you for listening everyone, and we’ll see you next time! Bye! |
| Medina: Tuonane! |
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