Learn how to make simple complaints
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| INTRODUCTION |
| John: Hi everyone, and welcome back to SwahiliPod101.com. This is Beginner Season 1 Lesson 14 - Waiting in Line at a Kenyan Grocery Store. John Here. |
| Medina: Hamjambo, I'm Medina. |
| John: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to make simple complaints. The conversation takes place at a supermarket. |
| Medina: It's between Maria and Musa. |
| John: The speakers are strangers in a customer service context. Therefore, they will speak formal Swahili. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Maria: Hawa makarani wa pesa wa hii duka la kijumla wanafanya pole pole sana. |
| Musa: Ndio. Hii foleni imekuwa ndefu sana. |
| Maria: Tumechoka kusimama na joto imeongezeka hewani. |
| Musa: Mimi kwanza nimechoka sana. |
| Maria: Nikidhani mashine zao zimeharibika. |
| Musa: Wacha basi nirudishe bidhaa zangu. |
| Maria: Haiya...ni kama zimeanza kufanya kazi. |
| Musa: Wafanye haraka basi ndio tuokoe masaa. |
| John: Listen to the conversation one time slowly. |
| Maria: Hawa makarani wa pesa wa hii duka la kijumla wanafanya pole pole sana. |
| Musa: Ndio. Hii foleni imekuwa ndefu sana. |
| Maria: Tumechoka kusimama na joto imeongezeka hewani. |
| Musa: Mimi kwanza nimechoka sana. |
| Maria: Nikidhani mashine zao zimeharibika. |
| Musa: Wacha basi nirudishe bidhaa zangu. |
| Maria: Haiya...ni kama zimeanza kufanya kazi. |
| Musa: Wafanye haraka basi ndio tuokoe masaa. |
| John: Listen to the conversation with the English translation. |
| Maria: The cashiers in this supermarket are very slow. |
| Musa: Yes. This line has become so long. |
| Maria: I’m tired of standing, and the air has become so hot. |
| Musa: I’m so tired. |
| Maria: I think their cash register machines are broken. |
| Musa: Let me return the goods. |
| Maria: Ohhh...it seems they’ve started working. |
| Musa: They should hurry up to save time. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| John: Are people in Kenya usually in a hurry, as Musa was in the dialogue? |
| Medina: Kenyans are usually impatient people. They’re often accused by their neighbours of being fast or always in a hurry. |
| John: I see. Maybe that’s more common in the major cities, right? |
| Medina: Right, but in general Kenyans hurry to work. They often complain about traffic jams and people doing things at the last minute. |
| John: I’m often late. What’s the Swahili for “I am getting late?” |
| Medina: That’s nachelewa |
| John: I’d better remember it! Now onto the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| John: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is... |
| Medina: duka [natural native speed] |
| John: shop |
| Medina: duka[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: duka [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Medina: pole pole [natural native speed] |
| John: slower |
| Medina: pole pole[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: pole pole [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Medina: tumechoka [natural native speed] |
| John: to be tired |
| Medina: tumechoka[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: tumechoka [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Medina: zimeharibika [natural native speed] |
| John: to spoil |
| Medina: zimeharibika[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: zimeharibika [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Medina: mashine [natural native speed] |
| John: machines |
| Medina: mashine[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: mashine [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Medina: bidhaa [natural native speed] |
| John: ingredients, shopping |
| Medina: bidhaa[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: bidhaa [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Medina: kazi [natural native speed] |
| John: job, work, career |
| Medina: kazi[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: kazi [natural native speed] |
| John: And last... |
| Medina: masaa [natural native speed] |
| John: time |
| Medina: masaa[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: masaa [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 phrase is... |
| Medina: duka la kijumla |
| John: meaning "supermarket." |
| Medina: Duka la kijumla is a phrase made of three words. |
| John: Let’s break it down. |
| Medina: Duka |
| John: is a noun meaning "shop," |
| Medina: la |
| John: means "of," and |
| Medina: kijumla means "in general." |
| John: When put together, they mean "supermarket." |
| Medina: The phrase duka la kijumla is also used to refer to a general shop. |
| John: Can you give us an example using this phrase? |
| Medina: Sure. For example, you can say, Napenda kwenda kwa duka la kijumla kwa vile mtu hujichukulia bidhaa mwenyewe. |
| John: ...which means "I love going to the supermarket because it is self-service." |
| John: Okay, what's the next phrase? |
| Medina: kufanya kazi |
| John: meaning "working." |
| Medina: Kufanya kazi is made of the verb kufanya, meaning "to do," and the noun kazi, meaning "work." The prefix ku is used to mean "of." |
| John: This refers to a state of working. Can you give us an example using this word? |
| Medina: Sure. For example, you can say, Kufanya kazi kunasaidia watu kujikimu maishani. |
| John: ...which means "Working helps people to earn their livelihoods." |
| John: Okay, what's the next phrase? |
| Medina: kuokoa masaa |
| John: meaning "to save time." Let’s break this down. |
| Medina: This is a phrase made of two words. First, Kuokoa. |
| John: This is a verb meaning "to save," and next… |
| Medina: masaa |
| John: A noun which translates as "time." Altogether, this phrase is used to talk about saving time. |
| Medina: When talking about time, some people may choose to say wacha kupoteza wakati, meaning "stop wasting time." |
| John: Can you give us an example using this phrase? |
| Medina: Sure. For example, you can say, Nikienda kwa ndege nitalipa ghali lakini nitaokoa masaa. |
| John: ...which means "If I use an airplane, I will pay expensively but I will save time." |
| John: Okay, now onto the lesson focus. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| John: In this lesson, you'll learn how to make simple complaints. In the dialogue, we heard two people complaining about the waiting while at the cash register. |
| Medina: Yes, one of them said Hawa makarani wa pesa wa hii duka la kijumla wanafanya pole pole sana. |
| John: which means “The cashiers in this supermarket are very slow.” Are there specific words we’d better remember when complaining? |
| Medina: When complaining about delays in Swahili, you may use words such as ninalalamika, |
| John: meaning “I am complaining,” |
| Medina: ukawiaji, |
| John: meaning “delay,” |
| Medina: chelewa |
| John: “to be late,” |
| Medina: kupoteza wakati and pole pole |
| John: Respectively meaning “to waste time” and “slowly.” All these words express delays and appear in sentences that discuss complaints about time. |
| Medina: You show how you are annoyed by using words such as umekosa |
| John: meaning “you have wronged me,” |
| Medina: nimekasirika |
| John: meaning “I am mad,” and… |
| Medina: chelewa, meaning “to be late.” |
| John: Let’s give some examples. |
| Medina: Nalalamika kwa sababu tumekaa sana hapa na gari haliondoki. |
| John: “I’m complaining because we have been delayed. We have been here for a while and the vehicle is not leaving.” |
| Medina: Jaribu kuokoa masaa, unakaa sana. |
| John: “Try to save time, you’re taking a lot of time.” |
| Medina: Nimekasirika kwa vile mtu wa teksi amechelewa kunichukua. |
| John: “I am annoyed because the taxi guy is late to pick me up.” Ok, now let’s learn some useful phrases for another topic which people like to complain about: the weather. |
| Medina: When complaining about hali ya anga, meaning “the weather,” there are some useful words, such as hewa |
| John: which means “air,” |
| Medina: or mbaya and nzuri, |
| John: meaning “bad” and “good” |
| Medina: joto |
| John: “hot” |
| Medina: mvua |
| John: “rainy.” These words are also useful when speaking about the weather in a neutral way. |
| Medina: Here’s an example of a complaint: Leo kuna hali ya anga mbaya sana. |
| John: “Today there is very bad weather.” |
| Medina: Tumechoka kusimama na joto imeongezeka hewani. |
| John: “I am tired of standing and the weather has become so hot.” Lastly let’s go over some keywords when complaining about things not working. |
| Medina: Haribika is the verb literally meaning “to spoil.” |
| John: So it’s commonly used to complain about things not working. |
| Medina: You may also use -vunjika or katika to mean “to break” and chomeka “burnt” to talk about destruction and complain about things not working. You can also say Haifanyi |
| John: which means “It is not working.” |
| Medina: In most cases, hai- is the prefix that comes before -fanyi when constructing written or spoken sentences about things not working. For example: Mashine yake ya kunyoa haifanyi kazi |
| John: which means “His electric razor is not working.” |
| Medina: Hai can be combined with other verbs to express dysfunction. For example, Gari haiendi, |
| John: meaning “The car is not moving,” |
| Medina: Hii foleni ya hospitali haisongi, |
| John: “This hospital queue is not moving.” |
| Medina: Please note that -fanyi is also prefixed by other words such as sifanyi |
| John: meaning “I do not do.” |
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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