Learn how to discuss color, size, and amount
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| INTRODUCTION |
| John: Hi everyone, and welcome back to SwahiliPod101.com. This is Beginner Season 1 Lesson 15 - Going Shopping for a New Outfit in Kenya. John Here. |
| Medina: Hamjambo, I'm Medina. |
| John: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to discuss color, size, and amount. The conversation takes place at a shop. |
| Medina: It's between Carol and a shopkeeper. |
| John: The speakers are strangers in a customer service context, therefore, they will speak both formal and informal Swahili. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Muuzaji: Karibu ndani ya duka ununue. |
| Carol: Unauza sketi? |
| Muuzaji: Ndio. Njoo uone tuko na sketi za rangi na miundo tofauti. |
| Carol: Mimi nataka sketi nyekundu, ndefu na ya ukubwa wa nambari arobaine na nne. |
| Muuzaji: Haya...ebu pima hii hapa. |
| Carol: Ni bei gani? |
| Muuzaji: Shillingi elfu moja tu. |
| Carol: Haya basi. Shika pesa nitainunua. |
| John: Listen to the conversation one time slowly. |
| Muuzaji: Karibu ndani ya duka ununue. |
| Carol: Unauza sketi? |
| Muuzaji: Ndio. Njoo uone tuko na sketi za rangi na miundo tofauti. |
| Carol: Mimi nataka sketi nyekundu, ndefu na ya ukubwa wa nambari arobaine na nne. |
| Muuzaji: Haya...ebu pima hii hapa. |
| Carol: Ni bei gani? |
| Muuzaji: Shillingi elfu moja tu. |
| Carol: Haya basi. Shika pesa nitainunua. |
| John: Listen to the conversation with the English translation. |
| Shopkeeper: Welcome to the shop and buy. |
| Carol: Are you selling skirts? |
| Shopkeeper: Yes. Come and see. We have skirts in different colors and designs. |
| Carol: I want a long red skirt, size forty-four. |
| Shopkeeper: Okay... then you should fit this one here. |
| Carol: What’s the price? |
| Shopkeeper: Just one thousand shillings. |
| Carol: Okay then. Here’s the money. I’ll take it. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| John: Shopping and buying products can be different from one country to another. Medina, what can you tell us about Kenya? |
| Medina: The buying culture in Kenya is that you walk into a store. You identify something you like in terms of color, design, and size. And finally, you pay for it. |
| John: So, not really different than America or Europe. |
| Medina: Right, but in Kenya it’s also common to see open air markets. Here, they sell a wide range of products, from food to clothes to houseware plastics and other consumables. |
| John: That sounds different and interesting. What’s the Swahili expression to refer to an “open air market?” |
| Medina: Soko la kiwanjani |
| 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: ununue [natural native speed] |
| John: to shop |
| Medina: ununue[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: ununue [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Medina: miundo [natural native speed] |
| John: designs |
| Medina: miundo[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: miundo [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Medina: sketi [natural native speed] |
| John: skirt |
| Medina: sketi[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: sketi [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Medina: rangi [natural native speed] |
| John: color |
| Medina: rangi[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: rangi [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Medina: ukubwa [natural native speed] |
| John: size |
| Medina: ukubwa[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: ukubwa [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Medina: nyekundu [natural native speed] |
| John: red |
| Medina: nyekundu[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: nyekundu [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Medina: ndefu [natural native speed] |
| John: long |
| Medina: ndefu[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: ndefu [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Medina: pima [natural native speed] |
| John: to fit |
| Medina: pima[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: pima [natural native speed] |
| John: And lastly... |
| Medina: bei [natural native speed] |
| John: fee |
| Medina: bei[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: bei [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: sketi ndefu |
| John: meaning "long skirt." |
| Medina: Sketi is a noun that originates from the English "skirt." While ndefu is an adjective describing length. |
| John: Can you break this word down for us? |
| Medina: Sure. Ndefu, meaning "long," stems from -efu. The nd is the agreeing prefix given the noun class. |
| John: This phrase is commonly used while out shopping, or when explaining a design to a tailor. But you can also use it in any other instance to describe clothing. |
| Medina: Some people may choose to say rinda instead of sketi. The two words are synonyms. So you can also say rinda ndefu. |
| John: Can you give us an example using one of the two phrases? |
| Medina: Sure. For example, you can say, Mimi hukaa vizuri na sketi ndefu. |
| John: ...which means "I look good in a long skirt." |
| John: Okay, what's the next word? |
| Medina: bei nafuu |
| John: meaning "cheap price." |
| Medina: This phrase is made of the noun bei, |
| John: meaning "price," |
| Medina: and the adjective nafuu, |
| John: meaning "cheap." This phrase is used when out shopping when comparing prices. |
| Medina: Bei nafuu is also used when referring to discounts. |
| John: Can you give us an example using this phrase? |
| Medina: Sure. For example, you can say, Ukinunua kwa bei nafuu utaokoa pesa. |
| John: ...which means "When you buy with cheap prices, you save money." |
| John: Okay, now onto the lesson focus. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| John: In this lesson, you'll learn about discussing color, size, and amount. More specifically, we’ll see how to use these details to ask for what you want. |
| Medina: In the dialogue, there’s a good example: Mimi nataka sketi nyekundu, ndefu na ya ukubwa wa nambari arobaine na nne. |
| John: Which means “I want a long red skirt, size forty-four.” |
| Medina: Like in the dialogue, you use the Swahili verb nataka |
| John: This means “I want,” and you can use it to say what you want. Let’s break this down. |
| Medina: Sure. The na stands for “I,” referring to oneself. -taka means “want.” |
| John: What if you want to refer to someone else? |
| Medina: If you want to refer to someone else, you say anataka |
| John: “she wants,” |
| Medina: or unataka |
| John: “you want.” |
| Medina: Both are for present tense cases. The a- or u- are the two prefixes used to refer to someone else. |
| John: Are there other similar words? |
| Medina: Some people may use nahitaji, meaning “I need.” You can also use napenda, meaning “I like,” to express your wants. For example, Nahitaji kukunywa maji mengi ili nipoteze uzito. |
| John: “I need to drink a lot of water to lose weight.” |
| Medina: Napenda kuvaa sketi ndefu. |
| John: “I like putting on long skirts.” Ok, now let’s see how to ask for a specific color. |
| Medina: In the dialogue, the customer says Mimi nataka sketi nyekundu, ndefu na ya ukubwa wa nambari arobaine na nne. |
| John: which means “I want a long red skirt, size forty-four.” |
| Medina: The noun rangi, meaning “color,” is used when talking about different spectral compositions of visible light. |
| John: In Swahili, color nouns are also adjectives to describe things or nouns. The prefix of color is written according to the noun class of the qualifying noun. |
| Medina: For example in the dialogue, nyekundu, which refers to color red has the prefix ny-. The root is -ekundu. |
| John: Let’s list some colors in Swahili and give some sample sentences |
| Medina: samawati |
| John: This means “blue” and doesn’t get any root. |
| Medina: For example, you can say Nguo za wasimamizi arusi ni za samawati. |
| John: Which means “Maiden clothes for the wedding are blue in color.” What is “yellow” in Swahili? |
| Medina: The root for “yellow” is -njano. For example, you can say Manjano ni mchanganyiko wa rangi nyekundu na ile ya kijani kibichi. |
| John: “Yellow is a mixture of colors red and green.” |
| Medina: “Brown” is Hudhurungi. Here’s an example: Mikate ya hudhurungi hutumiwa sana na watu wasiotaka kuongeza uzito. |
| John: Which means “Brown breads are commonly used by people who do not want to gain weight.” Lastly, let’s see how to ask for a specific size, which can be useful when you are shopping. |
| Medina: “Size” in Swahili translates to ukubwa. |
| John: What are the sizes in Kenya? |
| Medina: For example, we have “XXL” which is called kubwa zaidi. “XL” is called ukubwa wa kati and “L” kubwa. |
| John: Skirts and trousers mostly use the same size system. |
| Medina: Right. In order to be able to describe your size, you can use words such as nipe, |
| John: meaning “give me,” |
| Medina: saizi which is synonym for ukubwa, meaning “size.” Next we have vaa, |
| John: meaning “to wear,” |
| Medina: pima, |
| John: meaning “to fit,” and much more. Let’s give some sample sentences. |
| Medina: Sure, for example you can say Nataka kununua shati la ukubwa wa XXL kwa vile mimi ni mnene. |
| John: “I want to buy an XXL size shirt since I am big.” |
| Medina: Nipe sketi saizi ishirini na mbili ya mtoto wangu. |
| John: “Give me a size twenty two skirt for my child.” |
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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