Learn how to get through immigration
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| INTRODUCTION |
| John: Hi everyone, and welcome back to SwahiliPod101.com. This is Beginner Season 1 Lesson 17 - Getting Through Immigration in Kenya. John Here. |
| Medina: Hamjambo, I'm Medina. |
| John: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to answer routine questions at the border. The conversation takes place at the border. |
| Medina: It's between a police officer and Mark. |
| John: The speakers are strangers in a customer service context, therefore, they will speak formal Swahili. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Mark: Shika pasipoti yangu. |
| Ofisa: Je, umekuja kufanya nini humu nchini? |
| Mark: Mimi ni mtalii. |
| Ofisa: Umeshawahi kuja hapa tena? |
| Mark: La. Ni mara ya kwanza |
| Ofisa: Utakaa muda upi? |
| Mark: Muda wa miezi miwili. |
| Ofisa: Nimekuwekea muhuri kwa hivyo unaeza vuka sasa. |
| Mark: Asante. |
| John: Listen to the conversation one time slowly. |
| Mark: Shika pasipoti yangu. |
| Ofisa: Je, umekuja kufanya nini humu nchini? |
| Mark: Mimi ni mtalii. |
| Ofisa: Umeshawahi kuja hapa tena? |
| Mark: La. Ni mara ya kwanza |
| Ofisa: Utakaa muda upi? |
| Mark: Muda wa miezi miwili. |
| Ofisa: Nimekuwekea muhuri kwa hivyo unaeza vuka sasa. |
| Mark: Asante. |
| John: Listen to the conversation with the English translation. |
| Mark: Here’s my passport. |
| Police officer: What have you come to do here in the country? |
| Mark: I am a tourist. |
| Police officer: Have you ever been here? |
| Mark: No. This is the first time. |
| Police officer: How long will you stay? |
| Mark: I’ll stay for two months. |
| Police officer: I’ve stamped it for you, so you can pass through now. |
| Mark: Thanks. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| John: In the conversation for this lesson, we heard a scary situation playing out. |
| Medina: Scary? |
| John: Don’t you find border control to be scary? |
| Medina: No. I don’t have anything to hide and am never doing anything illegal so... |
| John: I’m not either! It’s still a bit nerve wracking though. |
| Medina: If you say so! It’s routine to be asked questions at the border, and Kenya is no different. |
| John: Yeah, I know. You usually get asked about how long you’re staying and why you’re there. |
| Medina: Yes. If you come to Kenya by air, you’ll be asked at the airport. If you come by road, there are clearing offices at the border. |
| John: What’s a question that you’re likely to be asked? |
| Medina: Uko na pasipoti? |
| John: “Do you have a passport?” Okay, now onto the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| John: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is... |
| Medina: pasipoti [natural native speed] |
| John: passport |
| Medina: pasipoti[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: pasipoti [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Medina: kufanya [natural native speed] |
| John: to do |
| Medina: kufanya[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: kufanya [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Medina: mtalii [natural native speed] |
| John: tourist |
| Medina: mtalii[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: mtalii [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Medina: kuja [natural native speed] |
| John: to come |
| Medina: kuja[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: kuja [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Medina: muda [natural native speed] |
| John: period |
| Medina: muda[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: muda [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Medina: hapa [natural native speed] |
| John: here |
| Medina: hapa[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: hapa [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Medina: muhuri [natural native speed] |
| John: stamp |
| Medina: muhuri[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: muhuri [natural native speed] |
| John: And last... |
| Medina: vuka [natural native speed] |
| John: to cross |
| Medina: vuka[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: vuka [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: pasipoti |
| John: meaning "passport." What can you tell us about this word? |
| Medina: This is a noun. |
| John: It’s the ID document that allows people to pass from one country to the next. |
| Medina: It can also be called cheti cha kusafiri. |
| John: Can you give us an example using this word? |
| Medina: Sure. For example, you can say, Pasipoti yangu inamalizika kesho. |
| John: ...which means "My passport expires tomorrow." |
| John: Okay, what's the next word? |
| Medina: muhuri |
| John: meaning "stamp." |
| Medina: This is a noun belonging to the noun class m-mi. |
| John: What is the singular form, and what is the plural form? |
| Medina: The singular form is muhuri and the plural form is mihuri. |
| John: What is the verb, “to stamp?” |
| Medina: That is kupiga muhuri. |
| John: Can you give us an example using the noun stamp? |
| Medina: Sure. For example, you can say, Niliitishwa barua ambayo imepigwa muhuri na mkuu wa chifu. |
| John: ...which means "I was asked to bring a letter with a stamp from the chief." |
| John: Okay, what's the next word? |
| Medina: kuvuka |
| John: meaning "to cross." What can you tell us about this word? |
| Medina: This is a verb, and it’s used to indicate the passage from one place to another. |
| John: So it’s used for things such as crossing from one country to another, or crossing a river. |
| Medina: That’s right. The prefix ku is used to mean "to," so vuka is the verb. |
| John: Can you give us an example using this word? |
| Medina: Sure. For example, you can say, Paka wetu alishindwa kuvuka ile ng’ambo ingine ya mto alipokuwa akitufuata. |
| John: .. which means "Our cat was unable to cross to the other side of the river when he was following us." |
| John: Okay, now onto the lesson focus. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| John: In this lesson, you'll learn about answering routine questions at the border. First let’s focus on expressing duration. We heard a couple of routine questions and phrases in the conversation. |
| Medina: Right. We heard the phrase Muda wa miezi miwili. |
| John: Which literally means “a stay of two months.” This was used to explain how long the stay would be. Can you break that sentence down for us? |
| Medina: Sure. First you need a noun, then wa, then a noun of duration and finally a number. |
| John: Let’s hear another example sentence. |
| Medina: Safari ya miezi miwili. |
| John: “A trip of two months.” |
| Medina: Kozi ya miezi sita. |
| John: “A course of six months.” |
| Medina: Remember that the numeral sometimes can get a different prefix, depending on the noun it refers to. |
| John: We heard several examples there using “month.” What is the Swahili for “day?” |
| Medina: The singular is siku, and the plural is masiku. |
| John: What about the Swahili word for “hour?” |
| Medina: The singular is Saa, and the plural is Masaa. |
| John: Listeners, there are more nouns of duration in the lesson notes, so be sure to check them out. Medina, can you give us some more examples that express duration? |
| Medina: Sure thing! Amekuwa hospitalini kwa muda wa wiki moja sasa. |
| John: meaning “He has been in the hospital for one week now.” |
| Medina: Alienda ng’ambo kusoma kwa muda wa miaka nne. |
| John: “He went abroad to study for a period of four years.” Ok, let’s get back to the main topic, questions at the border, and see how to express duration in questions. How do we say “How long will you stay?” |
| Medina: Utakaa muda upi? This uses the future tense utakaa. |
| John: Can you break this sentence down? |
| Medina: Let’s start with utakaa, u is the prefix used to refer to the subject, ta is the future tense prefix and kaa means “to stay.” All together it means “will you stay?” Next is muda, |
| John: which means “duration,” |
| Medina: and finally upi, meaning “which.” |
| John: Can you give us another example? |
| Medina: Utakaa miezi mingapi? |
| John: meaning “How many months will you stay?” There are many other questions you might be asked at the border. Maybe “Where are you from?” |
| Medina: Umetoka wapi? |
| John: Or “Where will you stay?” |
| Medina: Utaishi wapi? |
| John: So, we need some answers! Can you give us some example answers? |
| Medina: Nimetoka Ujerumani |
| John: “I come from Germany.” |
| Medina: Nitaishi mkahawa wa Hilton. |
| John: “I will stay at the Hilton.” |
| Medina: Nimekuja hapa Kenya kama mtalii. |
| John: “I have come here to Kenya as a tourist.” |
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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