Learn how to introduce yourself and engage in short social conversations
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| INTRODUCTION |
| John: Hi, everyone, and welcome back to SwahiliPod101.com. This is Intermediate Season 1, Lesson 16 - A Warm Welcome in Kenya. John here. |
| Medina: Hamjambo, I'm Medina. |
| John: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to introduce yourself in detail and engage in short social conversations. The conversation takes place at a conference. |
| Medina: It's between Victor and Maria. |
| John: The speakers are strangers, therefore, they will speak both formal and informal Swahili. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Victor: Habari za asubuhi. Jina langu ni Victor. Karibu Kenya. |
| Maria: Jina langu ni Maria. |
| Victor: Nina furaha kukujua. |
| Maria: Hahaha, ni hayo tu ninayojua. |
| Victor: Wanidhihaki? (hahaha). Unaongea kama mwenyeji tayari. |
| Maria: Asante kwa heka. |
| Victor: Usijali. Unatoka nchi gani? |
| Maria: Natoka Nyuzilandi. |
| Victor: Maili chache kutoka hapa, sivyo? |
| Maria: Ndivyo inavyoonekana. Ilinichukua saa 15 kufika JKIA. |
| Victor: Ala. Laonekana mbali sana na nilivyodhani. |
| Maria: Ndio. Kwa kweli, inapaswa kuwa maili 8,000. |
| Victor: Nivyema upo hapa. Karibu Kenya. Jihisi nyumbani. |
| John: Listen to the conversation with the English translation. |
| Victor: Good morning. My name is Victor. Welcome to Kenya. |
| Maria: My name is Maria. |
| Victor: Nice to meet you. |
| Maria: Hahaha, that's all I know. |
| Victor: Are you kidding? (hahaha). You sound like a native already. |
| Maria: Aha, thanks for the compliment. |
| Victor: No worries. What country are you from? |
| Maria: I’m from New Zealand. |
| Victor: A few miles from here, right? |
| Maria: That's the way it may look. It took me 15 hours to arrive at JKIA. |
| Victor: Wow! That sounds further than I had imagined. |
| Maria: Right, technically, it’s about 8,000 miles. |
| Victor: Great you are here! Karibu, Kenya. Feel at home. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| John: In that dialogue, we heard a nice, welcoming conversation. |
| Medina: Yeah, both Maria and Victor seem like good people to speak to at a scary conference. |
| John: Right? Victor was very welcoming of Maria to Kenya. |
| Medina: Kenyans have high regard for visitors and often treat them with hospitality and pay attention to the language to use. |
| John: Oh really? What kind of things do Kenyans do to make them feel at home? |
| Medina: Usually, by starting a conversation and trying to hit points of interest. |
| John: What are good conversation topics? |
| Medina: Things such as soccer and politics - you can use these to build good friendships. |
| John: What if you are a visitor to someone’s home? |
| Medina: People will prepare special food, especially during the first few days if it’s a long stay. |
| John: Yeah, I’m sure things will get more relaxed the longer the visitor stays. |
| Medina: That’s right, although things differ from host family to host family. |
| 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: mwenyeji [natural native speed] |
| John: native |
| Medina: mwenyeji [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: mwenyeji [natural native speed] |
| John: Next, we have... |
| Medina: tayari [natural native speed] |
| John: already |
| Medina: tayari [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: tayari [natural native speed] |
| John: Next up is... |
| Medina: heko [natural native speed] |
| John: compliment |
| Medina: heko [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: heko [natural native speed] |
| John: Next, we have... |
| Medina: usijali [natural native speed] |
| John: Don't worry |
| Medina: usijali [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: usijali [natural native speed] |
| John: Next, there’s... |
| Medina: Nyuzilandi [natural native speed] |
| John: New Zealand |
| Medina: Nyuzilandi [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: Nyuzilandi [natural native speed] |
| John: Next, we have... |
| Medina: maili [natural native speed] |
| John: miles |
| Medina: maili [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: maili [natural native speed] |
| John: Next, there’s... |
| Medina: kuchukua [natural native speed] |
| John: to take |
| Medina: kuchukua [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: kuchukua [natural native speed] |
| John: And lastly... |
| Medina: onekana [natural native speed] |
| John: sight |
| Medina: onekana [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: onekana [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: wanidhihaki |
| John: ...meaning "you are kidding me?" |
| John: Can you break this word down for us? |
| Medina: First is wa, the second person pronoun. Then there’s ni, the speaker’s personal pronoun. Finally is dhihaki. |
| John: This means “joke” or “tease.” |
| Medina: We often use wani to show the speaker’s own words when they are speaking about someone else. |
| John: Can you give us an example using this word? |
| Medina: Sure. For example, you can say Wanidhihaki kila wakati. |
| John: ...which means "You tease me every time." |
| John: Okay, what's the next word? |
| Medina: ongea kama mwenyeji |
| John: ...meaning "to talk like a native." |
| Medina: First is ongea, meaning “to talk.” Kama is “like,” and mwenyeji means “local” or “native.” |
| John: So it’s literally “talk like a native.” |
| Medina: You use this when talking about foreigners that speak like natives. |
| John: Can you give us an example using this phrase? |
| Medina: Sure. For example, you can say.. Amekuja juzi lakini anaongea kama mwenyeji. |
| John: ...which means "He came just the other day, but he speaks like a native." |
| John: Okay, what's the next word? |
| Medina: inavyoonekana |
| John: ...meaning "as it appears." |
| John: Again, let’s break this down. |
| Medina: i is the third person pronoun, na is the present tense marker, vyo is the statement of being, and the last word is onekana. |
| John: This means “to appear, to look like.” Together, it means “as it appears.” |
| Medina: You use this to talk about how a situation seems to be at that time. |
| John: It can be used for speculation and imagination. |
| Medina: That’s right. |
| John: Can you give us an example using this word? |
| Medina: Sure. For example, you can say Afya yake inavyoonekana ni kuwa atapona. |
| John: ...which means "The way his health appears shows that he'll get well." |
| John: Okay, now onto the lesson focus. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| John: In this lesson, you'll learn about introducing yourself in detail and engaging in short social conversations. We already know how to introduce ourselves in a simple way, so as this is an intermediate course, we should make it more fluent. |
| Medina: But, don’t be arrogant about your fluency. Use expressions that downplay it, such as Ni hayo tu ninayojua. |
| John: “That’s all I know.” This is especially important after getting a compliment. |
| Medina: Right. You can say something like Asante sana. Nashukuru sifa hiyo. |
| John: “Thanks a lot, I appreciate the compliment.” |
| Medina: Or Shukran lakini bado nina msafara. |
| John: “Thanks, though I still have a long way to go.” Now, let’s look at the phrases we can use to speak about ourselves. |
| Medina: A good thing to talk about is the languages you can speak. Naongea lugha tatu likiwamo Kipsigis, Kiswahili and Kingereza. |
| John: “I speak three languages, including Kipsigis, Swahili, and English.” |
| Medina: Kipsigis ndio lugha yangu ya mama. |
| John: “Kipsigis is my mother tongue.” Or how about explaining the purpose of your trip? |
| Medina: Nimesafiri kuhudhuria mkutano wa biashara. |
| John: “I have traveled to attend a business meeting.” Or your job? |
| Medina: Mimi ni mfanyabiashara wa teknolojia. |
| John: ...meaning “I am a businessman in the field of technology.” |
| Medina: You can use the phrase mimi ni meaning “I am.” |
| John: Now, let’s move on to changing the topic. Doing this in a conversation can make it longer, make it flow, and help you make friends. |
| Medina: Some useful phrases are Japo kuwa |
| John: “by the way” |
| Medina: umesikia? |
| John: “Have you heard?” |
| Medina: tazama! |
| John: “Look!” Let’s hear a couple of sentences for changing topics. |
| Medina: Japo kuwa, umeshakula? |
| John: “By the way, have you eaten?” |
| Medina: Umesikia? Mama amejifungua mapacha! |
| John: “Have you heard? Mom has given birth to twins!” |
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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