Learn how to discuss the time
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| INTRODUCTION |
| John: Hi everyone, and welcome back to SwahiliPod101.com This is Intermediate Season 1 Lesson 2 - Don't Forget to Send that Swahili Reminder Email! John Here. |
| Medina: Hamjambo, I'm Medina. |
| John: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to discuss the time. The conversation takes place at an office. |
| Medina: It's between Victor and Rehema. |
| John: The speakers are co-workers, therefore, they will speak informal Swahili. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Victor: Je, unawakati leo alasiri? |
| Maria: Nadhani. Kuna jambo? |
| Victor: Je, unaweza kutumia wateja wetu ukumbusho wa mkutano kwa barua pepe? |
| Maria: Hasa wateja gani? |
| Victor: Wa kampuni ya CityTech. |
| Maria: Ah, kuhusu mkutano wa programu ya kompyuta Ijumaa hii? |
| Victor: Ndio. Inapaswa ianze saa tatu lakini milango itafunguliwa saa mbili. |
| Maria: Nimeelewa. Nitafanya hivyo. |
| John: Listen to the conversation with the English translation |
| Victor: Do you have time this afternoon? |
| Maria: I think so. What's up? |
| Victor: Can you send a reminder email to our client? |
| Maria: Which client in particular? |
| Victor: From CityTech company. |
| Maria: I see, about the computer software meeting this Friday? |
| Victor: Right. It should start at 9 a.m., but doors are open at 8 a.m. |
| Maria: Got it. I'll do so. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| John: Medina, what is the Swahili word for “client meeting”? |
| Medina: mkutano wa wateja |
| John: Great! And what can you tell us about office work and meetings in Kenya? |
| Medina: Work in the office can be overwhelming, especially when preparing for meetings with clients and the company wants to leave a good impression. |
| John: That’s why you may want to do most of the work by yourself. |
| Medina: Right, but actually work allocation is very crucial to efficiency and effective management. So, John, if you are a perfectionist like me, try and allocate responsibilities with instructions and follow ups. |
| John: Now that you say so... |
| Medina: Remember, mistakes can be made but you need to have space for this, too! |
| John: Thank you for the heads up! |
| VOCAB LIST |
| John: Okay, let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is.. |
| Medina: alasiri [natural native speed] |
| John: afternoon |
| Medina: alasiri[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: alasiri [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have.. |
| Medina: nadhani [natural native speed] |
| John: to suppose, to think |
| Medina: nadhani[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: nadhani [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have.. |
| Medina: wateja [natural native speed] |
| John: clients |
| Medina: wateja[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: wateja [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have.. |
| Medina: ukumbusho [natural native speed] |
| John: reminder |
| Medina: ukumbusho[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: ukumbusho [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have.. |
| Medina: kampuni [natural native speed] |
| John: company |
| Medina: kampuni[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: kampuni [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have.. |
| Medina: mkutano [natural native speed] |
| John: meeting |
| Medina: mkutano [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: mkutano [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have.. |
| Medina: inapaswa [natural native speed] |
| John: supposed to |
| Medina: inapaswa[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: inapaswa [natural native speed] |
| John: And last.. |
| Medina: funguliwa [natural native speed] |
| John: to open |
| Medina: funguliwa[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: funguliwa [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: kutuma ukumbusho |
| John: meaning "to send a reminder." Medina, can you break down this phrase? |
| Medina: Kutuma has a prefix ku-, which when added to tuma, "send" makes "to send." Ukumbusho is "a reminder" derived from the verb -kumbuka. |
| John: meaning "to remember." When can we use this phrase? |
| Medina: Kutuma ukumbusho is a useful phrase when talking about future reminders for a coming event or activity. Ukumbusho can be used independently depending on the context because of its varied meanings, such as “memorial,” “souvenirs,” and “monuments.” |
| Memorials are very common in Kenya because of the respect people pay to their deceased loved ones or ancestors; thus, you will often hear the word makumbusho, the plural form of ukumbusho. Also kutuma can be used for almost anything you want to send: for example, kutuma pesa for "to send money." |
| John: Can you give us an example using the first phrase? |
| Medina: Sure. For example, you can say.. Tuma ukumbusho uwaeleze kuhusu mipango ya harusi. |
| John: ..which means "Send a reminder to inform them of the wedding programs." |
| John: Okay, what's the next phrase? |
| Medina: kuhusu programu |
| John: meaning "about a program" |
| Medina: Kuhusu comes from the root verb -husu. When ku, a prefix, is added to it, it can act as both the adverb and the preposition, "about." Programu is borrowed from the English word "program." |
| John: When is this phrase usually used? |
| Medina: This phrase can be handy when discussing or making clarification or notices about computer programs in the office. Kuhusu can be used with almost any word or event that happens to be the core topic of discussion. Programu as a noun can be used to refer to a manner of planned events. |
| John: So we can use each word independently. Can you give us an example using the whole phrase? |
| Medina: Sure. For example, you can say.. Wacha sasa tuongee kuhusu programu ya wiki hii. |
| John: .. which means "Let’s now talk about this week's program." |
| John: Okay, what's the next phrase? |
| Medina: inapaswa ianze |
| John: meaning "supposed to." Can you break it down? |
| Medina: Inapaswa is made up of i-, the pronoun, -na- the present tense verb marker, and -paswa as the infinitive verb for "intend." Ianze is made up of i-, which is the subject pronoun, and -anze is the modal verb for "begin." |
| John: Can we change the prefixes? |
| Medina: Yes, -paswa, as the root of the verb, can have prefixes that change with the subject and the tense. For example "he/she is supposed to" is anapaswa. The same goes for ianze. |
| John: Can you give us an example using the whole phrase? |
| Medina: Sure. For example, you can say.. Wananchi wanapaswa waanze kujishughulisha na masilaha ya walemavu. |
| John: .. which means "Citizens should start getting concerned with the affairs of people with disabilities." |
| John: Okay, now onto the lesson focus. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| John: In this lesson, you'll learn about discussing the time. We have already studied this topic in a lower level. |
| Medina: Right, we have already seen that when talking about time in Swahili, you should first learn the word saa. |
| John: This can be used to mean "at ... o'clock," "moment," or "time" itself. Can you give us some examples? |
| Medina: Sure, for example, Darasa lako li saa ngapi? |
| John: "What time is your class again?" |
| Medina: Saa tisa za mchana. |
| John: “It's at three in the afternoon.” In this lesson, we’ll learn how to discuss the time with more complex expressions, through vocabulary about times of the day. |
| Medina: Here are the first two majogoo and mapambazuko. |
| John: What do they mean? |
| Medina: These are nouns referring to early morning. Majogoo, indicates “between three and four AM,” the suffix, jogoo, means “rooster.” On the other hand mapambazuko is “dawn” and can change depending on the usage. |
| John: How does it change? |
| Medina: One can say kumepambazuka to mean “daytime has come.” -pambazuka is the root verb on which other prefixes, like kume for “has become,” can be added. |
| John: Can you give us some sample sentences? |
| Medina: Waliongea hadi majogoo. |
| John: “They chatted until the morning.” |
| Medina: Amkeni, kumepambazuka! |
| John: “Wake up, it is dawn!” Are there other similar words? |
| Medina: Yes, for example alasiri meaning “late afternoon.” |
| John: Can you give us an example? |
| Medina: Sure, Alasiri ndio wakati wetu wa kusali. |
| John: “Our time for prayers is in the late afternoon.” |
| Medina: Another interesting word is Magharibi |
| John: literally meaning “West,” but sometimes used to mean ”evening” |
| Medina: you may hear jioni for “evening” more than magharibi. Magharibi literally means “west,” and because the sun sets in the west, magharibi conceived the same meaning as “evening.” |
| John: With some of these words it’s advised to be specific about the hour. |
| Medina: Right, for example adhuhuri, “midday,” and alasiri, “late afternoon” refer to a wide span of time. |
| John: What are some words that help us be more specific about time? |
| Medina: For example, you can use robo |
| John: meaning “a quarter after,” |
| Medina: kasorobo |
| John: “quarter to” |
| Medina: sekunde |
| John: “seconds.” Can you give us a couple of examples? |
| Medina: Sasa ni saa tatu na robo. |
| John: “It is now a quarter past nine.” |
| Medina: Safari itaanza saa saba kasorobo. |
| John: “The journey will begin at a quarter to two.” Ok, let’s close this lesson with some tips about conversation tactics. Medina, what are some good expressions to give verbal confirmation to the other person? |
| Medina: In order to make it clear that you are understanding, you can say Naona |
| John: meaning “I see” |
| Medina: Ndivyo |
| John: “Right” |
| Medina: Nimeelewa |
| John: “Got it.” If something is not clear, what can we say to ask for clarification? |
| Medina: There are some short and useful questions, such as Tafadhali rudia |
| John: meaning “Could you repeat?” you can say this when what you heard wasn’t clear. |
| Medina: If you couldn’t actually hear the other person, you can say Samahani, sikusikia. |
| John:“Sorry, I didn’t hear.” |
| Medina: If the other person talked quickly, you can ask Tafadhali rudia polepole? |
| John: “Could you repeat slowly?” |
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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