Learn about active and passive verbs
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| INTRODUCTION |
| John: Hi everyone, and welcome back to SwahiliPod101.com. This is Intermediate Season 1 Lesson 25 - Talking About Your Childhood Dreams in Kenya. John Here. |
| Medina: Hamjambo, I'm Medina. |
| John: In this lesson, you’ll learn about active and passive verbs. The conversation takes place at a house. |
| Medina: It's between Maria and Frank. |
| John: The speakers are friends, therefore, they will speak informally in Swahili. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Maria: Unakumbuka ndoto yeyote kubwa uliokuwa nayo utotoni? |
| Frank: Kubwa vipi? |
| Maria: Nilitaka zaidi kuingia kwenye runinga ilipia mimi nitazamwe! |
| Frank: Ndoto za utotoni za furahisha kweli. Bado lipo? |
| Maria: Halipo! Tangu, nimekuwa na ndoto nyingi kama kuwa rubani, mhandisi na kisha daktari. |
| Frank: Ni ngani kati ya hizi unayotaka kukua? |
| Maria: Pia halipo! Sasa nataka kazi itakayolipa vizuri na kusaidia watu wanaoteseka. |
| Frank: Hata hivyo, utakuwa rubani na daktari kwa njia tofauti. Nakuombea la heri. |
| Maria: Asante. |
| John: Listen to the conversation with the English translation. |
| Maria: Do you remember any big childhood dream? |
| Frank: How big? |
| Maria: I really wanted to get inside the TV so that I could be watched! |
| Frank: Childhood dreams are hilarious. Do you still want to go for it? |
| Maria: No! Since then, I’ve had many dreams, such as being a pilot, an engineer, and a doctor. |
| Frank: Which one of those do you want to become? |
| Maria: None of them! I now want a job that pays well and helps people who are suffering. |
| Frank: Then, you will be a pilot and a doctor in a different way. All the best. |
| Maria: Thanks. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| John: Maria had some interesting dreams when she was younger! |
| Medina: Right! I especially liked the one about going inside the TV. |
| John: As awesome as that would be, let’s talk about real jobs. What kind of jobs can people have in Kenya? |
| Medina: Kenya has a wide range of jobs including white-collar, blue-collar, and service workers. |
| John: What type of work is most common? |
| Medina: Seventy-five percent of workers are in the blue-collar bracket, with jobs in agriculture and things like that. |
| John: Is there a high employment rate in Kenya? |
| Medina: Unfortunately not. The unemployment rate is still around forty percent. |
| John: Are people beginning to start their own businesses? |
| Medina: Yes, some are. Sometimes people join together to make bigger businesses. There are many people that started out poor, and now run big businesses. |
| John: What about wages in Kenya? Are these low? |
| Medina: Some office workers are taking on side jobs, such as taxi work. |
| 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: runinga [natural native speed] |
| John: TV |
| Medina: runinga [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: runinga [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Medina: rubani [natural native speed] |
| John: pilot |
| Medina: rubani [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: rubani [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Medina: utotoni [natural native speed] |
| John: childhood |
| Medina: utotoni [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: utotoni [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Medina: kazi [natural native speed] |
| John: job, work, or career |
| Medina: kazi [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: kazi [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Medina: kukua [natural native speed] |
| John: to become |
| Medina: kukua [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: kukua [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Medina: lipa [natural native speed] |
| John: to pay |
| Medina: lipa [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: lipa [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Medina: vizuri [natural native speed] |
| John: properly |
| Medina: vizuri [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: vizuri [natural native speed] |
| John: And last... |
| Medina: halipo [natural native speed] |
| John: there is none |
| Medina: halipo [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: halipo [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: yeyote kubwa |
| John: meaning "anything big" |
| John: Let’s look at the two words that make this phrase. |
| Medina: First is yeyote, and this means “anything, or something not specific.” The second word is kubwa. |
| John: That means “big.” So we can use this word for anything that is big. |
| Medina: Yes, you can use kubwa in other circumstances to describe something as “big.” |
| John: Can you give us an example using this phrase? |
| Medina: Sure. For example, you can say... Tafuta kompyuta yeyote kubwa. |
| John: ...which means "Look for any big computer." |
| John: Okay, what's the next phrase? |
| Medina: ingia kwa runinga |
| John: meaning "enter the TV" |
| Medina: kwa is a preposition meaning “in,” and runinga means “television.” |
| John: We heard this phrase in the conversation earlier. |
| Medina: Yes, we did. You might hear children say this when they don’t understand how images are displayed on TVs. |
| John: Can you give us an example using this phrase? |
| Medina: Sure. For example, you can say... Ni vipi watu wanaingia kwa runinga!? |
| John: ...which means "How do people get in the TV screen!?" |
| John: Okay, what's the next phrase? |
| Medina: ndoto za utotoni |
| John: meaning “childhood dreams” |
| John: Let’s look at each word in turn. |
| Medina: The first word is ndoto, and it means “dream.” Next is za, which is a conjunction. Finally is utotoni. |
| John: This means “childhood.” The phrase refers to a “dream of childhood,” or “childhood dreams.” |
| Medina: You can use this phrase when you’re talking or reminiscing about your childhood. |
| John: Yeah, I think most of us had dreams as children. |
| Medina: Ndoto can also be used to mean “sleeping” or “dreaming,” so it can be used in other ways too. |
| John: Can you give us an example using this phrase? |
| Medina: Sure. For example, you can say… Unandoto za utotoni unazokumbuka? |
| John: “Do you have childhood dreams that you remember?” |
| John: Okay, now onto the lesson focus. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| John: In this lesson, you'll learn about active and passive verbs. The passive form in Swahili is similar to English. It modifies the object instead of the subject and changes the word order from subject–verb–object to object–verb–subject. For example, “the fish is eaten by the cat.” |
| Medina: In Swahili, an active verb becomes a passive verb when the verb stem is infixed with -w-. |
| John: Let’s hear an example using the verb for “watch.” |
| Medina: The active “to watch” is tazama, and the passive “to be watched” is tazamwa. |
| John: Can we have another example, this time with “play.” |
| Medina: Active is cheza, passive is chezwa. |
| John: How about “cook?” |
| Medina: Active is pika, passive is pikwa. |
| John: And for the final example, let’s hear “call.” |
| Medina: Active is ita, passive is itwa. |
| John: Now, how about some sentences? |
| Medina: Ndoto yangu ni kutazamwa kwenye runinga. |
| John: “My dream is to be watched in the TV.” |
| Medina: Jina lako limeitwa sasa hivi. |
| John: “Your name was called just now.” |
| Medina: Amefunzwa lakini haelewi. |
| John: “She has been taught, but she does not understand.” As we talked about dreams before, let’s now look at some sentences that will help us express our dreams. |
| Medina: You can say Ndoto yangu ni kukua ... |
| John: “My dream is to be…” |
| Medina: Or Ni dhamira yangu niwe …. |
| John: “It is my wish that…” |
| Medina: Natamani sana niwe…. |
| John: “I really wish I could be a…” |
| Medina: Natumai kuwa ... |
| John: “I hope that…” |
Outro |
| John: Okay, that’s all for this lesson and this series. Thank you for listening, everyone, and we’ll see you in another series! Bye! |
| Medina: Tuonane! |
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