Lesson Notes

Unlock In-Depth Explanations & Exclusive Takeaways with Printable Lesson Notes

Unlock Lesson Notes and Transcripts for every single lesson. Sign Up for a Free Lifetime Account and Get 7 Days of Premium Access.

Or sign up using Facebook
By clicking Join Now, you agree to our Terms of Use, Privacy Policy, and to receive our email communications, which you may opt out at any time.
Already a Member?

Lesson Transcript

Hamjamboni. Mimi ni Medina. Hi everybody! I’m Medina.
Welcome to Swahilipod101.com's “Kiswahili kwa dakika tatu,” The fastest, easiest, and most fun way to learn Swahili.
In the last lesson, we learned the phrase Hii ni pesa ngapi? ”How much is this?” Now we’ll learn how to answer this question by counting shillings in Swahili.
Let’s learn how to say prices in Swahili. Try to say "Nine shillings." [pause]
Shilingi tisa.
[slowly] Shilingi tisa.
Kenya uses the Kenyan shilling. The coins used include 1, 5, 10, 20, 40 shillings and 50 cent coin; while the notes include 50, 100, 200, 500 and 1000. In Swahili, the Kenyan shilling is known as shilingi. Most of the prices are stated in whole shilling amounts as we can see in the following examples:
"45 shillings."
Shilingi arobaini na tano.
[slowly] Shilingi arobaini na tano.
Are you ready to take a challenge? This one is longer. How would you say
"199 shillings"?
Shilingi mia moja, tisini na tisa. [slowly] Shilingi mia moja, tisini na tisa.
That was pretty tough, right? But no need to despair - it still follows the same simple rules as we’ve seen before.
But you can make it slightly simpler by leaving out the shillings, just by saying the numbers.
mia moja, tisini na tisa.
You will probably hear this in shops quite a lot.
Now it’s time for Medina’s Insights.
Are you wondering why I didn’t mention cents? Although the unit of Kenyan currency is made up of 100 cents, the usage of cents is pretty uncommon. The old 50 cent, 10 cent and 5 cent coins are now rarely used. Most of the prices are whole-shilling amounts.
Now you are ready for a shopping spree in Kenya. Want to invite your friends along with you to impress them with your fluent counting in Swahili? Learn how to ask your friends about their plans in the next Kiswahili kwa dakika tatu lesson. See you then!
Tuonane tena!

Comments

Hide