Learn how to buy and use a pre-paid telephone card
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| INTRODUCTION |
| While most people wouldn't or couldn't usually step outside without their cell phones, when visiting another country, sometimes it's a little too far for your local carrier. You can use your cell phone when you get to Kenya of course, but you have to pay very expensive charges. So if you feel like saving your money, the good old ways work like a charm. |
| In Kenya, you can buy prepaid phone cards for cell phones. These prepaid cell phone cards are sold in kiosks and phone operator offices. They include a SIM card with PIN and PUK codes, and of course a Kenyan phone number. You can insert the SIM card into your mobile phone, and use it with a Kenyan number. It’s so easy! And that’s what we’ll focus on in this lesson. |
| BODY |
| Before asking for a prepaid card, you’ll want to know whether the shop you’re at even carries them. In Swahili, "Do you sell prepaid cell phone cards?" is |
| Je, unaunza kadi ya simu ya kulipia mapema? |
| Let’s break it down: |
| Je, unaunza kadi ya simu ya kulipia mapema? |
| Once more: |
| Je, unaunza kadi ya simu ya kulipia mapema? |
| The first word je, as we previously learned, converts the sentence into a question |
| je |
| (slow) je |
| The word that follows, unaunza, means “you sell.” |
| (slow) unaunza |
| unaunza |
| The next three words we have are kadi ya simu, which mean “cell phone card.” |
| Let’s break it down: |
| kadi means “card.” |
| (slow) kadi |
| kadi |
| ya is the preposition “of.” |
| ya |
| (slow) ya |
| You have already seen simu, it’s the word for “phone” |
| simu |
| (slow) simu, |
| These three joined together become, |
| kadi ya simu |
| Lastly are the three words, ya kulipia mapema which mean “to pay in advance.” |
| In this phrase we have ya, which is the preposition “of”, as we have learned in previous lessons. |
| (slow) ya |
| ya |
| the next word, kulipia, means “to pay” |
| (slow) kulipia |
| kulipia |
| The word that follows mapema means “in advance” |
| (slow) mapema |
| mapema |
| This becomes |
| (slow) ya kulipia mapema |
| ya kulipia mapema |
| Altogether, we have |
| Je, unaunza kadi ya simu ya kulipia mapema? |
| Literally, this means, “Do you sell prepaid cell phone cards?” |
| The answer to this will be “yes” - ndio - or “no” - hapana. If they do have the cards, they will ask you which line you want, since there are many cell phone services providers: Safaricom, yu, Zain and orange. “Which line do you want?” |
| Unataka laini ipi? |
| “Which line do you want?” |
| (slow) Unataka laini ipi? |
| Let’s imagine you want Safaricom. You can reply by saying, |
| Nataka Safaricom. |
| “I want Safaricom.” |
| Nataka here means “I want” |
| Safaricom, a cell phone services provider, remains as it is. |
| Safaricom SIM cards are quite cheap to buy. All you will be required to do is to subscribe, and then you can top up your SIM card with scratch cards that come in different denominations, from as low as KSh 5. If you want a Ksh. 10 Safaricom scratch card, the sentence “A 10 shilling Safaricom calling card, please" will be |
| Tafadhali nipe kadi ya Safaricom ya shilingi kumi. |
| Let’s break it down: |
| Tafadhali nipe kadi ya Safaricom ya shilingi kumi. |
| Once again: |
| Tafadhali nipe kadi ya Safaricom ya shilingi kumi. |
| We have already come across the first word, tafadhali (“please”). |
| The next word nipe means “give me.” |
| (slow) nipe |
| nipe |
| Next is the word kadi, which means “card” |
| (slow) kadi |
| kadi |
| Next up is the preposition ya meaning “for” again. |
| (slow) ya |
| ya |
| Safaricom is the name of a mobile service provider. |
| (slow) Safaricom |
| Safaricom |
| It is followed by the last three words, ya shilingi kumi, which mean “of ten shillings.” |
| shilingi means “shillings” |
| (slow) shilingi |
| shilingi |
| kumi means “ten” |
| (slow) kumi |
| kumi |
| Together, this sounds like, |
| (slow) shilingi kumi, |
| shilingi kumi |
| Here’s the entire sentence: |
| (slow) Tafadhali nipe kadi ya Safaricom ya shilingi kumi. |
| Tafadhali nipe kadi ya Safaricom ya shilingi kumi. |
| This means, “A 10 shilling Safaricom calling card, please" |
| For a 20 shilling card, you just have to change the value this way: Instead of shilingi kumi say shilingi ishirini |
| (slow) shilingi ishirini |
| shilingi ishirini |
| (slow) Tafadhali nipe kadi ya Safaricom ya shilingi ishirini. |
| Tafadhali nipe kadi ya Safaricom ya shilingi ishirini. |
| Now, if you are looking for a payphone instead, you will have to ask |
| Kunradhi, kuna simu ya uma hapa karibu? |
| (slow) Kunradhi, kuna simu ya uma hapa karibu? |
| Kunradhi, kuna simu ya uma hapa karibu? |
| Remember that the first word, kunradhi, means “excuse me,” and is a polite way to attract someone's attention. |
| (slow) kunradhi |
| kunradhi |
| Then comes the word kuna, which literally means “there is” and is used to express the question “is there?” |
| (slow) kuna |
| kuna |
| The two words that follow simu ya uma, translate as “public phone.” |
| You can remember that simu means “phone” |
| (slow)simu |
| simu |
| uma means “public” |
| (slow) u-ma |
| uma |
| That is, |
| (slow) simu ya uma |
| simu ya uma |
| Lastly, we have the phrase hapa karibu for “nearby,” as we have already learned in a previous Survival Phrases lesson. |
| (slow) hapa karibu |
| hapa karibu |
| Altogether, we have |
| (slow) Kunradhi, kuna simu ya uma hapa karibu? |
| Kunradhi, kuna simu ya uma hapa karibu? |
| In English this means, “Is there a phone booth nearby?” |
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