Learn how to access the web at an Internet cafe
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| INTRODUCTION |
| In this lesson, we’ll cover an extremely important phrase - “Where is the toilet?”. |
| BODY |
| In Swahili, “Where is the toilet?” is |
| Msala uko wapi? |
| Let’s break it down: |
| (slow) M - sa - la u- ko wa - pi? |
| Once more: |
| Msala uko wapi? |
| Let’s look at the components. The first word, msala, means “toilet.” |
| (slow) m - sa - la |
| msala. |
| This is followed by uko, which acts as the place indicator, roughly translated as “there.” |
| (slow) u - ko |
| uko. |
| After that is wapi, which means “where”. Therefore, together with uko, it means “where is.” |
| All together, that’s |
| (slow) m-sala u - ko wa - pi? |
| msala uko wapi? |
| ・ |
| A formal way to ask "Where can I find the bathroom?” is |
| Bafu liko wapi? |
| Let’s break it down: |
| (slow) Ba - fu li - ko wa - pi? |
| Once more: |
| Bafu liko wapi? |
| The first word bafu, means bathroom. |
| (slow) bafu |
| bafu |
| After that is liko, acting as a place indicator, which when followed with wapi means “where is” |
| liko wapi? |
| All together, that’s |
| (slow) li - ko wa - pi? |
| liko wapi? |
| If you are looking for the ladies’ room, the phrase is |
| Msala wa wanawake uko wapi? |
| Let’s break it down: |
| (slow) M - sa - la wa wa - na - wa - ke u - ko wa - pi? |
| Once more: |
| Msala wa wanawake uko wapi? |
| msala means “toilet.” |
| (slow) m - sa - la |
| msala |
| Next is wa, a preposition connecting msala and wanawake. |
| Wanawake literally means “women.” |
| (slow) wa - na - wa - ke |
| wanawake. |
| Then we have uko, which again is the place indicator. It is followed by the word wapi, which means “where.” |
| So now we have: |
| (slow) uko - wa - pi? |
| uko wapi? |
| All together, that’s |
| (slow) M - sa - la wa wa - na - wa - ke u - ko wa - pi? |
| Msala wa wanawake uko wapi? |
| ・ |
| If you are looking for the men’s room, the question for that is |
| Msala wa wanaume uko wapi? |
| Let’s break it down: |
| (slow) M - sa - la wa wa - na - u -me u - ko wa - pi? |
| Once more: |
| Msala wa wanaume uko wapi? |
| Wanaume means “men.” |
| (slow) Wa - na - u - me |
| Wanaume |
| To ask for the men’s room, just swap out the word wanawake (“women”) with wanaume (“men”) |
| (slow) M - sa - la wa wa - na - u -me u - ko wa - pi? |
| Msala wa wanaume uko wapi? |
| ・ |
| Let’s hear both of the sentences one more time: |
| Msala wa wanawake uko wapi? |
| Msala wa wanaume uko wapi? |
| When you finally get to the bathroom, there may be one last hurdle. At some bathrooms, only Swahili words are written on the doors! What do you do? |
| As we’ve heard before, the word for “men” is |
| wanaume. |
| And for “women” you’ll see either |
| wanawake or wake. |
| Let’s hear those once more. |
| The word for “men”is wanaume. |
| (slow) wa - na - u - me. |
| wanaume. |
| The word for “women”is wanawake. |
| (slow) wa - na - wa - ke |
| wanawake. |
| Or wake. |
| (slow) wa - ke |
| wake |
| ・ |
| There may not be many public bathrooms for tourists to use. This means your best option is to stop at either a café or a restaurant, and use the bathroom there. Understandably, café owners aren’t always too keen on having people stop in, just to use their bathroom. Since you’ll be a tourist, they will welcome you, and let you use the toilet. So to be polite, you might want to buy a bottle of water, or order a coffee before asking msala uko wapi? |
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