Kiswahili Me

I started taking Swahili classes a few weeks ago. So naturally I’ve already missed one class, am way behind my other classmate, and am struggling to keep up. You know, just like real school. In an effort to force myself study, I have decided to torment… err… teach you, my Devoted Readers, the few words I’ve learned so far.

Tulip, my teacher, would be the first to tell you that written Swahili is pretty much the same as spoken Swahili. Which means that all you need to do is sound it out almost the way you would in English – every letter mind you – and you’re halfway there. There are also a lot of Arabic based words (like Salama – peaceful) in the language.

In case it wasn’t clear, that was your entire lesson on Swahili pronunciation. Which leads us into lesson two – everything else! Since this is your first day, I thought I’d start with what I learned during my first my class.



So now to put all those little bits and pieces into a very basic greeting slash conversation.



Ok, so that wasn’t every good. And I’m sure that I’ll get comments regarding my spelling and interpretations. Indeed, there are a few points in the above conversation that I’m positive on, but its close. Hey, this was day one – give me a break!

Tuonane Kesha! (See you tomorrow!)