ceid donn - Kiswahili thread

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ceid donn - Kiswahili thread

Postby ceid donn » 2012-09-04, 2:11

Since this forum is so quiet, I'd thought I'd go ahead and start my own Kiswahili thread to talk about my studies.

Right now I'm using the Pimsleur course (via Audible), which is only thirty half-hour audio lessons, so I don't expect it to cover much. But it's a start. Since it's all audio, I'm having to look up the words to write them down, which is a kind of good practice in its own way.

So here's the vocabulary covered in the 1st lesson:

samahani - excuse me, sorry

-fahamu - to know, understand, remember

unafahamu - you understand
ninafahamu - I understand
sifahamu - I don't understand

nafahamu Kiingereza - I understand English
Unafahamu Kiswahili? - Do you understand Swahili?
Ninafahamu Kiswahili kidogo - I understand Swahili a little
Sifahamu Kiingereza - I don't understand English

bwana - sir
dada - miss, sister

wewe ni marekani - you are American

ndiyo - yes
hapana - no[/quote]

I have also learned you can use the Arabic words for "yes" and "no" as well:

naam - yes
la - no

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Re: ceid donn - Kiswahili thread

Postby ceid donn » 2012-09-04, 3:13

The vocabulary covered in the 2nd lesson:

jambo - matter, affair
hujambo? - hello, lit. Is anything the matter with you?
sijambo - hello, I'm fine, I'm doing well; the answer the question "hujambo?"--lit. nothing is the matter

mama - an older woman, ma'am, mother

habari - news, information
habari gani? - what's new?, how are you doing?; lit. the news is what?

nzuri - good, well
sana - very
nzuri sana - very well
si vizuri - not well
si vizuri sana - not very well

asante - thanks, thank you

habari gani, mama? - how are you, ma'am?
nzuri sana, asante - very good, thank you

kwa heri - goodbye

wewe unafahamu - do you understand? (courtesy form that empathizes "wewe")
unasema - you speak

wewe unafahamu Kiswahili, bwana?
- do you understand Swahili, sir?
ndiyo, ninafahamu Kaswahili kidogo. Si vizuri sana. - yes, I understand Swahili a little. Not very well.
unasema nzuri sana - you speak very well

I've also learned a few other greetings that use habari:

Habari yako? - How are you doing?
Habari zenu? - how are you doing? (pl.)
Habari za asubuhi? - Good morning; lit. What is the news of the morning?
Habari za mchana? - Good afternoon; lit. What is the news of the afternoon?
Habari za jioni? - Good evening; lit. What is the news of the evening?

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Re: ceid donn - Kiswahili thread

Postby ceid donn » 2012-09-09, 8:21

What I covered in lessons 3 & 4:

mimi - I
mimi ni - I am
mimi ni Marekani - I am an American

Mkenya - Kenyan
mimi ni Mkenya - I am Kenyan
wewe ni Mkenya? - are you Kenyan?

mimi si - I am not
mimi si Mkenya - I am not Kenyan
wewe si - you are not
wewe si Mkenya - you are not Kenyan

na - and
je - well, well then (interjection)
na wewe je? - and what about you? and you then?

Habari gani, dada? - How are you, miss?
Nzuri, asante. Na wewe je? Habari gani, bwana? - Good, thank you. And you then? How are you, sir?

lakini - but

Mimi si Mkenyan lakini ninafahamu Kiswahili kidogo - I am not Kenyan but I understand Swahili a little

Mimi ninafahami Kiswahili kidogo lakini si vizuri sana - I understand Swahili a little but not very well

Na sifahamu Kiigereza - And I do not understand English

kweli - truly, honestly, of course

Wewe unafahamu Kiswahili, mama? - Do you understand Swahili, ma'am?
Kweli. Mimi ni Mkenya - Of course. I am Kenyan.

kwa kweli - truly, really

unasema - you speak
unafahmu na unasema nzuri sana - you understand and you speak very well
ninasema - I speak
ninasema kidogo lakini sifahamu - I speak a little but I don't understand
sisemi*** - I don't speak
sifahamu na sisemi vizuri sana - I don't understand and I don't speak very well

***-sema changes the ending in the negative: sisemi

barabara kuu - highway (big road)
barabara kuu ya Uhuru - Uhuru highway (lit. highway of Uhuru)
wapi - where
iko - it is (located)
iko 'api? - where is it?
tafadhali - please (pronounced tah-fah-val-lee)

Samahani, bwana. Barabara kuu ya Uhuru iko 'api, tafadhali? - Excuse me, sir. Where is the Uhuru highway, please?

barabara ya Kenyatta - Kenyatta Avenue
hapa - here
iko hapa - it is (located) here
ha iko - it is not
pale - over there
iko pale - it is over there

Barabara ya Kenyatta iko 'api, tafadhali? Iko hapa? - Where is Kenyatta Avenue, please? Is it here?
Ndiyo. Iko hapa. - Yes. It is here.
Hapana. Ha iko hapa. - No. It is not here.

Iko pale? - Is it over there?
Ndiyo. Iko pale. - Yes. It is over there.
Hapana. Barabara Kenyatta ha iko pale. - No, Kenyatta Avenue is not over there.

usijali - nevermind, don't worry about it :silly:

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Re: ceid donn - Kiswahili thread

Postby Set » 2013-02-11, 7:45

Hujambo!

Unasoma Kiswahili sasa? Mimi ninataka kujifunza Kiswahili lakini ninatumia kitabu 'Simplified Swahili'. Wewe ulitumia kitabu hiki?



I know this thread is old, and you might not be studying Swahili anymore, but let me know if you are!
Native:[flag=]en[/flag] Good:[flag=]de[/flag][flag=]ca[/flag] Focusing on:[flag=]fa[/flag][flag=]ku[/flag][flag=]ps[/flag] Interested in:[flag=]zza[/flag][flag=]tr[/flag][flag=]sw[/flag]

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Re: ceid donn - Kiswahili thread

Postby ceid donn » 2013-02-12, 2:10

Sijambo. Habari gani, Set?

I'm not studying Swahili right this minute but hope to get back to it soon. I have been using the Pilmseur audio course and got up to lesson 12 with that, although I didn't post notes for those lessons in this thread. I got pretty ill at the end of last year and had to stop.

I don't know the book "Simplified Swahili". I'll have to look into it. How far along in it are you?

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Re: ceid donn - Kiswahili thread

Postby Set » 2013-02-12, 10:24

Mzuri sana.

Yeh the book is amazing...if you like grammar at least. I've done like 20 chapters, but they're all quite short. Each one introduces a small piece of grammar and some vocab (verbs for verb grammar, nouns for noun grammar) and then you have to do loads of translating simple sentences to and from swahili. It might not sound amazing from my description, but I had to give it to my girlfriend for the week so that I would spend my time doing something else :P

It gets really exciting when the book asks you to translate some almost nonsensical, but grammatically complex sentence, eg.
Mkate huu ulikuliwa na watoto wadogo watatu wale.

Bread-CL2.S. this-CL2.S. it-CL2.S.-PAST-eat-PASSIVE by-ANIMATE CL1.PL.child CL1.PL.small CL1.PL.three CL1.PL.that.

This bread was eaten by the those three small children.
Native:[flag=]en[/flag] Good:[flag=]de[/flag][flag=]ca[/flag] Focusing on:[flag=]fa[/flag][flag=]ku[/flag][flag=]ps[/flag] Interested in:[flag=]zza[/flag][flag=]tr[/flag][flag=]sw[/flag]

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Re: ceid donn - Kiswahili thread

Postby ceid donn » 2013-02-12, 14:56

Short chapters, you say? Hmm. Now you have me wanting to do some more Kiswahili! :P Well, unfortunately, I cant restart it this week--not enough time right now. Maybe at the start of next month I could make some time for Kiswahili.

If I order the book this weekend, by the time it gets here I should be done with this German review I'm doing... :twisted:

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Re: ceid donn - Kiswahili thread

Postby Set » 2013-02-21, 22:28

Kitabu chako kipya kimefika?

Has your new book arrived yet?
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Re: ceid donn - Kiswahili thread

Postby ceid donn » 2013-02-22, 19:37

Hapana. Haikuwa bado. :(

No. Not yet.

Hopefully by next Monday.

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Re: ceid donn - Kiswahili thread

Postby Humuhumu » 2013-03-22, 11:35

Hi ceid, I am a Swahili student who joined this forum to practice. I hope we can exchange some knowledge here.

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Re: ceid donn - Kiswahili thread

Postby ceid donn » 2013-03-24, 22:50

Hi, Humuhumu. Good to se another person studying Swahili. I'm working slowing through my book, but it may be a few more days before I have time to start posting in this thread again.

Don't be afraid to start your own study thread, if you wish! :D

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Re: ceid donn - Kiswahili thread

Postby Set » 2013-04-09, 10:04

Habari ya Kiswahili gani? Umekuwa na wakati kukisoma zaidi?
Mimi nimeshamaliza kitabu...ni wenye huzuni kidogo...

Juzijuzi niliona sinema ya Kidachi inayoitwa "Nirgendwo in Afrika". Watu wasema Kidachi na Kiswahili, ilikuwa nzuri sana!
Native:[flag=]en[/flag] Good:[flag=]de[/flag][flag=]ca[/flag] Focusing on:[flag=]fa[/flag][flag=]ku[/flag][flag=]ps[/flag] Interested in:[flag=]zza[/flag][flag=]tr[/flag][flag=]sw[/flag]

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Re: ceid donn - Kiswahili thread

Postby ceid donn » 2013-04-24, 3:54

Sorry to have dropped the ball here. I just have been very tied up with other things this month and have had no time for language study. I got up to lesson 22 in the book but haven't looked at it for a few weeks so I need to review. Hopefully I can get back on track with my languages soon. :D

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Re: ceid donn - Kiswahili thread

Postby ceid donn » 2014-01-05, 23:34

Jambo! Habari gani?

I had forgotten that I had this thread.

So I'm doing a mini-TAC with Swahili for the start of 2014, and I'm using Simplified Swahili and Colloquial Swahili. I'm working on chapters 5-8 in SS today and tomorrow, and am making flashcards at Quizlet as it's a lot of vocabulary to take in over a few days. Hopefuly after a couple more days of intensive study I can start writing a bit. :D

More to come. Nakwenda sasa!

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Re: ceid donn - Kiswahili thread

Postby ceid donn » 2014-01-08, 18:28

Habari za asubuki. Ninafanya nini? Ninasoma kiSwahilil! :wink:

A quick update:

I have worked through chapters 5-8 in SS, which covered:

- M-Wa- class nouns
- subject prefixes for verb (plus more verbs to review)
- present tense
- M-Mi- class nouns

So lots of stuff there, actually. I still need to type up some flashcards in Quizlet for the stuff covered in those chapters (which I will be doing right after I'm done here) and need to drill the material a bit before moving on to the next four chapters, which will cover, among other things, the past tense. Hopefully by then I will have enough, freshly reviewed kiSwahili under my belt to start writing more than greetings. :mrgreen:

I have also be looking at this guy's Swahili 101 videoson YouTube. They're not very deep grammar-wise, as he confesses to not have a strong command of kiSwahili grammar, desite being a fluent speaker, but it is very useful for me to practice pronunciation and to recall the stuff I learned with the Pimsleur audio course. And I think his accent is awesome. :lol:

And I've started on Chapter 2 of CS. This is mostly just to help reiterate stuff and cover the more conversational kiSwahili that SS doesn't really focus on as much.

OK, that's it for now. Kwaherini, tutaonana baadaye!

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Re: ceid donn - Kiswahili thread

Postby ceid donn » 2014-01-10, 17:33

Jambo! Mimi ni Cade na ninajifunza kiSwahili. Polepole. :lol: Nina kitabu kiSwahili na ninasoma ni. :mrgreen:
Hello! I am Cade and I am learning Swahili. Slowly. I have a Swahili book and I am reading it.

Not entirely sure if that's correct, but hey, I'm trying!

Well, so far the drilling on Quizlet is working very, very well. I'm just reading through the flashcards then doing the Learn portion where they give you the English and you have to type the Swahili word, and then the Test portion to make myself recall the words in a different context. That seems to give me enough practice and I am improving my recall very quickly. I still need to drill the vocabulary for chapter 8 but afterwards I feel confident I can move on to the next four chapters.

Tutaonana baadaye!

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Re: ceid donn - Kiswahili thread

Postby vijayjohn » 2014-01-14, 5:09

Nimefurahi sana kwamba unajifunza Kiswahili sasa! :yep: Ninafikiri kwamba unasema Kiswahili vizuri. Mimi ninajaribu kuandika kwa Kiswahili hapa tena.

OK, I'll switch to English now. :P Urrgh, it's been so many years since I've had an opportunity to practice my Swahili! But anyway, if you don't mind, I just have a few corrections to suggest:

Habari za asubuki.

Should be asubuhi :wink: And there should be a question mark at the end (OK, OK, so I'm just nitpicking :lol: Sorry).

Jambo! Mimi ni Cade na ninajifunza kiSwahili. Polepole. :lol: Nina kitabu kiSwahili na ninasoma ni. :mrgreen:
Hello! I am Cade and I am learning Swahili. Slowly. I have a Swahili book and I am reading it.

Not entirely sure if that's correct, but hey, I'm trying!

I'm pretty sure most of that is right. :wink: Just a few things here:

- I think it's always spelled "Kiswahili" in Swahili. I've seen "kiSwahili" in English but so far never in Swahili. Although hey, feel free to correct me if I'm wrong! :P
- Swahili book = kitabu cha Kiswahili
- I am reading it = ninamsoma (not *ninasoma ni)

Also, sorry I haven't been all that active with the Swahili threads. I'm trying to balance so many languages, so I keep alternating between them, and it (generally) just takes a while before I get back around to any one of them, y'know? :lol:

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Re: ceid donn - Kiswahili thread

Postby ceid donn » 2014-01-14, 5:50

Thanks for the corrections! The "kiSwahili" is just my mistake. It's "Kiswahili" in my text.

vijayjohn wrote:I'm trying to balance so many languages, so I keep alternating between them, and it (generally) just takes a while before I get back around to any one of them, y'know? :lol:


Yeah, actually, I kind of do. :lol:

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Re: ceid donn - Kiswahili thread

Postby vijayjohn » 2014-01-19, 4:24

ceid donn wrote:Thanks for the corrections!

Karibu! Unaomba kuzungumza kwa Kiswahili? :P

Yeah, actually, I kind of do. :lol:

Oh, thank goodness! I was afraid I was starting to sound too pompous. :lol:

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Re: ceid donn - Kiswahili thread

Postby ceid donn » 2014-01-22, 18:26

vijayjohn wrote:Unaomba kuzungumza kwa Kiswahili? :P


Ok, I'm not sure what you mean here. :oops: "Do you hope to converse is Swahili"?

I've been meaning post something there. but I'm terrible with coming up with random stuff to talk about especially when my skills in that language are so limited. I'll try to come up with something. :P

vijayjohn wrote:Oh, thank goodness! I was afraid I was starting to sound too pompous. :lol:


It's OK. Well, with me at least. :lol: It's funny, because I used to be the kind of person who studied one langauge very intensely at a time. I did that with German, French, Latin, Ancient Greek, Biblical Hebrew...and after that I tried to learn Vietnames and Gaelic at the same time but failed miseribly at both. When I got up the nerve to try Gaelic again I studied it exclusively for a couple of years and then, I don't know, I went crazy or something. Now I can't help myself! :mrgreen: Just trying to a mini-TAC to focus on Swahili it hard because I want to do X, Y and Z with all these other languages too.

Speaking of which....

Mini-TAC update!

So I set some goals for myself, and I want to get to chapter 36. I've read up to chapter 20 and have done a few exercise in each lesson from 16 to 20. I'm still behind in the flashcards but it's OK. That's mostly to drill, review and improve recall. But I should really try writing some stuff in the Kiswahili now to start practicing all this that I'm studying. So that's my little Kiswahili goal for today (since I have a lot of free time this afternoon). OK, now, where did I put my Swahili text... :lol:


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