Kiswahili Beginners and Foreigners
Kiswahili Study Notes ~ For Beginners and Foreigners
Kiswahili, is a Bantu language and the native language of the Swahili people.
It is the official language in Tanzania and Kenya. It is a lingua franca of the African Great Lakes region and other parts of East and Southern Africa, including
Tanzania
Uganda
Rwanda
Burundi
Kenya,
Also spoken in some parts of:
Malawi
Somalia
Zambia
Mozambique
Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)
KiSwahili is spoken by an estimated 80 million people in East and Central Africa.
The vast majority of speakers of KiSwahili are native speakers of other African languages and use KiSwahili as a lingua franca.
After Arabic, KiSwahili is the most widely understood language in Africa.
Kiswahili Beginners and Foreigners
Some useful words / phrases:
| ENGLISH | KISWAHILI | ENGLISH | KISWAHILI |
| Hello | jambo! / hujambo! | Wildebeest | nyumbu |
| How are you? | habari? / mambo vipi? (conf.) | Cheetah | duma |
| I’m fine (reply) | salama / nzuri / poa (conf.) | Hippopotamus | kiboko |
| What about you | na wewe? | Buffalo | mbogo |
| Good | salama / nzuri / sawa / safi | Rhinoceros | kifaru |
| Thanks | Asante | Giraffe | twiga |
| You’re welcome | Karibu | Antelope / gazelle | swala |
| Yes | ndiyo | Zebra | punda milia |
| No | hapana | Warthog | ngiri |
| Please | tafadhali | Crocodile | mamba |
| Goodbye | kwa heri | Serpent | nyoka |
| I’d like (when ordering in shops) | naomba | Baboon | nyani |
| How much/how many? | ngapi? | House | nyumba |
| How much does it cost? | shillingapi? / bei? | Room | chumba |
| Where? | wapi? | Hut | kibanda |
| When? | lini? | Bed | kitanda |
| Here | hapa | Mountain | mlima |
| There | kule | Sea | bahari |
| One | moja | Food | chakula |
Excellent article. I will be dealing with some of these issues as well..