African Languages

[ЅUX2BÜ]

Are there PExers learning any African languages? I've been trying to learn Swahili and it seems a fun language (not as complicated as what I had thought). I've been inspired by some places in Brazil where the Quilombos (African settlements) thrive and by the sound of some African lexicon (creole or otherwise) peppering the Portuguese language. The landmark musical The Lion King has also made me appreciate African languages even more. "Circle of Life" (Nants ingonyama bagithi Baba...) is just beautiful. I know the vocals are in Zulu, but I have to start somewhere.

Jambo! Habari gani? -- Hello! How are you?

[ЅUX2BÜ]

Habari ya jioni, kila mtu!*Basi, sisi kujifunza Kiswahili!

[ЅUX2BÜ]

Mimi sijui, lakini mimi naona si kuendeleza kwamba mengi kwa Kiswahili wangu.

Tsk.

[ЅUX2BÜ]

Did you know that kanye (yes, as in Kanye West) means “the only one” in Swahili?

Kaya pala ganun na lang mag-aasta itong si Kanye West eh, 'no? Hehe.

[neinsager]

yun pala ang meaning ng jambo.

[ЅUX2BÜ]

Alam mo na ngayon, neinsager. Hehe.

Nini filamu ni kwamba? (Anong pelikula 'yan?)

[neinsager]

mean girls. lindsay lohan plays an american teenage girl raised in africa, who, for the first time, goes to high school. when she saw a bunch of black students in the caf, she said "jambo." obviously they didn't understand what she meant and thought she was weird. haha.

[ЅUX2BÜ]

mean girls. lindsay lohan plays an american teenage girl raised in africa, who, for the first time, goes to high school. when she saw a bunch of black students in the caf, she said "jambo." obviously they didn't understand what she meant and thought she was weird. haha.

Thanks, neinsager. I saw the movie last night to check on the use of Swahili. I thought I heard the word kidada (sister) also. Funny thing that Tina Fey wrote it. Hilarious movie. Hehe.

Nikiwa na matumaini ya maendeleo zaidi kwa Kiswahili wangu! (Hoping to progress more with my Swahili!)

Afya! (Cheers!)

[ЅUX2BÜ]

BTW, for those not familiar with Swahili, it is a Bantu language spoken mostly in Kenya, Mozambique, Comoros, Tanzania and Uganda.

Those who speak French, Portuguese, German, Arabic and/or English will find some Swahili words a bit easy.

[swellbong]

SUX2BU, u seem to be aspiring to be a polyglot. Parang lahat na lang na thread na nabibisita ko regarding foreign languages, may post ka. That's a good thing, though. c:

Self-study mode ka ba? Parang naeengganyo rin ako matuto nito.

[ЅUX2BÜ]

SUX2BU, u seem to be aspiring to be a polyglot. Parang lahat na lang na thread na nabibisita ko regarding foreign languages, may post ka. That's a good thing, though. c:

Self-study mode ka ba? Parang naeengganyo rin ako matuto nito.

'Yung Spanish, Swahili, Swedish at Italian ay sariling sikap lang, pero 'yung Portuguese, French, German, Japanese ay inaral ko sa mga language school (Humboldt/Goethe, Alliance, et cetera).

Kama unataka tunaweza kujifunza Kiswahili hapa pamoja. (Kung gusto mo puwede nating araling pareho ang Swahili rito).

[swellbong]

Yes, sure. Pero I'm still trying to get my hands around Nihonggo and German. Sunod French, then ito.

By the way, it got me started after watching the movie Now and Later. They used some Swahili music (I believe so), and listening to the songs were just awesome.

Share ko 'to, although offT na.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMwTdnGgGXI

[ЅUX2BÜ]

Jambo! Habari gani?

Watch the video below and learn the following Swahili greetings/introductions and other phrases:

Hello. --> Jambo. (Also used to mean "fine").
Fine. --> Nzuri. / Jambo.
Thank you. --> Ahsante.
Welcome. --> Karibu.
Excuse me. --> Samahani.
No problem. --> Hakuna matata.
Good morning. --> Habari za asubuhi.
Good afternoon. --> Habari za mchana.
Good evening. --> Habari za jioni.
Do you speak Swahili? --> Una zungumza kiSwahili?
Yes. --> Ndio.
No. --> Hapana.
A little. --> Kidogo tu.

[ЅUX2BÜ]

Jambo tena kila mtu! (Hello again, everybody!)

Hebu mazoezi ya somo sisi alisoma jana. (Let's review the lesson we studied yesterday).

A: Jambo! Habari gani?
B: Jambo! Nzuri. Ahsante.

A: Una zungumza kiSwahili?
B. Ndio, nasema kiSwhahili.

A: Una zungumza kiSwahili?
B. Hapana, siwezi kusema kiSwahili.

[ЅUX2BÜ]

Let's learn some useful Swahili words/phrases used to ask for or get directions:

Unaweza kunionyesha... (Can you show me the...)
Unaweza kunionyesha njia ya kwenda... (Can you show me the way to the...)

posta --> post office
njia --> way/road
benki --> bank
hoteli --> hotel
mkahawa --> restaurant/cafeteria
kanisa --> church
eapoti --> airport
skuli ---> school
mtaa --> street
choo/msala --> bathroom, toilet

Samahani. Unaweza kunionyesha njia ya kwenda eapoti, tafadhali? (Excuse me. Can you show me the way to the airport, please?)

[R3'91]

Were you also inspired to learn Swahili after hearing "Baba Yetu" from the PC game Civilizations IV? It's a great song.

[ЅUX2BÜ]

Thank you for sharing that great song, R3'91!

"Baba Yetu", by the way, is "Our Father" in English.

[zacharaiolsen]

i think the language used in avatar is an african language.

[R3'91]

Would you consider Afrikaans an african language? It is based on Dutch and basically remains a much simpler form of Dutch. It used to be the national language of South Africa during apartheid times, not sure now.

[ЅUX2BÜ]

Would you consider Afrikaans an african language? It is based on Dutch and basically remains a much simpler form of Dutch. It used to be the national language of South Africa during apartheid times, not sure now.

Afrikaans is technically a West Germanic language, but geolinguistically considered as an African language because it is only spoken mainly in South Africa and Namibia. It is considered one of the official eleven languages in South Africa.