Hi learners on this easy Sunday from a native speaker, apart from 'Jambo Bwana' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUrVeRGo5IM and 'Baba yetu' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsINANZ6Riw which other cliche swahili songs do you know? I want to make a playlist! Thanks

I know this random but I just wanted to confirm the proper say to say "sea foam" in Swahili?

Hello everyone!

My whole family is born and raised Tanzanian (Kilimanjaro region) and I am the only one born in America. I was never spoken to/ never learned Swahili growing up but now I am more interested than ever to learn. My problem is, I want to learn the traditional Tanzanian Swahili dialect, but a lot of the resources I find use Kenyan/ other countries' vocab and grammar. Do you guys have any suggested resources that use primarily Tanzanian Swahili?

Thank you!

Habari, can U guyz pls recommend any good books, novels, etc to read online in Swahili.

Hi learners, as a native speaker, I am curious between Kenyan and Tanzanian swahili, which one is easier on the ear. Yani tukiongelea(I mean, talking about) lafudhi(Accent), lahaja(dialect). Thank you!

It's a beautiful song and I can't find the lyrics anywhere. I'd love to know what it means. Thank you

Hans Johnson - Nena's Song
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41w5ohBeDX0

Looking for translation in English please

Are weekends in Kenya (or East Africa for that matter) Thursdays and Fridays instead of Saturdays and Sundays? I ask because from Saturday to Wednesday the days of the week are all juma+something else. Jumamosi, Jumapili, Jumatatu, Jumanne, Jumatano. Then comes Thursday which is Juma… nope. Thursday is Alhamisi? And Friday is Ijumaa? 🙃 What’s so special about Thursday and Friday that they had to break the pattern?

Hi everybody.

I am a college student from Tanzania. I have to do a project this semester and I was wondering if I could do something about the Swahili language.

I was thinking about creating a digital Swahili proficiency test, seeing that learning resources are abundant, I figured there wouldn't be a strong need for them.

I want to get ideas from you guys(non-native speakers), what do you think would really improve the Swahili learning experience?

Is alliteration popular in Swahili? Asks a mjinga mzee muzungu

I'm not gonna get into too much detail, but I'm trying to make a war game and one of the factions is going to be African based, based on a group from a show that is based off African culture. I simply want a name for this faction for now, and I've tried using translators and dictionaries as well as trying to ask ChatGPT for information but I've come away dissatisfied with my result and worried that it might give off appropriation vibes. I want a name that respects the many cultures of Africa, or at least as many as possible. Of course, this faction is more of a unified confederation of tribes rather than a single nation, so I want the name to be broad, reflecting the land they are protecting rather than the people because each culture in Africa has its own identity and the name shouldn't be so narrow.

The name I originally tried before realizing I was out of my league was Ardhi Nyimbo of some portmanteau of it. It's supposed to mean Land of Songs, cause that was the first idea to pop in my head. I don't expect to fully capture the culture and provide great representation as I am clearly not of the cultures or an expert, I just want it to hold up under scrutiny and avoid offensive ideas.

(I feel like I should add that this is not historical based. And cringey and weird as it sounds, I'm making a wargame based on My Little Pony which has Zebras that use African culture as a basis.)

does in swahili ‚Ninakuwa‘ mean ‚I am being‘ or ‚I become‘? how do you say in swahili ‚I became a doctor‘ and differentiate it from ‚I was a doctor‘? Natumaini unaendelea vizuri ukiweza kunisaidia

Found on thrifted t-shirt with photo of a dark skinned man in a suit with a Charlie Chaplin type mustache. Shirt is super detailed, handmade, and features his photo throughout. Very curious thank you to anyone who helps!

My girlfriend is from Kenya, and I wanted to learn Sheng to surprise her. I know english and a bit of swahili, but I have no clue where can I learn sheng? All the courses and methods I found online only teach pure swahili.

I just want to double check with people who knows. Is nakutakia kila la kheri correct?. I need to end a letter with something like the title. Not necessarily the exact words if there is another expression that is used more often. It also suggested sewa sewa but a post on Reddit contradicted that.

Hi my husband is from Kenya and we are expecting another baby.

Our first son is named Zawadi.

I would like our daughter to have a name meaning precious or treasure. Do you have any suggestions please?

I tried to do a search and I found Hazina means treasure, is this correct? I like the name because it sounds like a mix between byname and my husbands. If it means treasure/precious, it would be perfect!

Please help

Thank you

Could anyone help me understand how would you accurately translate "The Sleepless" to Swahili?

Hi guys!

I've just started making a track and came across a vocal sample that I feel fit pretty good. I think it is sung in Swahili, and I would very much appreciate it if anyone could help me transcribe, and give me a rough translation of the lyrics. The plan is to combine it with some English lyrics, and I thought it would make sense if they have the same overall theme.

You can hear the lyrics here

Song is in _very_ early stage, so please don't judge the track too hard... yet ;-)

Hello everyone,

I am working on a research project in which I have to develop a machine translation model capable of accurately translating scientific English text to Swahili.

This will help many students study science without a language barrier. I am seeking help from you all now. I am searching for scientific texts like physics, biology textbooks, or any other scientific text written in Swahili. I need this to train the model. I have tried a lot to find this text, but I have not been able to find it.

If you have any resources, please share. Thanks!

Like im a native speaker but i dont get it

Hi! I recruit educators for a school district in SW Michigan. We are looking for a strong Swahili Bilingual Tutor who can work with teachers in the high school to provide bilingual instructional support to those students with the highest needs. Thank you in advance for any assistance you can provide in helping me find such a candidate!

This is off topic, since it's about Swahili culture rather than Kiswahili. But this group seems as close as I'm going to get to one where it would be on topic, so I hope y'all don't mind.

I'm looking for some kind of historic reenactment of Swahili culture: What would be a RennFaire in Europe or the US, but for 16th-ish century Swahili culture, rather than European culture. If anyone knows of anything like that, maybe in modern Tanzania, Kenya, etc., I'd love to know about it.

Hello, I wanted to ask about these lyrics I deciphered from a game called Genshin Impact. There are no official lyrics released yet, so here I am, trying to decipher the lyrics because I'm really interested in Swahili. Here are the lyrics.

Mwoza wa moto, zi wachezi wake angani Kama vile moto usiozimika Mparene anchini, nenda mbele kwa ujabari Itapoku atapata, majivu ya moto ni tena

(Instrumental)

Wakiaga wenyewe, moto daima utawata Moto daima utawata, na muso wa tulivyowepo Nami naweza haponi, na moto utakuambia Na moto utakuambia, na moto utakuambia Pia! Pia!

Feel free to share your opinion if something's not right or if you have any suggestions for changes. Thank you!