I have a high school student who is a Swahili speaker. He would like a Swahili novel for a lit class (students are allowed to use a heritage language novel). The local library only has little kids books. Is there a good site to download a pdf for a high school school senior? Preferably free. Thanks!

Mambo! I stumbled upon this (quite short) documentary about the Swahili people's connection to the ocean in the Lamu Archipelago and ocean conservation needs in the area and the entire thing is narrated in Kiswahili with English subtitles! I know it is quite difficult to find resources like this so I thought I'd share this with y'all.

It is on a streaming service that publishes indie documentaries about activism and climate change and such, called WaterBear. And it's FREE!

I'll add a link to the website for anyone interested! the documentary is called "BAHARI YETU".

https://www.waterbear.com/watch/bahari-yetu

Hujambo! I am currently learning Swahili and I can't for the life of me find any good media. The only courses I can find are beginning courses. If anyone has any good shows or higher level courses for learning, that would be much appreciated! :) Asante sana!

I came across this question yesterday and I need your help. You certainly know the expression Hakuna Matata, I wanna know: Is that an expression we 'the natives' commonly use when speaking or does it come from another expression (Hakuna Matatizo) ?
Thank you for your answer !

Are there Swahili words that have double vowels in the middle like (sheep, mood, road, ..) in English?

When I was searching this topic, I only found double vowels at the end of words, which made me think of this question.

Hi, so recently I picked up swahili. But I notice different learning resources use different verbs to say the same thing. I've learned that to be is kua, so for example "I am American" could be said "nina kua mmerikani". But for example duolingo says it's "mimi ni mmerikani". I know that "mimi" is used to put emphasis on the word "I", but I'm not sure why the rest is different. Are both of the sentences correct, or have I've been studying from a bad resource?

Mwenda tenzi na omo ...................... .........

Is there a word or a phrase that would represent this? I haven't been able to find anything for my class project. Asante Sana!

In this sentence 'Halafu husema eti wangependelea...' would it still make sense if 'eti' was replaced with 'kwamba'?

I was reading some formal swahili texts, and it mentioned 'puani mwake' and later mentioned 'uliwenguni kwake'. How would I know when to use either kwake, mwake, or pake?

Does anyone know of an online service that offers Swahili lessons? I have no experience and it is too late for me to try to enroll in a course through a university for the upcoming semester. I am looking to find an online tutor or teacher who I can meet with over zoom for each session.

Hamjambo,

Any one who can transcribe and translate this swahili part ? https://youtu.be/k8HJNePO310?si=Y9SrCZrpsB0CUc1r&t=123

Nimeshajaribu, lakini nimeshindwa kuelewa na kutafasiri kamili.

I was recently listening to a podcast in which the podcaster mentioned a word (kujawa? kugara?) that roughly translates to “remembering that which I already know” — I looked for hours to try to find the proper spelling and to confirm this definition, but nothing. Does anyone have any ideas?

I remember watching this movie as a kid and have wondered if the translation is correct, and how well the actor did with pronunciation.

George Of The Jungle - Speaking Swahili - YouTube

zanzibari swahili*

I am doing the language transfer course, and while it is very good in giving me a grammatical base, I am still looking for a way to learn vocab. Any recommendations?

I'm considering learning Swahili, but it doesn't seem very useful to me because I live in the US and have no connection to the language. My questions are how has Swahili benefited you and how many Swahili speakers speak English? How many speak French?

Hey guys can anyone send me swahili noun classes lessons please.

Hi learners,

What are some of your favorite conversational Swahili phrases?

Mine are swadakta! hapo sawa! umegonga ndipo! Furaha ilioje!

Hello! native speaker here, how difficult is it for you to learn Kiswahili on a scale of 1-10?? I've spoken it since I was a kid but still have problems with it. Also, Kiswahili national exams are notoriously difficult. So, how is it with you guys?

Just a curious Kenyan.

Hey! Swahili learner here. What is the correct transliteration of the Swahili word for hair please? I’ve spoken to a few people about this. Some say Nywele, others say Nwele.

Anybody here that knows which is correct?

Thanks!

Is it worth studying Swahili if I am LGBT?

I had a chance to stay in Rwanda for a month this summer, which has made me interested in East African countries in general. I enjoy studying languages as I have done French and Japanese studies at university, and I teach English as a foreign language. So, I am considering studying Swahili, and teaching English somewhere in East Africa for a year or two. However, as I am a transgender man (female to male) there's doesn't seem to be many safe countries for me. Countries like Rwanda or Mozambique which seem to be more LGBT friendly don't have a high Swahili speaking population so I'm not sure where I could go to practice Swahili. Should I give up on Swahili and travel elsewhere in the world?

Apart from a doll (mwanaserere) what is a child's toy called?

Hi, I'm trying to learn swahili and am using duolingo and also Google translate which sometimes have some issues with nuance on words but I haven't found a better alternative so I'm hoping someone here can help. From what I can tell, both nazo and navyo mean with them so for example, nitapika nazo and nitapika navyo would both mean the same thing, I will cook with them. Or am I missing something here, like does one refer to objects and another to people maybe? Once I can figure out the rules/grammar, it starts to get a little easier but I am stuck on this one.

What does "kwa" mean in Swahili? I heared that there Seems to be a different use of kwa in Kenya. I’m not sure. Thanks in regards

Hello all! I'm an English teacher in the US and I have Swahili speakers in my classes. They like to call each other "kuma boy" but they are coy about explaining its meaning. Google turns up nothing.

In short, what does it mean? They're Tanzanians, if that makes a difference. Thanks!

My Kenya friends don't understand the linguistic rule behind it, but piga "call?" gets added to a lot of phrases e.g. "piga magoti". Trying to understand how piga modifies these phrases.

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