Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Swahili Made Easy: A Beginner's Complete Course
    Swahili Made Easy: A Beginner's Complete Course
    Swahili Made Easy: A Beginner's Complete Course
    Ebook148 pages2 hours

    Swahili Made Easy: A Beginner's Complete Course

    By J.F. Safari

    4/5

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    This handy book is a beginner s complete course in the Swahili language, designed especially for foreigners. The book is a result of the author s many years of teaching experience. It is divided into two parts: part one covers pronunciation; Swahili greetings and manners; classification of nouns; adjectives, verbs, adverbs, etc. in twenty-eight lessons and thirty-six exercises. part two includes a study of Swahili usage in specific situations (e.g. at home, in the market, on the road, at the airport, etc.); eleven further lessons and thirteen exercises; the key to the exercises in Parts One and Two; and a Swahili-English vocabulary of words used in the book.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMkuki Na Nyota Publishers
    Release dateSep 5, 2012
    ISBN9789987081646
    Swahili Made Easy: A Beginner's Complete Course

    Related to Swahili Made Easy

    Related ebooks

    Foreign Language Studies For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Your HOME Language

      May 19, 2022

      Your HOME Language
      4 min read

    • Article

      Call & response

      Sep 15, 2021

      Call & response
      2 min read

    • Article

      Word Play

      Apr 2, 2022

      Word Play
      6 min read

    • Article

      Finding One’s Tongue

      May 23, 2022

      Finding One’s Tongue
      3 min read

    • Article

      Te Reo O Tēnei Whenua

      Sep 11, 2023

      Te Reo O Tēnei Whenua
      2 min read

    • Article

      Which Language?

      Jan 31, 2022

      Which Language?
      3 min read

    • Article

      The Language Of This Land

      Sep 11, 2023

      Oh, the Māori language, you that sparks life on your week, a week where you are flocked to by the multitude. Many a proverb will be spoken in your name, and likewise you will swell with pride and admiration. Nevertheless, come week’s end, what will t

      2 min read

    • Article

      Nicole Patton-terry

      Oct 1, 2020

      Nicole Patton-terry
      5 min read

    • Article

      86 And Still Teaching With A Passion

      Dec 19, 2020

      Ivy Cele may be 86 years old, but age has not slowed her down in any way. the Clermont author and academic was a guest at the recent durban Book Fair with her beginner’s language book Isizulu: Khuluma Isizulu Nesingisi, Speak Isizulu and English, whi

      2 min read

    • Article

      Develop African Languages, Capture The Underlying Culture, And Preserve Digitally

      Apr 1, 2021

      IN HIS BOOK, Decolonising the Mind, Ngŭgĭ wa Thiong’o writes about the politics of language in African literature. Ngŭgĭ observes that languages serve as carriers of cultures and for communication. He also observes that languages such as English and

      3 min read

    • Article

      Filling The Language Gap

      Apr 8, 2021

      Language communication can be difficult between different countries. There are differences in cultures, attitudes, beliefs, local phrases and customs. Understanding a country’s history is also important to develop good communication skills. All of th

      2 min read

    • Article

      South Africa Has 11 Official Languages. Why The Fuss Over Learning Mandarin?

      May 29, 2019

      Mandarin Chinese is the world’s most widely spoken language, and South Africa’s government wants more students to speak it. Not everyone agrees.

      4 min read

    • Article

      How To Talk Proper

      Mar 9, 2022

      How To Talk Proper
      3 min read

    • Article

      Translation as a Condition of Life: The Millions Interviews Aron Aji

      Sep 19, 2019

      One’s proficiency in a language has little to do with one’s birthplace. Proficiency requires training, study, and practice. The post Translation as a Condition of Life: The Millions Interviews Aron Aji appeared first on The Millions.

      17 min read

    • Article

      Connecting Through Language

      Oct 31, 2022

      Connecting Through Language
      2 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Swahili Made Easy

    4/5

    3 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      Swahili Made Easy - J.F. Safari

      Swahili Made Easy

      A BEGINNER’S COMPLETE COURSE

      Swahili Made Easy

      A BEGINNER’S COMPLETE COURSE

      J.F. Safari

      KIMECHAPISHWA NA

      Mkuki Na Nyota Publishers Ltd

      Nyerere Road, Quality Plaza Building

      P. O. BOX. 4246, Dar es Salaam

      publish@mkukinanyota.com

      www.mkukinanyota.com

      © Dr. J.F. Safari, 2012

      First Published by Tanzania Publishing House.

      1972, 1987, 1992, 1996, 2002, 2005

      ISBN 978-9987-08-179-0

      All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise except for short quotes properly made for academic and professional references, without the prior permission of the Mkuki na Nyota Pulishers.

      CONTENTS

      Dibaji

      Introduction

      PART ONE

      Lessons

      1. The Swahili Pronunciation

      2. Swahili Greetings And Manners

      3. The Classification of Swahili Nouns

      4. The Swahili Adjective

      5. The MI - MI Class

      6. The KI-VI Class

      7. The N Class

      8. The MA Class

      9. The U Class

      10. The PA and KU Classes

      11. Swahili Numbers

      12. Comparison

      13. The Swahili Verbs

      14. KUWA, Kuwa Na, Kuwako

      15. Who? Whose? Which? What?

      16. More About Personal Pronouns

      17. The Swahili Negative Forms

      18. Orders And Wishes

      19. Demonstratives: This And That

      20. Possessive Adjective

      21. The Conditional Tenses

      22. The Passive Voice

      23. 1. The -EKA and LKA Tenses

      2. Swahili Auxiliary Verbs

      24. The Impersonal and The Reciprocal Forms of Verbs

      25. The Relatives

      26. Swahili Adverbs and Prepositions

      27. How to Tell time in Swahili

      28. Nominal Prefixes

      PART TWO

      Lessons

      29. Tatu na Watoto Wake Nyumbani

      30. Tatu Aenda Sokoni

      31. Dukani

      32. Barabarani

      33. Tatu Baharini

      34. Tatu Serengeti

      35. Bars and Restaurants

      36. Kiwanja cha Ndege

      37. Kazini

      38. Shule Yetu

      39. Conversation

      40. Siasa ya Tanzania

      41. Tatu Aenda Posta

      KEY TO EXERCISES

      1. Part One

      2. Part Two

      VOCABULARY

      1. Swahili-English

      2. English-Swahili

      3. Swahili-Nouns

      DIBAJI

      Kiswahili ni lugha ya Afrika Mashariki. Maendeleo ya lugha hii yamekuwa makubwa sana hata kuifanya iwe mojawapo ya lugha maarufu duniani. Licha ya kuwa lugha ya wananchi wa Afrika Mashariki, Kiswahili kinazungumzwa pia katika sehemu kadha za Afrika ya Kati.

      Katika sehemu mbalimbali za ulimwengu, watu wengi wameingiwa na msisimko wa kujifunza lugha hii maarufu ya Afrika.

      Kwa sababu hii Waswahili wenye uwezo wa kusaidia ufundishaji na ustawishaji wa Kiswahili nje ya eneo lao wanao wajibu mkubwa wa kutoa msaada huo.

      Mmojawapo wa misaada muhimu itakiwayo sasa ni vitabu vya Kiswahili vya kuwasaidia wageni wapendao kujifunza lugha hii.

      Ingawa viko vitabu vichache vilivyoandikwa kuhusu somo hili, ukweli ni kwamba vingi kati ya hivyo havitoshelezi wala kukidhi haja ya hivi sasa.

      Kitabu hiki kilichoandikwa na Dr. Safari ni matokeo ya utafiti na majaribio ya muda mrefu. Majaribio ya kitabu hiki aliyafanya na vikundi mbalimbali vya wageni aliokuwa anawafundisha Kiswahili. Majaribio haya ameyafanya na vikundi vya Wajerumani wakati alipokuwa Ujerumani na wageni kutoka nchi zingine waliokuja kuitumikia Tanzania. Kutokana na utafiti na majaribio yake naweza kusema kuwa kitabu hiki kimetungwa kwa kufuata misingi ya utaalamu wa lugha.

      Ingawa majaribio mengi yamefanywa kwa kutumia vikundi vya wageni, hii haina maana kuwa watu wengine hawawezi kufaidika na yaliyomo katika kitabu hiki. Ni matumaini yangu kuwa hata Watanzania na Waafrika wengine wenye ari ya kujifunza Kiswahili watanufaika na kazi hii.

      Mwisho, natoa pongezi kwa mwandishi kwa juhudi yake hii na namwombea heri na ufanisi zaidi katika ujenzi, ustawishaji na uenezaji wa lugha hii ya Kiswahili.

      G.A. Mhina

      Aliyekuwa Mkurugenzi wa

      Taasisi ya Uchunguzi wa Kiswahili

      Chuo Kikuu cha Dar Es Salaam

      INTRODUCTION

      Africa has more languages than any other continent. Swahili is one of these languages. It belongs to a group called Bantu. One of the characteristics of the Bantu languages is lack of articles and gender (masculine, feminine, neuter). The nouns in these tongues are grouped into classes by means of their nominal prefixes, e.g. m, wa, ki, and vi, as will become clearer in the course of this study.

      The name Swahili is derived from the Arabic word sawahel, which means coasts. Swahili is therefore the language of the people of the coast of East Africa. Although it contains a number of loan words, mostly from Arabic, Swahili is essentially an African language. In the nineteenth century, Bishop Steere of Zanzibar regarded Swahili as a key to the understanding of the culture of East Africa.

      His remark was very much to the point, for by learning Swahili one learns at the same time the cultural values of the Swahili-speaking people.

      Until now most of the books that are used by adult foreign students of Swahili were written in Europe or America by non-Swahili-speakers. Valuable as these books may be, they tend to be professional and too detailed, so much so that they discourage new learners. The author became aware of this fact when he was teaching Swahili for Beginners in the then West Germany ( 1970 - 73) and in Tanzania (1974 - to date).

      This book is, therefore, a result of many years of teaching experience. The author has, with the help of his students (from all walks of life, and from different countries) written this book to meet a real need, the need of a foreign student who is coming in contact with Swahili for the first time.

      While avoiding unnecessary details and linguistic technicalities, the book covers all the essential parts of speech of the Swahili language. The exercises have been carefully prepared and tested in class with various groups of students. They are designed to help the students learn correct Swahili by easy and rapid stages.

      The book is in two parts. The first part consists of progressive lessons with test exercises. The second part is in form of a story about everyday events in the life of a Swahili family. At the end of each lesson there are comprehension and conversation exercises. It is taken for granted that the student is well prepared to follow Swahili as it is spoken. A certain amount of vocabulary is given at the beginning of each lesson. This, however, is not meant by any means, to be exhaustive. In case one does not understand the meaning of a word used in the text, reference should be made to the vocabulary and the translation provided at the end of the book. Useful phrases are another feature of the second part. They are provided for reference, and should be studied leisurely.

      Nouns and verbs are listed in the appendix. The nouns are arranged according to their nominal prefixes, and the verbs are listed alphabetically by their stem forms. It is the sincere hope of the author and all those who helped him in this task that enough guidelines and exercises have been given to enable foreign students not only to acquire knowledge of written Swahili but also to develop a habit of speaking it fluently. Remember: "Practice

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1