Olivia and I have been learning Swahili for the past few weeks and I’ve really been enjoying it. It’s a fun language to learn and speak and it has an interesting story. So I thought I’d give a glimpse into what the experience has been like for me.
But first some history and a language lesson.
Swahili is the official language of Tanzania but is spoken throughout eastern Africa (also called the African Great Lakes Region) including in Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Mozambique, and Democratic Republic of Congo. While relatively few people speak it as their first language, perhaps as many as 100 million speak it as their second, meaning it has become the lingua franca (i.e. bridge or common language) in the region.
It is derived from Bantu and dates back hundreds of years to when traders plied the coasts of present-day Tanzania and Kenya. The word Swahili was in fact used by early Arab traders and means “the coast.” It has significant Arabic influences but also that of several other languages, including German, English, Hindustani, French, and Portuguese. It is primarily written using Latin script but can also be written using a modified Arabic alphabet (which we are most definitely not learning).1
Because it was a trading language, I was told it is “simple” and would be “easy to learn”. While I don’t find learning any language simple or easy, to a large extent I’ve found Swahili to be easier than I thought. Pronunciation is extremely consistent and phonetic. Verb stems don’t change based on the subject prefix or tense the way English and Spanish do. And while I have trouble hearing the language, I’m surprised how much we’ve learned in just a few short weeks of moderately intense study. Here’s a quick preview of how the language works.
Let’s break down the phrase “I like Swahili”.
Start with “ni” (I), next add “na” (present tense marker), then “furahi” (the verb to like) and lastly Kiswahili (Swahili). This then becomes “ninafurahi Kiswahili”. Pronounced “Nee-nah-fur-ah-hee Kee-swahili”.
In your case you might want to say “I will like Swahili” (future tense) because presumably you don’t know Swahili yet. Simply exchange the “na” (present tense marker) for “ta” (future tense marker) and you are done. “Nitafurahi Kiswahili”.
If you want to say “You like Kiswahili” simply exchange the “ni” (I) for “u” (you, second person singular subject prefix) and we have “Unafurahi Kiswahili”.
Hopefully you can get a sense how intuitively the language is constructed. There are of course exceptions and the parts of language we take for granted when speaking our native language still exist (subjunctive, imperative, passive, causative, etc), but in general Swahili has a simplicity that is refreshing.
We will spend another 2 weeks learning Swahili, spending on average half of every day with our Language and Cultural Facilitators in small groups of 3 or 4. We learn mostly by speaking but have dictionaries, a textbook2, workbook, and medical Swahili reference as well. We take trips to town to practice with vendors and will have a 3 day homestay next weekend where I imagine we’ll be speaking primarily Swahili (or trying to). And of course there are lots of flash cards.3
As for what will be expected of us on the language front, I’m not sure we’ll speak much Swahili in our workplace. By the time students reach university they are (supposed to be) learning exclusively in English. However, English isn’t taught in secondary school, so many of the students don’t speak it fluently. But the expectation is they ought be taught in English, which is what we’ll do. It will be a different story when we are around town, with patients, and traveling the country. I’m looking forward to the adventure.
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1A bit more history for those so inclined: An important aspect of Swahili is its place in regional and Tanzanian history. Dating back to the late 19th century colonial settlers recognized the widespread use of Swahili and designated it as the official administrative language. Perhaps more importantly, when Tanzania achieved its independence in the early 1960s, the first head of state Julius Nyerere made a concerted effort to promote Swahili as the national language in connection with his Ujamaa socialist policies. This had the effect of creating a shared language — and identity — among the dozens of tribes of Tanzania. Many believe the peaceful history of Tanzania is largely owed to this effort.
2This textbook was last updated in 1985 but it is awesome. One gets the sense that after reading and implementing its 200+ pages, you’d have a fairly decent grasp of the language. We’ll see if I make it that far.
3Random fact: Disney’s The Lion King features several Swahili words, including as some of the character names. ie. Simba = lion; Rafiki = friend; Hakuna matata = no troubles/problems; pumbaa = to be foolish
