Language is the blood of the soul into which thoughts run, and out of which they grow. ~ Oliver Wendell Holmes
Jambo fellow bloggers.
How much Kiswahili (Swahili ) do you recognize? ( glossary below)
Before we volunteered at The Ilula Orphan Center in Ilula, Tanzania, we were given a handbook which included suggested words and phrases to practice. While visiting any country, a little local lingo rolling off the tongue becomes survival language, while other phrases are necessary to exhibit good manners and that you care enough to learn a little.
Ron & I were assigned a staff member to be our new rafiki. Morning, noon and evening she expected us to say the proper Swahili greetings for how are you this morning, how are you this afternoon and how are you this evening?
I mastered it and she beamed. Ron didn’t do so well.
Throughout our stay, Ron was called Babu and I was called Bibi. I guess the grey hair earned us that honor. We also heard ourselves called mzungu from village children as we walked into town. There weren’t many of us mzungus around.
Every evening when we bid good night to the girls, they would reply, lala salama, the two most beautiful words to hear.
Soon after we got home from this wonderful trip, we threw a lively Afican party for our friends which included drumming, singing and good food. Before long, men were wearing the kanga cloths and having their pictures taken. Of course, the evening wouldn’t really be complete without a slideshow travelogue of our pictures shown through the TV. Indeed, an enjoyable and lively evening.
At the beginning of the party, each person got a list of Swahili 101 and to this day, five years later, I still hear some of these phrases ring out in the grocery store or in an email. Jambo Lynne!!
JAMBO HELLO
KARIBU WELCOME
ASANTE SANA THANK YOU VERY MUCH
HABARI ZA ASUBUHI HOW ARE YOU THIS MORNING?
NZURI FINE
HABARI ZA MCHANA HOW ARE YOU THIS AFTERNOON?
HABARI ZA JIONI HOW ARE YOU THIS EVENING ?
NDIYO YES
HAPANA NO
HAYA OKAY
MZUNGU WHITE PERSON
MAMA MOTHER
BABA FATHER
BIBI GRANDMOTHER
BABU GRANDFATHER
KAKA BROTHER
DADA SISTER
WATOTO CHILDREN
RAFIKI FRIEND
HAKUNA MATATA “NO PROBLEM”
POLE, POLE SLOWLY, SLOWLY
KWAHERI GOODBYE
SIMBA LION
TEMBO ELEPHANT
TWIGA GIRAFFE
PUNDAMILIA ZEBRA
WALI RICE
EMBE MANGO
CHAKULA FOOD
CHOO TOILET
KUIMBA SING
PLASTIK BUCKET
LALA SALAMA SLEEP IN PEACE/GO IN PEACE
MUNGU AKI BARIKI GOD BLESS YOU
On the Go with Lynne 
My favourite phrase is “Hakuna Matata”!! Have loved the sound of it ever since I saw the Lion King, when I was just a few years old!! 🙂
I love that phrase, too. In fact,there were hakuna matata t-shirts for the tourists to buy. I didn’t get one. I loved the Lion King.
Lala Salama does sound beautiful! I’ve always wanted to learn another language.. and I love when words from other languages slip into our own and find a home there 🙂
So true. Our language is full of derivatives and cultural expressions from the world. I would love to speak a language fluently, but never took the time. There is a quote that goes something like this, “If you speak two languages, you’re bilingual, if you speak three languages you are trilingual and if you speak one language, you are an American.” Foreign countries teach English and expect their students to be proficient in it.
You have taken my experience much farther than I have dared to. I sponsor a child in a Kenyan orphanage and exchange letters with her but have never gone there.
The fact that you are sponsoring a child is wonderful, indeed. You will have an impact on her education and self-sustainability through your connection.:)
Hi Lynne,…So funny….I remember when I was a child and there were all tose old “Tarzan” films on TV…There I learned about “Simba” , “Pole pole” and “mzungu”….I think it is a wonderful and funny language, very useful in a lot of African countries…
Asante Sana for sharing it ..
Asante Sana for your comment. I forgot about the Tarzan connection. There are definitely some Swahili words that stand out.
I like ‘rafiki’ and ‘hakuna matata’!
Asante Sana, Yulia. They are fun words to say.
Lovely post, Lynne… how beautiful, lala salama
Swahili is fun…at least the easy words. But I agree, lala salama is beautiful to hear. It’s better than, good night.
good insight ..thanks for sharing it with us 🙂
Asante Sana. Thank you for stopping by.:)
MUNGU AKI BARIKI I love this post… smiled all the way and then laughed as I imagined your party at home.:-)
Yes, quite the party. Am pleased this brought a smile and a chuckle…or mirth to you. 🙂
HABARI ZA ASUBUHI, Rafiki NZURI.
HABARI ZA ASUBUHI to you too. How many pundamillas and twigas did you count in your yard today?
Kwaheri rafiki.
Between Tarzan, Phantom and the Lion King, it all seems familiar somehow 🙂 Thanks for the lesson Lynne, Lala Salama 🙂
And lala salama to you, too. 🙂
Jambo,
I always thought hakuna matata was the product of a Hollywood screenwriter’s imagination–nice to find out it’s a legitimate phrase as it’s such fun to say.
Asante sana, Rafiki Lynne, for the language lesson..
Jambo, VB.
I love your comment about hakuna matata.I found that Tanzanians over used the expression. It seems we were always in situations that required an immediate problem solver. Their reply was always, hakuna matata which in reality could take days, weeks, or seemingly, years to solve.
Survival language.
We once went on a safari in Tanzania and we all adopted Swahili animal names – I was the Hyena – Fisi – lol – thanks for conjuring up that memory! fun times!
Oh what a fun name..Fisi. You have just taught me a new one. Thanks for the visit and comment, Pam.