Learn Swahili

When going on holiday to a foreign country, it is always useful and good custom to learn some basics words in the native tongue. Using greetings and polite gestures such as please and thank you really can help you get that little bit more out of your experience by interacting with locals.

The main language spoken in Kenya and Tanzania is Swahili. It originates from a mixture of other languages such as English, Portuguese, German, French and Persian, but is mainly based around Arabic.

Learning some basic Swahili phrases is not a hard thing to do, and you will definitely see the benefit of it whilst in Kenya or Tanzania, so let’s learn a bit of Swahili!

Greetings and replies:
Jambo – Hello
Habari/Mambo – How are you
Nzuri/Poa – Good
Lala Salama – Goodnight

Polite gestures:
Tafadhali – Please
Asante – Thank you
Pole – Sorry
Samahani – Excuse me

People:
Rafiki – Friend (An easy one to remember if you have watched The Lion King!)
Kaka – Brother
Dada – Sister

Safari wildlife:
Kiboko – Hippo
Ndovu/Tembo – Elephant
Simba – Lion (An even easier one to remember if you are a Lion King fan!)
Kifaru – Rhino
Punda milia – Zebra
Kuru – Waterbuck
Chui – Leopard

Common replies:
Ndiyo – Yes
Hapana – No
Sawa – Ok

And last but not least, the word SAFARI is actually a Swahili word, which translates to JOURNEY!

Want to practice some of your basic Swahili? Try learning the lyrics to the verse of Jambo Bwana, a famous East African song, by watching the video below: