PART I

INTRODUCTION TO KISWAHILI LANGUAGE

In this part we will learn about Kiswahili alphabet and pronounciaton; some greetings; times and dates; directions; numbers, counting and some arithmetic; colours; and some vocabulary related to a variety of things

Lesson 1

ALPHABET AND PRONUNCIATION

 Kiswahili is an easy language to learn, especially when it comes to pronunciation. Many Kiswahili words are pronounced the way they are written. The vowel sounds or syllables are always pronounced the same way in every Kiswahili word. Click here to get more details on pronunciation and to listen to some examples.

ALPHABET

     A    Pronounced as in Alberta
     B    Pronounced as in Black
     CH   Pronounced as in Church
     D    Pronounced as in David
     E    Pronounced as in Egg
     F    Pronounced as in Francie
     G    Pronounced as in Go
     H    Pronounced as in History
     I    Pronounced as in India
     J    Pronounced as in Jim
     K    Pronounced as in Ketchup
     L    Pronounced as in London
     M    Pronounced as in Mountain
     N    Pronounced as in Nairobi
     O    Pronounced as in Orange
     P    Pronounced as in Patrick
     R    Pronounced as in Red
     S    Pronounced as in Society
     T    Pronounced as in Teacher
     U    Pronounced as in Zulu; Rule 
     V    Pronounced as in Vancouver
     W    Pronounced as in West
     Y    Pronounced as in York
     Z    Pronounced as in Zanzibar

As you may have noted there is no Q & X in Kiswahili. Moreover, C does not stand alone. It has an H after it pronounced as in CHURCH. Additionally there are also: 

Dh as in they       (examples: Dhahabu = gold)
Gh as in            (examples: ghasia = riot;)
Kh as in            (examples: kheri = good)
Sh as in she; shave (examples: shimo = hole)
Th as in Thatcher   (examples: Thamani = value; thelathini = thirty)
Ng' as in           (examples: Ng'ombe = cow; ng'aa = shine, ng'oa =  uproot)          
ny as in            (example: nyinyi = you (plural); nyingi = more/many;)
mw as in            (example: mwalimu = teacher; mwanga = light)

VOWELS

     A    Pronounced as in Alberta
     E    Pronounced as in Egg
     I    Pronounced as in India, Ink
     O    Pronounced as in Organize, cockroach, Orange
     U    Promounced as in Zulu

Try this:


NINAJIFUNZA KISWAHILI = I AM LEARNING KISWAHILI
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© AbdulGhany Mohammed and Kassim A. Abdullah
Ottawa, Canada.
All Rights Reserved.

Comments to k_abdullah@yahoo.com

Revised by Kassim Abdullah, July 6, 2003