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Why do so many people learn Swahili? | ||
Tags: Lingua franca | Swahili | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| Lucky Charms Diglot Senior Member Japan lapacifica.net Joined 6950 days ago 752 posts - 1711 votes  Speaks: English*, Japanese Studies: German, Spanish | Message 9 of 12 02 April 2012 at 11:14am | IP Logged | ||
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Not only is Swahili a lingua franca in East Africa and thought by many people to sound
beautiful (ProfA has said he considers it the most beautiful spoken language he's studied), but it also has a reputation for not being too difficult for speakers of European languages. It's written with an alphabet, has a simple phonology, and is absent of more exotic features like tones which might scare some learners off of other African languages like Hausa or Xhosa. It seems to me to be the most obvious "go-to" language for Western polyglots who are interested in studying an indigenous language of sub-Saharan Africa. I think the biggest reason not to learn Swahili might be that the Swahili-speaking countries also tend to be Anglophone countries. There are a few discussions on this forum about the future of Swahili and English in these countries which I found very interesting. Edited by Lucky Charms on 04 April 2012 at 9:48am 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Gallo1801 Diglot Senior Member Spain Joined 4903 days ago 164 posts - 248 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: Arabic (Written), Croatian, German, French | Message 10 of 12 12 April 2012 at 7:40pm | IP Logged | ||
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I think it sounds like the French of Africa. aka sexy. as. hell.
On the topic of being so wide spread, the best Swahili is supposed to be spoken in Zanzibar, which would make sense why it would be the language for everyone else to know. I would equate Swahili on various levels with Tagalog, Bahasa Indonesia/Malaysia, or Mandarin Chinese. In our modern nation-state mentality, these particular tongues function as unifying forces. And compare the difficulty or mejor dicho the accessibilty of Swahili to Yoruba, Arabic, Xhosa, Zulu, or Amharic and it's clear why most people are drawn to it as their first language from the African continent. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| COF Senior Member United States Joined 5832 days ago 262 posts - 354 votes Speaks: English* | Message 11 of 12 12 April 2012 at 8:34pm | IP Logged | ||
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Learning Swahili is pretty pointless from any practical point of view. Swahili in East Africa tends to be the "educated persons" language, and consequently anyone who is proficient in Swahili is probably also proficient in English as well.
However, an uneducated person who doesn't speak English probably wouldn't speak Swahili either, or at least not very well and in rural areas particularly would only speak their own local tribal language. In conclusion, for the most part you will find anyone who is fluent in Swahili is probably proficient in English as well and will probably want to practice their English, making it not that useful for an English speaker. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| strikingstar Bilingual Tetraglot Senior Member United States Joined 5174 days ago 292 posts - 444 votes Speaks: English*, Mandarin*, Cantonese, Swahili Studies: Spanish, Arabic (Written) | Message 12 of 12 13 April 2012 at 12:03pm | IP Logged | ||
Welcome to the forum. Karibu sana. Kiswahili ni lugha nzuri kwa kweli. Purely anecdotal on my part, but I stepped into Uganda for the first time ever yesterday. And even though I was at a border town, it seemed like many people didn't understand when I spoke to them in Swahili. At the immigration office, a lady (with a Ug passport) who was standing next to me was having her fingerprints scanned but she didn't know how to do it properly. I said "chini" (move your hand lower) but she stared at me blankly. I said "lower" and she smiled and moved her hand lower. Same thing with the immigration officer. When I asked him if my paperwork had been processed yet - "Bado iko tayari?", he said "What?". When I asked him if it was ready, he said to wait a little longer. Of course I can't form any conclusions based on that (unbecoming of someone working on RCTs) but it felt really strange to be in East Africa and not be understood when speaking Swahili. Maybe I'll pop back into Ug again today. I feel like an East African cos I don't need a visa to enter Tz, Ug or Kenya and I don't have to pay the crazy mzungu rates to enter Kenyan national parks. Swahili music is great. I cannot recommend Mbaraka Mwinshehe enough. The shows though, leave a little to be desired. So far, everything I've seen involves witches and witch doctors. PS: If anyone's interested, this is an awesome Kenyan song. They play it all the time in the clubs. Kigeugeu means traitor/turncoat. Kigeugeu And another Ug song I like. Valu Valu Edited by strikingstar on 14 April 2012 at 5:57pm 3 persons have voted this message useful |
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