We have just finished our second week of Kiswahili language learning and it has flown by! Our ‘free’ time has been very full of grammatical exercises and writing stories about our family etc to read in class. Swahili continues to be fun to learn even if hard to keep up with! (We do four and a half hours of classes each day plus several hours of homework and self study.) Things do seem to be sinking in a little more than last week though.The classes have been arranged according to chosen speed of learning and we are both in the intermediate group - so far so good! Classes have included many laughs this week - we chat a lot in Kiswahili and whenever we make a statement the teacher asks ‘kwa nini?’ (why?)… so we have to keep talking -it’s great practice! We also play language games, do role-plays and interview each other.
Our favourite language learning experiences so far include… Matt asking one of the campsite workers for ‘news of his sleep’, rather than how he slept -understandably he looked puzzled! Our favourite word so far is ‘shaghalabaghala’ (disorderly)! Matt went walking in town on his own this week and had great fun making himself understood by Swinglish (Swahili/English) and mime. Also, we both went with a group to cook mandazi (Tanzanian doughnuts) in a village house. Mama Zaina let us help knead, roll out and cut the dough into triangles. We all sat round the stove as she deep fried them. Matt and I went with accomplished Swahili speakers so it was a good chance to piece together what we could of the conversation and have a go ourselves. The biggest treat was warm, fresh mandazi coated in sugar and cinnamon (not the Tanzanian way but we certainly enjoyed them like that!).
Liz has also bought some beautiful Tanzanian fabric (kitenge) and has had it made into a skirt by a local tailor. Considering this was all for about £4 the result is fairly impressive!
We continue to settle into the Tanzanian way of life! Please do write and let us know your ‘habari’ (news)!
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