Is your kiswahili stuck in a rut? Here are 5 reasons why.
I’ve written about how easy it is to learn Swahili. However, every language learner hits a rut where progress slows down. That roadblock could come early in the beginning, or it could come a bit later. So, here are a few reasons why you may be stuck!
You haven’t mastered noun classes
Swahili nouns are governed by noun classes. These classes are like “genders” in European languages. However, in Swahili, there are more like 10 grammatical “genders.” Different nouns will fall into different groups; trees have their own group, people and some animals have their group, and even manmade tools and locations have their groups.
Understanding these noun classes are important because they influence the prefixes of adjectives, verbs, some numbers, demonstratives, and other parts of speech in the sentence. These are called “concords.” To kick your Swahili up to the next level, you’ve got to get the concord agreements correct.
Here is a short list of 3 of these noun classes and how they would influence other parts of speech
| subject concord | possessive concord | numeric concord | near demonstrative | far demonstrative | |
| M/Wa class example nouns: Mwalimu: teacher Wanafunzi: students | a- anasema..(he is saying..) wa-wanasubiri(they are waiting) | w- Mwalimu wa.. (teacher of..) Wanafunzi wa..(students of) | m- Mwalimu mmoja wa- Wanafunzi wawili | Mwalimu huyu Wanafunzi hawa | Mwalimu yule Wanafunzi wale |
| Ki/Vi class example nouns: Kisu: knife Visu: knives | ki- kisu kinakata.. visu vinakata.. | ch- kisu cha.. vy- visu vya.. | ki- kisu kimoja vi- visu viwili | kisu hiki visu hivi | kisu kile visu vile |
| M/Mi class example nouns: Mti: tree Miti: trees | u- mti unakua miti inakua | u- mti wa y- miti ya | m- mti mmoja mi- miti miwili | mti huu miti hii | mti ule miti ile |
You’re not familiar with relative clauses
Relative clauses are difficult in many languages. In Swahili, they are no different. This is because relative clauses also fall under the “agreement” concept we just covered. They also have their own forms depending on the class in question.
relative clauses are important because we use them all the time in English. When we say things like:
The man who went to the store
The thing (that) I told you about yesterday
This is the computer (that) I bought last year
In Swahili, there is more than one way to form these types of sentences. One way is with a referential concord
Mwanaume aliyekwenda dukani
The man who went to the store
kitu nilichokuambia jana
the thing I told you about yesterday
Mti niliouona wiki iliyopita
The tree I saw last week.
Relative clauses can get quite advanced and varied, but once you get a grip on them, your expressive power will improve.
You aren’t speaking enough
One of the strengths of Swahili is that it is easy to pick up and start speaking very quickly because the sound system is really intuitive for an English speaker. Words are pretty much pronounced like how they’re written, with only a few exceptions. With this in mind, it makes it easy to start practicing with native speakers after you get some basic vocabulary under your belt. Apps like Hellotalk and websites like Italki make it easy to find native speakers and Swahili tutors to practice with.
Speaking Swahili with real people is important because this is how you will solidify your learning quickly. It’s one thing to study a word in a book, memorize flashcards, and see the word over and over. It’s another thing to have a conversation with a native and push yourself to recall the word you just learned. The act of struggling through a conversation, recalling vocabulary, and getting real world feedback does wonders for language learning because it boosts retention massively.
You aren’t reading enough
Now this sounds so simple that it comes off as trite. But it’s true. One reason why your Swahili isn’t improving is because you haven’t exposed yourself to the written word enough. Reading helps you solidify vocabulary that you’ve learned and is a more enjoyable form of spaced repetition. A lot of language learners swear by apps like Anki and other flashcard systems, but in my opinion, two of the best forms of spaced repetition out there are.
- repeated conversations around a theme
- reading on a topic and related subjects
Rather than spend time with flashcards, you’d be better off reading content in your target language. The reason why I stress this point with Swahili and African languages in general is that you have to go out of your way to find suitable reading material in the language. African languages suffer from a content shortage and lack of support. This blog is looking to change that in the near future.
In the meantime, here are two great resources to get your going. This one is a graded reader website, which I suggest you start with if you’re a beginner. This other one is the Swahili version of Wikipedia. We will be creating our own graded readers here on this website for you to take advantage of soon.
You’re having trouble with the “e” form of verbs
If you’ve studied romance languages before, you’ll be familiar with the subjunctive aspect. This is an aspect that changes the verb forms to express a type of “mood” that the speaker may have, such as wishes and desires. Like in English, when we say things like “I hope that you’re fine” or “It’s important that you keep in mind…” these would be translated using subjunctive tenses in many Latin languages. Swahili has something similar, and this is where the “e” form of verbs comes in. This is important because you will hear native speakers use this form a LOT.
ni afadhali usome kila siku
You should study every day
naomba unipe nafasi nyingine
I want you to give me another chance
alirudi nyumbani ili ale chakula cha jioni
He returned home (in order to) eat dinner
The contexts in which you’d use the “e” form are varied, so it deserves a post of its own at a later date.
And there you have it
If you buckle down and focus on these 5 aspects of your Swahili knowledge, your use of the language will improve faster than you think!
