33. Speaking Swahili, Kikuyu & Sheng

Thank you for joining me for this episode of Speaking Tongues- the podcast in conversation with multilinguals. This episode we are talking with Wairimu, creator of Mwalimu Wairimu about Swahili, Kikuyu and Sheng.

Friends, I loved having this conversation and in fact we talked for over two hours and I still didn’t get to talk about all of the things that were looming in my mind -- but more on that later. Wairimu tells us about growing up and being encouraged by teachers to speak English in school instead of her native Kikuyu. We talk about her journey to learning Swahili from time spent both in and away from Nairobi and we even get into the origins of the Swahili language through the island of Zanzibar and the spread of the language through east African nations. Other topics include: Costal Swahili vs. Nairobi Swahili, a reading in Kikuyu and the one big misconception that some people have about the Swahili language.

And because you’re all long time listeners, you know that I usually like to step into the shoes of a first time learner to practice some phrases that I’m unfamiliar with. This time, my attempt does not disappoint and we practice it slowly enough for you all to follow along.

Now, as I said, this conversation was originally over two hours and I didn’t have a chance to include everything we discussed. So, if you head on over to my blog at speakingtonguespodcast.com, you will find Wairimu’s answers to a few questions we missed in the recording of this episode. As always, if you are listening with Apple podcasts, please don’t forget to hit subscribe and to  rate and review the episode so that other language lovers like ourselves can find the show. Ok, let’s chat!

To find Wairimu:

Instagram: @mwalimuwairimu

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLay6TfE2Fn2iHzmBXLR10kY6_o7UAb-bK

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/weatherish101 

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0cpmtSz77n5SiXRk5PPjAr 

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