This semester I am again studying in the Swahili department at St John’s University where we work. All the lectures are in Swahili so it’s a brilliant exercise for me in listening comprehension, which is appropriate because this time I’m doing a third year course ‘Theory and Traditions of Oral […]
Here’s my impressive contextualised skill: I have learnt to carry things on my head. I am also a complete convert to it. What is heavy in my hands is light on my head. It’s not that hard to do, especially once you work out some of the tricks to it. […]
I feel like my Swahili is growing in leaps and bounds since I started my literature class at uni. One of my hopes with the class was that I would grow in my listening comprehension and this is definitely happening. I am picking up and understanding more of what is […]
We picked up a couple of books of Swahili proverbs a while back and I’ve been using them for a language exercise. Each proverb is stated, with a short explanation of it in Swahili and then some comments about how it is used. Some of them are very telling about […]
There is no ‘standard English’. Australian English is different from British English is different from Indian English. Tanzanian English has its own idiosyncrasies as well and here I offer some that strike me as funny. I hope these are offered in celebration of a unique culture rather than making fun. […]
Red Twin is temporarily back in Australia after 18 months in Central Asia. She was asked to give a talk about what the first year serving cross-culturally is like. She asked for contributions from us as well as other friends who are in Europe, South Asia and other parts of […]
Recently I blogged on how language is about rhythm and flow, not just words and grammar. Another aspect of language learning, and one which seems so distant at the moment, is expression and nuance. When someone raises their voice, are they angry or excited? Sometimes it’s hard to tell. We […]
Meet Jesus at uni 