Living Language
Swahili
Companion: Jabari
"The coast was always a crossroads. So are you."
The Chain
Swahili→Arabic
Completing Swahili unlocks Arabic.
What You'll Learn
12
story arcs
22,098
vocabulary entries
A1–C2
CEFR levels
Story Arcs
The Monsoon Reaches Utah
The Coast Was Always a Crossroads
Karibu Means More Than Welcome
What the Dhow Remembers
Subira Huvuta Heri
+ 7 more arcs
Wisdom from this tradition
Mtu ni watu
M-tu ni WA-tu
Literal: "A person is persons / people"
The Swahili formulation of Ubuntu — personhood is constituted through others, not in isolation.
— Swahili Ubuntu proverb
Asiyesikia la mkubwa huvunjika guu
asiyesikia la mkubwa huvunjika guu
Literal: "one-who-doesn't-hear — thing-of — elder — breaks — leg"
One who does not heed the advice of elders will break a leg. Experience-based wisdom, especially from elders, protects those who are willing to receive it.
— Swahili proverb tradition; East African oral tradition
Subira huvuta heri
subira huvuta heri
Literal: "patience — attracts — good-fortune"
Patience attracts good fortune. Those who wait with equanimity and persistence will eventually receive what they deserve.
— Swahili proverb tradition; Swahili-Islamic concept of sabr
Shauri la nyota halimpati mtu mmoja
sha-U-ri la NYO-ta ha-lim-PA-ti m-TU m-MO-ja
Literal: "The matter of stars does not concern only one person"
The cosmos and its questions belong to all humanity; no one owns the sky or its mysteries.
— Swahili proverb
Mgeni ni baraka
M-ge-ni ni ba-RA-ka
Literal: "The guest is a blessing"
Hospitality is not burden but gift — the stranger who arrives brings blessing with them.
— Swahili proverb, Islamic hospitality tradition
Start Learning Swahili
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