Swahili is Everywhere! You Just Didn’t Know It 🌍

Think you don’t know any Swahili? Think again!

If you’ve watched The Lion King, you’ve already used Swahili. The names Simba (lion), Pumbaa (carefree), and Rafiki (friend) all come from Swahili. Even Barack Obama once greeted a crowd with "Habari zenu!" meaning “How are you (all)!”

Swahili is the most widely spoken African language, with over 200 million speakers across East and Central Africa. But here’s the fun part:

Where Have You Seen Swahili?

📺 Movies & TV – Hollywood loves Swahili! From The Lion King to Black Panther, Swahili phrases sneak into big productions.
🎵 Music – Artists like Beyoncé, Shakira, and Burna Boy have all referenced Swahili words in their songs.
🌍 International Diplomacy – Swahili is an official language of the African Union and is increasingly used by international organizations.

Swahili is even celebrated once a year globally, which other language can brag like that huh? 😉 It's the 7th of July every year!!!!

So next time someone asks, “Why learn Swahili?” just remind them—it’s already everywhere! 😉

About the Newsletter and Lugha Swahili School

Thank you for subscribing to the Lugha Swahili School Network, where you would have received your FIRST FREE LESSON VIDEO AND SLIDE. We will be sending you bi-weekly newsletters, to update you on announcements of new blogs, materials, webinars and meetups.

Lugha Swahili School is a UK-based online platform that offers Tanzanian Kiswahili lessons from Beginners to Intermediate level. The school offers students a flexible way of learning Kiswahili, through our (a) well-designed self-paced online course and/or (b) virtual Kiswahili classes with native Tanzanian, English-speaking tutors, and/or © self-learning student workbook with free audio.