Why do you need to Learn Swahili before traveling to Africa? 🌍

The Swahili language is one of the most popular and widespread languages in Africa. Swahili language has been spoken in various countries in Africa, including Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, DRC, Rwanda and some parts of Central and South Africa. In terms of its grammar and vocabulary, Swahili is characteristically Bantu. 📺Swahili is aired in radio broadcasts such as the British Broadcast Corporation (BBC Swahili), Voice of America, and Deutsche Welle.

Lugha Swahili School has put together a list of four great reasons to learn Swahili Language.

1. Experience East African Culture in a Unique Way🧑‍🔧

Swahili language has become an important part when describing East African cultures. From music to business, it has been widely used to spread local culture to visitors and tourists who come to this area. This language has also become an important pillar of friendship between foreigners and natives of East Africa. If you want to enjoy and learn African culture in its entirety, then learning the Swahili language is an important starting point.

2. Swahili Has A Diverse History and Culture 🕌⛪

The Swahili language is an African Bantu language. While the Arabic language largely inspires it, it also borrows many words from other languages including English, German, and Portuguese. The Swahili language originated on the East African coast due to a rich and diverse history of trading and cultural exchange between Arabs, coastal Africans, and Europeans.

3. Swahili is Africa's most widely spoken language📚

An estimated 90 million individuals in Africa alone speak Swahili. It is the most common African language. Tanzania, Uganda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Kenya all speak the Swahili language as their official language. In East and Southeast Africa, it serves as the "lingua franca." Swahili language has been used to unite hundreds of tribes across Africa. It is a language that many Africans will use to communicate if they don’t share the same native language. 

5. Swahili is Easy!😉

Among African languages, Swahili is said to be the easiest for English speakers to learn. The language has no lexical tone, just like English, unlike most sub-Saharan African languages. It's also much easier to read as you read out Swahili words just the way they are written.

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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.