SWAHILI • spring language workshops
Free PROMOTIONAL workshop
On Saturday, March 31st 2018, 12 noon – 1 p.m., a free PROMOTIONAL workshop is going to be held at the MAA (in Serbian language). The participants will have the opportunity to meet teachers, working method and learn first words in Swahili. The number of participants in the workshop is limited and therefore it is necessary to send an application form with the following information:
- Name and surname
- Year of birth
- Phone number and e-mail address
- Why do you want to learn Swahili? (briefly, up to 100 words)
- How did you find out for Swahili workshop at the MAA?
The application form for the workshop should be sent to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. until the March 29th (midnight), with the subject FOR SWAHILI WORKSHOP.
There is a Swahili proverb: MTU NI WATU, which means A PERSON IS PEOPLE.
By learning Swahili, different customs, temperaments and behaviours are better understood.
Swahili, or Kiswahili, belongs to the Bantu language family, a large family of languages spoken across a large area of sub-Saharan Africa. Throughout the centuries, Swahili spread through the trade among different peoples and nations. In both Tanzania and Kenya, Swahili is a national language, however it is spoken by millions more across Eastern, Central and Southern Africa: in Uganda, Burundi, Somalia, Mozambique and South Africa.
Swahili is constantly being changed by its speakers who continually develop the language by including words borrowed from other languages. Arabic, Hindi, Gujarati, Persian and, more recently, English are the most noted contributors. However, there are traces of Portuguese and German, not to mention the contributions made by local languages. In a way, Swahili is a reflection of all the connections that have, in a long historical period, been created among different peoples!
As a language, Swahili presents no serious difficulties for Serbian speakers: the language is more or less written as it is spoken and uses the same ‘continental’ vowel sound system found in Serbian. For those who are interested in learning this language for personal development, travelling or communication with business partners in Africa, Swahili is the right choice! Swahili-language workshops will enable participants to learn basic words and phrases in an engaging and interactive way.
The workshops will be guided by:
Amosi Peter Rwangarya
Born in Tanzania and he is presently MA year student of economics at the University of Belgrade. Swahili is his mother tongue, but he also speaks good English, Serbian (of course), and the local language – Zanaki. He has been teaching Swahili at the MAA since 2015.
Galina Tudyk
Long-time simultaneous, consecutive and written English language translator. Galina graduated in English Language and Literature at the Faculty of Philology in Belgrade. She lived in Nairobi, Kenya, where she encountered Swahili and where she obtained the title of master of international relations at the United States International University. She tought Swahili at the MAA from 2015 to 2017.
Marija Panić, PhD
Works as an assistant professor at the Faculty of Philology and Arts (University of Kragujevac), where she teaches French literature and culture. As a linguist she has always beens interested in Swahili and it is with great enthusiam that she started learning it in 2015 at Swahili Language Workshops at the Museum of African Arts in Belgrade. She is very interested in African arts and literature and in the mutual infleunce of African and European cultures. As a language teacher Marija has taught French, Italian and English at language courses, at grammar school, at British international school and at the faculty. She has been teaching Swahili at the MAA from 2018.
The Spring Swahili Wokshops 2018 will be guided by Amosi Peter Rwangarya and Marija Panić, PhD.
For more information about the workshop contact Ivana Vojt, the MAA curator:
e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
landline: 011/ 2651 654
Written by
Ivana Matić
Student of the Faculty of Philology in Belgrade
participant of the Swahili language workshops in 2017
Ngoma ya rangi
Ota.
Ona ushairi.
Sikiliza rangi
na sikiliza mvua.
Ona upepo
na tafuta heri.
Ota hapa.
Ota sasa.
Tabasamu leo,
tabasamu kesho,
na penda.
Penda daima
na penda zaidi.
Ota hapa.
Ota sasa.
Amka na tabasamu,
penda na tumaini.
Ona
harufu ya mvua,
harufu ya upepo,
harufu ya maisha.
