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Outside this Website:

1. Join the Online Discussion Group "learnSwahili" on Yahoo.

You are welcome to join if you are interested to talk to others that are either also learning the language, or native speakers, willing to help you with your questions. The site is brand new and be patient for new members to join.

Be curious, surf around to acquaint yourself with the reach of the development.

2. Broaden your horizon

Under the link GENERAL > LANGUAGE LINKS, you will find access to other resources that will be helpful.

 

Inside this Website

Step 1 – Do the Pronunciation

If you are a complete beginner, focus on pronunciation for at least a week -- that is if you spend about 15 minutes here per day. Systematically go through the SPECIFIC FOCUS, and concurrently listen to stories and fables etc. and see how well you do on your pronunciation. Be patient and pay attention to details. Doing so now will build a solid basis that will really pay off. Focus on mastery of each SPECIFIC FOCUS lesson in Pronunciation. Build your inner voice till you can trust your own judgment well. Then move on to the other sections.

It is of great value to be able to pronounce, even if you were not going to master the language. In and of itself, it is a worthwhile activity. Go over the pronunciation nodes more than once. Initially listen intently. Do not immediately jump to production. Sometimes being overly eager might cause you to ingrain incorrect pronunciation if it is built upon a premature perception of the sound. Guess what, perceptions are often shaky at the outset, and if you listen more in the beginning, you form a solid and accurate perception.

Once you have gone through the whole pronunciation unit at least twice, it is time to try your new skills with a native speaker. Take some original text to a native speaker and read to them. They will give you praise (hopefully) and point out some issues you need to work on some more. You can also possibly use Skype to talk to others via the Internet.

Step 2 – Vocabulary

The grammar follows a sequential progression. Do it one lesson at a time, and review old materials before you move on. Reviewing is vital – build it into your schedule. Some vocabulary lists tie directly to grammar lessons (e.g. Question words and the lesson of making questions). With these two domains in particular, the software will be of great use.

The vocabulary section will eventually be divided in a beginner and advanced section.

Step 3 – Grammar

The grammar section if vital of course. These materials are not yet developed, and in time will be added to the Web site.

Step 4 – The Contextuary

After the Vocabulary and Grammar sections, the Contextuary will become a useful domain. Here you will engage in divergent activities to test your perceptions. Activities here include skills in conversation, writing, and listening. It contains words t hat English speakers often confuse. It also contains idioms, and sayings. Here will be a focus on communicative competencies.

Step 5 -- Culture

You can read the culture section any time. As you become more familiar with the language, you will want to ask questions, try out your language, and learn about the speakers, etc. When we come to this stage, we will seek for innovative opportunities to make this happen.

(If you find any errors, please click on the FEEDBACK link at the bottom of the screen to send me a message. Please copy the page's URL before clicking on the link and paste the URL in the message, and explain what is not working well.)

For Co-developers: File Format Tutorial

Please take a close look at the examples below. Shown on the left is the format of the files that you will get (text file), and to the right is the file format that I hope to get from you.
When you start, this is what you will get
<TITLE"GroupName">ListName(TranslatorName)
! for a comment, start the line with an exclamation
_ • white
_ • yellow
_ • orange
_ • bright orange
_ • red
_ • green
_ • blue
_ • purple
_ • light gray
_ • dark gray
_ • brown
_ • black
^		.When you are done, it should look like this
<TITLE"The Basics">Color(Alwiya)
!start comment with exclamation
rangi nyeupe • white
rangi ya manjano • yellow (color of tumerick)
rangi ya udongo • orange (color of earth)
rangi ya machungwa • orange (color of oranges)
rangi nyekundu • red
rangi ya kijani • green - (color of leaves)
rangi ya buluu • blue
rangi ya samawati • blue (color of the sky)
rangi ya zambarau • purple - (color of grape-like fruit)
rangi ya kijivu • gray - (color of ashes)
rangi ya kahawia • brown - (color of coffee)
rangi nyeusi • black
^

COMMENTS and NOTES

The title line for each lists looks like this example
<TITLE"The Basics">Color(Alwiya)

Here "The Basics" is the group name, and Color is the list name and translator name is Alwiya.

Each item in the list has:
i) an underscore " _ " to the left -- you will replace this underscore with the target language term or phrase.
ii) a bullet to separate the two lists
iii) the English to the right of the bullet

Each list must end with an " ^ " on the last line.

Please edit the list with a text editor like Notepad (comes with Windows), or much better, download the free editor called Notepad++ from
http://notepad-plus.sourceforge.net/uk/site.htm

 Not all lists can simply be "translated" since there is a specific context to your language situation. Consider that carefully and make sure the list reflects that. For example in US English you say "You are welcome" and in British English you say "It's a pleasure". Make sure that your language expression is reflected here and not the English.