Apparently there are between 1,000-3,000 languages spoken on the continent.
So there’s no point kidding ourselves we’re going to be able to chat to people we meet in their regional language but it would be good to try a few words.
We’ve started collecting a few key or interesting words in the most commonly spoken languages; Arabic, Ashanti, Hausa, Igbo, Swahili, Yoruba, Zulu etc.
A couple of interesting/useful words:
- Asante- thank you (Swahili & Ashanti)
- Bhundu – countryside (Swahili)
- Chukwu – Supreme God (Igbo)
- Jambo – hello (Swahili)
- Kofi – born on a Friday (Akan)
- Mayai – eggs (Swahili)
- Memeza- shout (Zulu)
- Mi sunaka/i? – what’s your name (Hausa)
- Mugu – big fool (Nigerian pidgin)
- Rotimi- stay with me (Yoruba)
- Shukran – thank you (Arabic)
- Ubuntu – humanity (Zulu)
- Uhuru – freedom (Swahili)
We’re also brushing up our French as that is widely spoken in West Africa, thanks to colonialism.
Due South 