Question: How many people speak Swahili?

There are about forty million speakers, the majoity of whom speak Swahili as a second language. There are around 5 million speakers who speak it as their mother tongue or first language.

Question: Where is Swahili spoken?

Swahili is the national language of Tanzania and Kenya. It is also widely spoken throughout East Africa and the Congo and is used as a second language by many people.

Question: Does Swahili use the Roman alphabet?

Yes.

Question: Is it easy to pronounce Swahili from a phrase book?

It is easier to pronounce Swahili (approximately) than many other languages because : Consonants have a similar sound to English consonants. Vowel sounds resemble more closely continental vowels and pronunciation is phonetic.

To get a feel for the pronunciation of Swahili (or any other language) you have to listen to it. Download a free trial  of Linguata Swahili to hear a native speaker.

Question: How long will it take me to learn Swahili?

The FSI (Foreign Service Institute) has compiled times needed to reach a reasonable degree of fluency for different languages when learning in a structured and directed environment. The times range from 24-88 weeks with Swahili needing 36 weeks.

Question: How hard is it to learn Swahili?

It is harder to learn Swahili than it is to learn a language with closer links to English (Spanish, French and so on), but easier than Chinese or Arabic.

Question: How can I start to learn Swahili?

Linguata Swahili is  language software designed to teach Swahili words and phrases fast to people without much time, but who need to learn some of the language.

Swahili Language FAQ. Questions and Answers on the Swahili Language

Download a free trial of our Swahili language software