Language lessons

When I told people I was travelling to Zambia, many worried I would struggle with the language barrier. I always confidently replied that I’d be fine since English is the national language. On this account, I was both right and wrong. English is, in fact, the official language of Zambia. Like most African countries, Zambia retained the lingua franca of its colonial master (Britain in this case). However, I have had to struggle with the language barrier.

In Zambia’s 9 provinces, one will find a total of 73 tribes. The unity that’s been achieved among these tribes is a huge source of national pride. Frequently, we’re reminded that neighboring Zimbabwe only has two tribes but loads of problems. With so many tribes, there are inevitably many languages and dialects. In the schools, students all learn English and Chitonga (pronounced “tonga” with a long o and the “chi” silent). Many of the tribal languages across the country are dialects of Chitonga, including the language spoken by most in Livingstone, Chinyanja (again, the “chi” is silent so it’s pronounced nee-YUN-ja – I think it sounds sort of like “ninja”).

Chinyanja is spoken across much of Zambia and pronunciations vary from place to place. While most Chinyanja speakers can communicate across these cultural lines, an outsider like me would struggle to catch on.

The language isn’t overly complicated to learn as words are generally pronounced just the way they look. One quirk of the language is that there are two forms of most words. One is used to address peers or people younger than you; the other is used to address elders, respected figures, or groups. The simple difference is that the word for elders adds an “M” to the beginning of the word.

We had one chinyanja language lesson that helped me pick up a few words. Here are the most common phrases I use:
Mwauka bwanji - Good morning (also implies How are you?)
Bwino - the response “mwauka bwanji” meaning “fine”)
Muli bwanji (How are you) - if addressing a younger person, I’d remove the “m” to say Uli bwanji
Zikomo – Thank you
Mwachoma bwanji - Good afternoon

Here’s an example of a short chinyanja statement: Mwauka bwanji. Nili bwino. Ndine Zac. Nilina zaka 23. Nichokela ku America. Tuzaonana bwino. Translated, I said: Good morning. I’m fine. My name is Zac. I’m 23 years old. I’m from America. See you later.

Around Livingstone, the dialect of chinyanja usually drops the word endings so “bwanji” becomes “bwanj” and “zikomo” becomes “zikom”.

The local residents enjoy it immensely if muzungus attempt to speak the language and are very patient with us. They also like to practice English with us, so the cultural exchange works both ways.

Tuzaonana mailo (See you tomorrow)

Zac