Sunday, January 25, 2009

Learn Kinyarwanda

Muraho - Bonjour - Hello
Mwara mutse - Bonjour - Good morning
Wiri We - Bon soir - Good afternoon/evening
Ama kuru? - Ça va? - How are you?
Ni meza - Ça va bien - I'm fine
Na we? - Et toi? - And you?
Yego - Oui - Yes
Oya - Non - No

Ni toi - Je m'appelle - My name is
Witwandé? - Comment t'appelles-tu? - What is your name?
Ntuye i - J'habite à - I live in
Nvuye i - Je suis de - I come from
Nguye i - Je vais à - I'm going to
Ndakora ku ishori Maranyundo y'abakobwa, ku Nyamata - Je travaille à l'école Maranyundo, un collège pour les filles, à Nyamata - I work at the Maranyundo School for Girls in Nyamata
Uri umunyeshuri? - Tu es étudiant(e)? - Are you a student?

Ndashaka kwiga ikinyarwanda – Je veux apprendre le Kinyarwanda – I want to learn Kinyarwanda
Ndagerageza – J’essaie – I try
Uti iki? – Que dis-tu? – What did you say?
Simbyumva – Je ne comprends pas cela – I don’t understand that

Ugye he he? - Où vas-tu? - Where are you going?
Tu geende! - On y va! - Let's go!
Komeza - Tout droit - Keep going straight

Nikunda cyane – Je l’aime bien – I like this very much
Sangahe? - Ça coute combien? - How much does this cost?
Murakoze (cyane) - Merci (beaucoup) - Thank you (very much)
Naki bazo (Kiny) - Hakuna matata (Swahili) - Aucun problème - No worries

7 comments:

  1. I think the best thing about this post is I learned that Hakuna matata is an actual phrase. It gives a whole new meaning to the song!

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    1. why should it give a new meaning to the sound because in it they say "it means no worries..." lol

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  2. Wow you are picking things up fast! I don't even know all of that in Chinese.

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  3. I am excited to see that you posted about the language. Very interesting and looks like you are learning very quickly(of course!)

    And now I have an alternate phrase for hakuna matata. :)

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  4. Oh gosh am dying to have someone teach me kinyarwanda

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  5. Hi. I was born in Rwanda (umunyarwanda mother +swiss father), spoke kinyarwanda obviously. was brought up in switzerland. only just moved back to rwanda (retired) and simply CANNOT learn kinyarwanda again... it's not so much the words but the "accent", "pronounciation" - sounds are similar to me but meanings to different. but i still hope to get there some day....

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  6. Ok so I am going to volunteer in Rwanda, Kigali for three months, finding it really hard to leave how to pronounce the phrases!

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