03 February 2010

He said, She said.

A little vocab list for you all...

Zulu
Sawubona - Hello to one person
Sanibona!- Hello to two or more
Unjani? - How are you?
Ngiyaphila - I'm fine thanks!
Ngiyabonga!- Thank you
Lala Kahle! Goodnight to one
Lalani kahle! - goodnight to more than one
Hamba Kahle! - goodbye to a person
Ngubani igama lakho- What is your name (K's are pronounced like g's)
Hamba- go
Woza- Come
Ngidinga ukuzijwayeza isiZulu sami- I need to practice my Zulu


South African
howzit - how’s it going? How are you? (I never know the proper response)
tekkies - sneakers (Makes me think of star wars)
yoh - an expression of surprise (They say this after every sentence and often after every word)
braai- a barbecue (love them)
jersey-sweatshirt (bringing this word home)
robot- traffic light (I ADORE THIS!)
bonnet-car hood (I hate it)
boot-car trunk (When entering a hospital and asked to open the boot so they can check I get confused)
chappies - gum (I hand people chap stick when they ask if I have any chappies)
rubbers - eraser ("Meg, may I have another rubber?"...cracks me up every time)


1 comment:

  1. I Love to hear our families speak in their native languages and once they learn english the accents rock...we have Bantus, Somalians, Chinese, Vietnamese, etc. But I haven't learned any volcab yet....

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