When I was studying Linguistics back in the mid-1980ies, Swahili was actually one of the languages we looked at in more detail. It is very different from the Indo-European languages such as Swedish and English in terms of morphology. I remember I found it very tricky indeed, and I’m sorry to say that I don’t remember much of it. But I’m looking forward to get acquainted again!
Some useful phrases to start with:
Jambo – Hello/Good day
Ulale salama – Good night
Ahsante sana - Thank you very much
Naweza kupiga picha? - May I take photographs?
Nimependezwa sana - I have enjoyed myself very much
Natumaini tutaonana tena - I hope to see you again soon
Here you can find some guides to phrases and words in Swahili:
http://www.simbaeastafricansafari.com/swahili.htm
http://www.transparent.com/languagepages/swahili/SwPhrases.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swahili
Kwaheri!
/Lena
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