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Swahili in ten lessons provides an introductory course in Swahili that can be completed within a fairly short time. The aim is to give visitors to East Africa sufficient understanding and knowledge of the Swahili language to enable them to start speaking Swahili and interact meaningfully with the local population. Swahili is the main language for some 100 million people in East Africa, many of whom don't speak English. It is therefore important for visitors to speak some Swahili if they want to communicate with the population, understand the culture and enjoy the East African hospitality.

Many visitors to East Africa would like to be able to speak Swahili but don't have the time or motivation to follow a full university-level language course. If you are one of them, this book is written for you.

* The ten lessons cover the most essential grammar and key vocabulary needed to start speaking the language quickly.

* The lesson structure facilitates self learning and scheduling one's own course.

* The clear layout of the book makes it easy to follow the lessons, annotate text and find information.

* The examples and exercises are very practical and taken from daily life in East Africa.

The book has evolved from an introductory course in Swahili that the Tanzanian author, Margaret Mahona, has been teaching for the last 12 years at the International School of Geneva to help prepare groups of students for annual working visits to local schools in Tanzania. These students needed a basic knowledge of the language and an ability to interact in Swahili but they had only limited time available to learn the language. In response to this need, Mrs. Mahona developed a concise and practical introductory course enabling the students to communicate in Swahili as soon as possible. The original introductory course has been further elaborated, resulting in the present course.

* 9 lessons that are constructed around essential grammar. These lessons also include common vocabulary, daily conversations and translation exercises to encourage you to use and speak the language. Students will already be composing their first Swahili sentences in Lesson 1

* A 10th lesson that consists exclusively of conversations in Swahili that represent common situations a visitor to East Africa is likely to encounter.

* a concise summary of key grammar

* Swahili to English and English to Swahili dictionaries that list all words used in the 10 lessons as well as some additional words that are commonly used in daily life.

* an index for each Swahili word used in the book

* Solutions to the 48 exercises.