LANGUAGES (Lugha)

 



 

JAMBO! 

 

"Swahili language, also called kiSwahili, or Kiswahili,  Bantu language spoken either as a mother tongue or as a fluent second language on the east coast of Africa in an area extending from Lamu Island, Kenya, in the north to the southern border of Tanzania in the south. (The Bantu languages form a subgroup of the Benue-Congo branch of the Niger-Congo language family.)

 

People who speak Swahili as their sole mother tongue are usually referred to as Waswahili, but this name refers to their language only and does not denote any particular ethnic or tribal unit." - Britannica.com

 

Growing up as black children in the UK, one of the rights we felt had been stripped from us was the ability to communicate using our Mother tongue. As Swahili has been proved to be one of the oldest African languages, it holds a lot of historic importance for Africans all around the world.

 

For many other communities, there is a central language that can be used in a vast amount of locations throughout the world, for example, English.

Wouldn't it be grand if black communities had a central language that could be used just as commonly wherever they were in the world?

 

So after careful consideration, we have decided that it is extremely important for our children at I Am to learn a language that is used by many from our Motherland - the language of Swahili.

 

This class will not be in workshops at the start of the school's opening, but is definitely a subject that will be introduced into the curriculum as our popularity grows! :)

 

Kwa heri!