How are you? Muli shani? (pl.) Uli shani?(sing.) How is your family? Ulupwa luli shani? How is the baby? Umwana ali shani? How are the children? Abana bali shani? How is Bwalya? Ba Bwalya bali shani?(pl.) Bwalya ali shani?(sing.) How is work? Incito ili shani? How is the fruit? Ifisabo fili shani? How is the…
Culture
Zambian culture is a mixture of traditions from all 73 Zambian tribes influenced by practices from other countries.
Love Letters in a Kiss
by Denny Moonde •
A Poem by Denny Moonde: I hope you read them all The flow of my heart therein Our young hearts pounding Feelings; a guiding star Our love olive solid Love letters sound better spoken, But timely words get twisted, Meaning lost Eaten in ink and voice So my love letters encrypted In the kisses we…
BEMBA LESSON 28 – LIVING ROOM CONVERSATION
by JS •
This lesson brings together some phrases you can use in the course of an evening with friends and family in your living room. The topics covered include welcoming a guest into the house, offering a drink, talking about the TV, the weather, furniture and talking about dinner. Where you can use the English word and…
Bemba Lesson 27: Emergencies
by JS •
Bemba Phrases to Use in Emergencies.In this lesson you will learn some phrases that will come in handy in emergency situations. It will help you to understand what someone may be trying to communicate to you in an emergency. It can also prepare you to communicate in Bemba when you are faced with an emergency. If…
Kitwe’s War Memorial
by JS •
An Empty Grave(Cenotaph) at Kaunda Square There was no Facebook, Twitter or other Social Media, so the civic leaders of Kitwe City Council carved a message in stone in the middle of Kaunda Square(formerly known as Coronation Square). A cenotaph was erected outside the Kitwe Civic Centre when it was still located in what is now…
Do you Know Any New Bemba Words?
by JS •
“Last night I saw something that I have never seen before. A young woman took a smooth stone out of her bag. She touched it and it started glowing in the dark. She pointed at it and the face of her mother appeared on the surface of the stone. She touched the face with her…
Bemba Lesson 26: Human Anatomy
by JS •
PARTS OF THE HUMAN BODY The aim of this lesson is to list the names of body parts in Bemba. Human anatomy is fun to learn. In this lesson you will learn the different words that describe various parts of the human body: The Human Body = Umubili wa muntu The following table gives the Bemba term…
What I Got for Christmas
by Shi Bwembya •
When I was a little boy, my father and mother never gave me a Christmas present. Nobody in my village got Christmas presents. Not even the chief. If you think my parents did not love me, it is because you did not know Bana Bwembya and Bashi Bwembya the way I knew them. No. It…
Bemba Lesson 25: Describing Places and Space
by JS •
Adverbs of Place and Space Space and places are described using different adverbs. In some cases, more than one word is available. Where this is the case, the words are here separated by a coma. Examples show how the words can be used. In front, forward, before = Kuntanshi, Pantanshi She is standing in front of…
Bemba Lesson 24 – Nouns and Adjectives
by JS •
In this short video lesson, we will look at the way adjectives are used in Bemba, as compared to English. A noun is a part of a sentence that names a person, place, thing, idea, action or quality. Examples: Itaba = cob of maize Umuntu = person Kapenta = a type of small fish…
