Ninataka kutoka

As a family, we’re making progress learning Swahili, which is becoming increasingly important to our ministry, in addition to Maa.  Today’s word is kutoka.  It means to go out, to leave, to exit or to be from a place.  So we might say “Tunatoka Marekani” — we are from America.  

But as we are having to focus on the office work side of curriculum development and ongoing language learning due to the current pandemic, and as the children’s HomeSchool co-op is not able to meet due to temporary government restrictions, we’re all thinking “ninataka kutoka!” — I want to go out!

Kutaka is the other word in today’s phrase.  It means to want.  A similarly sounding word is takataka — trash or garbage.  Unataka takataka?  Sitaki takataka!  Do you want garbage?  I don’t want garbage!  It’s interesting how much kutaka (to want) sounds like takataka (garbage, is generally not wanted by anybody).

Our twelve year old’s favorite sentence in Swahili?  So far, it’s Baba ni bata! — Daddy is a duck!  Hmmm.  Whence do you think she got that silliness?