"Hodi !"
Translation:May I come in?
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"Hodi" reflects a culture where some people had doors and some didn't. To call out "hodi" meant "hi anyone in?", and you never entered until you received a "karibu" (welcome). This ensured privacy and recognition of property, even if there was no door or gate. So these direct translations are somewhat limiting as they come from a different cultural perspective. I think it should accept "may I come in?", "knock" or "anyone in?"
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Hodi means something like "knock". In this lesson you also learn "Hodi hodi" - "Knock knock".
It is spoken loudly to ask for permission to enter - it is used instead of knocking (as we do in our/many/other cultures) - and the speaker should/would wait for "Karibu" (welcome) before entering - if nobody answers, the "hodi" calls may go on for quite a while before they assume no one is at home and return/leave.
Here in Tanzania you do not use it when asked to come in. you say hodi then the person inside will say karibu(welcome) or subiri kidogo(wait a little bit). Once you enter inside you start the regular greetings. At least that is my experience here in Tanzania. But it is not uncommon to say more than once. I will usually say it outside a person's gate and again right outside the person's home.
It shouldn't be wrong. I'm using duo to continue my exposure to swahili now that my term ended; our prof said similar to others in this thread: it's technically asking for permission to enter, but contextually, is an equivalent to someone saying "knock knock" (i.e, hodi hodi) while waiting for a verbal recognition they can enter. In our quizzes, knock would have been accepted as it is one of the contextual uses of the word. The question here did not provide enough context to know for sure which is the answer they want until you've gotten it wrong at least once.