"Habari za nyumbani mama ?"

Translation: How is home mother?

[JeffreyPov]

How are you doing at home is a good answer, since its idiomatic anyway

[WCqRJ71F]

Is Americanised , and in Kiswahili we ask not about mama, but what is happening at home.

[Gazelle1596]

Well, the mama is the address (and it is possible to ask about someone's father or mother).

[Wolfsbane7385]

This is messed up

[MamaBruce1]

The English solution is terrible. It is not even idiomatic English.

[Kris391856]

How are things at home, Mom?

[Glabana]

I said "How is the house mother?"
Which is more or less the same thing.

[vtopphol]

That would be "Habari za nyumba." The term "nyumbani", with the locative ending, specifically refers to the home, or the location inside or related to the house, and not really to the house itself.

[Dockta_J]

Is house an acceptable substitution for home? Or is there an important distinction in Swahili?

[WCqRJ71F]

House is nyumba , home is nyumbani.

[tee773385]

I wrote how is the house mother? Not sure why its wrong

[WCqRJ71F]

a house is not a home: when one asks how are things at home, one is not concerned about the the house. nyumbani is home..

[Israel_MG]

I did not know eeee

[JeffreyPov]

This comes out idiomatic in English, therefor " How are you doing at home, mom" is acceptable

[vtopphol]

Not really. The Swahili sentence is asking about how things are at home, and not necessarily about how mom is doing. It's more general about the home, everyone staying there, and even the neighbourhood.