"Hello, Rehema!"

Translation: Rehema mambo!

[Sandey962141]

My husband is Kenyan. They always say jambo.

[machieng]

trust me, we only say 'Jambo' to tourists

[GaetanMamu]

My wife is from Kenya. Here's the complete explanation: There is a Swahili that we learn in school and it’s how we should be talking and there is one that is not for education but just from the hoods. Mambo is another way of saying hi like we have different greatings in Swahili sanifu and Swahili slung. For example in Swahili sanifu you would say jambo Gaétan and the response will be sijambo. And in slung you would say mambo or niaje or sasa or even vipi and here the response will be poa

[Catriona28475]

Interesting, Sandey! Strictly, this course teaches Tanzanian Swahili, but the comment by RuBarnes supports yours.

[KseSho]

Why not Salama, Rehema?

[Catriona28475]

Salama means "peaceful" and it is usually the response to a question, like "How did you sleep?"
It is unfortunate that another Duolingo question in the Greetings lesson gives the translation of "salama" as "Hello". Report that if you see it! I think salama would seldom be used to initiate a greeting.

[LilaMaigna]

Why "Habari Rehema" is not correct ?

[LiamCousin1]

It should be correct. Mambo is a very informal greeting. Rather, "Habari" or "Jambo" would be better suited.

[Sgunnestad]

Or Hujambo Rehema?

[Catriona28475]

"Hujambo?" would be "How are you?"
The answer is "Sijambo" (I am fine).

[Gemmade]

I have never seen mambo written anywhere until now!

[Catriona28475]

I was taught that "mambo?" is a very casual greeting among young people. The typical response would be "Safi" or "Poa".

[LucaianLAT]

As someone who was taught Swahili by a man from Kenya, Hujambo should be an acceptable greeting.

[Catriona28475]

Perfectly acceptable, but that is when you greet someone with a question (equivalent to "How are things?") Maybe that is why it isn't accepted here as a translation for "Hello!"

But it's hard to illustrate without any context in a single sentence this common question-and-answer format (e.g. "Hujambo?" - "Sijambo!") for Swahili greetings, and they just don't translate directly to English greetings (e.g. "Hello!") that aren't expressed as a question.

[ummukulthum]

Why not " habari " Rehema?

[Mary463164]

There are many ways to greet!! How are we to know which word they want when??

[Slowphie05]

When o visited kenya they said jambo os that just a more formal way of mambo ?

[machieng]

we (Kenyans) literally only ever say that to tourists

[Sofiedeseoso]

Why is Salama Rehema wrong?

[terrencewa20]

Salama means safe and wouldn't fit in appropriately in this case.

[RuBarnes]

Why is 'Jambo Rehema' not an acceptable translation?

[Catriona28475]

It might be that they don't want to encourage you to say "jambo" because they only say that to tourists; we are supposed to be learning what they say to each other.

[RuBarnes]

That's an interesting thought. I read that too, although interestingly enough I have found some evidence that it's not the case. I don't live in Africa, but have many friends native to Rwanda and Tanzania who, when asked, have said that 'jambo' is a standard greeting for everyone, tourist or not.

[Catriona28475]

Thanks for that information. It is certainly simpler to just say "jambo" to one or several people. Maybe the textbooks are teaching us what people used to say to each other.

[terrencewa20]

"Habari yako Rehema!" Would have been a better translation for this. "Mambo" is more of a slang greeting. And if you were going with a slang translation for this you would say, "Sasa Rehema!" To which she would respond, "Poa" or "Fiti".