"We are asking for bananas and ugali please!"

Translation: Tunaomba ndizi na ugali tafadhali!

[pablopublico]

Tafadhali comes from Arabic تَفَضَّلَ (tafaḍḍala, "to have the kindness of; be so kind").

[RobertEddy]

Thanks, that's helpful as i know some Arabic.

[EvieLeggatt]

What IS ugali?? Is it a food from countries where Swahili is spoken?

[Karen650813]

Ugali is made from ground dried white corn that is cooked with water until it is very stiff

[Lamb97]

Ugali is basically overcooked grits. and swahili is spoken in Africa

[RhuanPerei15]

Africa is not a country. It's a continent. The African countries that speak Swahili are Tanzania and Kenya (oficial) and is also spoken in Uganda and some people in Mozambique.

[NotaFakena1]

How do you pronounce tafadhali?

[machieng]

tah-fah-dhah-lee. The 'dh' is the same sound as the 'th' in 'breathe'

[_kookiimonster_]

Just take out the H at the end, its silent. All the A's have the "ahh" sound.

[M1G2B3learner]

Could you also say "tunavyomba" since bananas and ugali are foods (vyakula)

[Lamb97]

No. You only can say tunavyomba if it is referring specifically to the word vyakula. In swahili the words all have to match.