And now I’m going to teach you to speak Nyungwe with a little help from Elmer Fudd.

1. Nyungwe: NYOON-gwey
Pronunciation hint: Say the English word annual.  That “nyu” sound in the middle is like the first syllable of Nyungwe. The second syllable is like Elmer Fudd saying the word grey, “gwey.” 

2. Dinthi: DIN-tee

3. Muli tani? (MOO-lee TAWN-ee)
This means, “How are you?”

4. Ndiri bwino! (en-DEER-ee BWEE-no)
This means, “I am well.”
Pronunciation hint: BWEE sounds like how Elmer would say brie.

5. Ndatenda! (ndaw-TEN-daw)
This means, “Thank you.”

6. Cakubvala cin’cepa, cakudya cin’cepa lini. (cha-ku-BVA-la chin-CHEP-a, cha-KOOD-ya chin-CHEP-a LEE-knee)
This is a proverb that says, “You can’t share clothing, but there’s always enough food to share.”
Pronunciation hint: The letter c has the sound of ch.

7. mpsepse: mmm-PSE-pse
This means, “broom.”
Pronunciation hint: Close your mouth and say “mmm” then make a p sound immediately followed by se.  But while you’re saying pse you need to whistle through your teeth.  It helps if you imagine the sound of a broom sweeping!

8. Tin’dzawonana mangwana. (tin-dza-wo-NA-na mawn-GWA-na)
This means, “We’ll see each other tomorrow.”

I think that’s enough new vocabulary for today.  Please memorize 5, 6 and 8.

Tin’dzawonana mangwana!