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Kiswahili or Swahili is often called an international language. This is because it has borrowed words from all around the world (two significant examples are Portuguese and Arabic). It also isn't defined by tribes or even countries as it is spoken in Eastern, Central and Southern Africa. The meaning of 'Swahili' is derived from an Arabic work which means 'coastal area' and 'Kiswahili' means 'of Swahili'.

There are five distinctive vowel sounds which are represented by the letters a, e, i, o, and u and have sounds similar to those in Spanish or Italian. Swahili has shorter vowel sounds than in English, where vowels are often diphthongs. Fot example, 'e' in Swahili sounds similar to the 'a' in say.

Here are some useful phrases, note the English pronounciation guide in the square brackets []