The purpose of this book is to introduce the reader to Swahili words. Learning a language opens up many things to use. With new words come new ideas and an understanding of the people and environment which created the language. Swahili is spoken across more of Africa than any other language. It is the language of about 45 million people in eastern Africa, in all or parts of the countries of Kenya, Uganda, the People's Republic of the Congo (Brazzaville), Zaire, Somalia, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique, and the Malagasy Republic. Swahili varies in dialect from one area to another: that spoken on the coast of East Africa from that of the interior, that of Uganda from the Congo and other countries. In the same way, the Spanish language differs in dialect in the various provinces of Spain and in South America and the Caribbean Isles. But the important thing is that the peoples of the various East African countries can make themselves understood to one another despite these small differences. Because Swahili is spoken across such a vast area of the African continent, it could one day serve as the continental language. There is a Swahili proverb that says: Haba no haba hujaza kibaba: Little by little fills the measure. It is hoped that through this introduction to Swahili, children of African ancestry will seek to learn more 'little by little,' through available books, people, and travel (taken from the introduction).
