Hi! I'm Kevin, this is Grace, and we're the Storys.
We are comparing Kenyan and American cultures to see what is different
but also what is similar.
So today...
I'm gonna do that again 'cause I was weirdly scratching my throat.
(In a bizarre British accent) Today we are going to do an accent challenge
(Normally) We're going to do an accent challenge.
We've watched a bunch of these already, we can't get enough of them, we love them.
So we thought, why don't we just do one of our own, you know?
We've written out
10 words or phrases that we're gonna give each other,
and we haven't looked at these, so we don't know what they say,
and we're gonna get the other person to say these, and we're gonna see... what we got.
That's the challenge, right? All right. So, uh, so here's yours, Grace.
Who should go first?
- I will - You want to go first? Okay. - Yeah.
The way we pronounce this would be baga.
- Baga? - Yes, like... - Like, ba-ga.
- Cheese-baga, yeah. - Baga.
Baga. But it's a burger.
(British accent) Although if you were British you would say burger. - Burger, yeah. Burger?
- What was that? - I have no idea. - All right, great.
- So, then I go? - Yes. - So you go then I go, okay. You go then I go.
Oh, this... You're giving me Swahili words?
You're married to a Kenyan, so it's, you know, about time you started learning.
Great, so... uh... here we go. Let me see...
Nyangan ya.
Can you use it in a sentence? (Laughs)
- Well, the word is nyanganya. - Oh, nyanga—
(Kevin continues mispronouncing nyanganya. Grace laughs.)
I'm so sorry.
Well, nyanganya means to snatch something from someone.
- You want to try? - (poorly) Tunyanganya.
- You need more lessons for that, yeah. - I'll work on it. All right, you're next.
Um, so, the letter I have...
We pronounce this as haitch.
Haitch, like, with air... haitch?
Yeah, 'cause that's how you use it in a word. (Breathes out an H sound.) Hahaha.
So, a b c d e f g... haitch?
- Yes. - Okay.
- How would you pronounce it? - Aitch. - Haitch. - Aitch.
- Aitch? - Yeah, aitch.
Oh, well, this is an interesting one, I don't know. It's mobile, I guess, if you're talking about, like, I can move.
Or Mobile if you're talking about the city.
- Mobile, Alabama. You haven't been to Alabama. - There's a city called Mobile? - Yeah.
Well, what I was referring to was a cellular phone, I think that's what you call them here.
(Latin percussion)
This is the British, the British— British people say mobile. (Accent) Oh, get— call me on my moby, my mobile...
- But how do you say it? - Mo—
- Some people might say mo-bull. - Yeah.
'Cause we also have a, we have a gas station... or a petrol station...... fuel station?
- Petrol station. - So if it doesn't have an E at the end, it's Mobil. - We have that as well.
- Like, Mobile gas stations. - We have Kobil as well.
The next word, I pronounce it, or kenya would pronounce it as whack.
I'm going to whack. To go to whack.
- I'm whacking. - No no no!
This is supposed to be a family video, okay, Grace? Honestly.
- What are you talking about? - There might be children watching.
- What does whack mean? - All right, that's— moving on.
- No, wait, how would you pronounce it? - Work!
TANzuhnia
No. It's TanZAHnia.
(Whispered) TanZAHnia.
- Doesn't it sound musical? TanZAHnia. - TANzuhnia? I think it's TANzuhnia.
TANzuhnia? Tanza... Tanganyika?
TanZAHnia.
Zanzibar? TANzania? Tan-Zan? I don't know...
- TanZAHnia. - I dunno. Let us know. If you're from...
- TANzania or TanZAHnia, tell us. - I could actually be wrong.
Yeah, you let us know in the comments which is correct, 'cause we have no idea.
So, um, the next one is a car that in Kenya we would pronounce as High-you-ndai
- High and die? - Hi-you-ndai
High? High and die? So in America— we don't pronounce it correctly in America either.
We say HUN-DAI, and I said it like that because that's like,
- car commercials are always like— - Are you fighting someone?
HUN-DAI. Go and buy a HUN-DAI. Yeah!
But i believe it's... I think it's... I don't know, what is it... Japanese or Korean
I think it would be Hyu... Hyundai correctly.
I actually think it's an European car.
No...
- All right, anyway, moving on. - Moving on.
Wahder
- What? - Wahder.
So, I'm using a neutral American— I'm trying to be as neutral as possible. Um...
Wahder, I believe, is a neutral American way of saying that.
The way you're pronouncing it, it sounds like there's a d instead of a t.
- We pronounce it as wota (water). - So— wota? - Wota, yeah.
Like the Brits. Wota. (Accent) I'd like a glass of wota, please. (Normally) Um...
Although, I should say in New York, we would say wuhder.
That sounds like "what up?"
No, that'd be whaddup.
- It's different - Wuhder. You want some wuhder?
This in Kenya we pronounce as Tchevro let.
- Tchevrolet. - Yeah.
Yeah, it's a tricky one, 'cause i think it's French maybe?
- Oh, I thought it was an American car. - Well, it is an American car.
- So, it's "Shevrolay." - Oh, that sounds fancy.
(Like a car ad) Chevrolet: like a rock.
Chevrolet, yeah, but we wouldn't even say the whole thing. We'd just say Chevy. ("Shevy")
Ooh, that sounds good. Not Chevy ("Tchevy") though?
No. Chevy is the act— there's an actor, Chevy Chase.
Yeah, moving on.
Well, I'm trying to think of how it would be said in a neutral American accent.
Liddle Idaly. I don't think anybody would say Italy. Little Italy.
You know what it sounds like? There's this supermarket in the UK called Lidl.
- Lidl? - Yeah, L-I-D-L. - Oh.
And so it sounds like you're saying Lidl in Italy...
- I don't know. - Yeah, so we'd say Lidlidaly.
What? (laughs)
Right, so the wahd... word. Word.
- The wahd? - The word I have is here.
- That's not that bad. Here. - Here.
You just go heeya. HEEya.
- I guess you say two syllables. We just say here. - Here. - Just one syllable.
- Hee-yuh. - Hee-yuh? - I don't know, that's how it...
Hee-YUH!
Oh. Budder.
- Yeah, same as... - ...but we say buhduh in New York.
- We say buttah. - Buhduh. It's like buhduh.
Um, my next sentence or word is low and order.
Low? So, high and die, low and order?
- Low and oda. - Oda.
Uh, we say la.
Although my favorite, my favorite, uh, regional accent for saying that is boston,
- where they say la nada. - What? - La nada.
- La nada? - La nada.
It sounds like a place. Lana— I'm going to Lanada.
- Like CaNAda. - That's, uh...
That's not how you say that. Oh... sorry, Canadians. Don't at us.
This is a normal one. Coffee.
I've heard people from New York pronouncing it in a different way.
Right, so like, my mother, my mother who is a Long Islander.
Long Island pride.
She would say cawffee.
Where's the w in that? Cawffee.
Coffee. It's an o. Cawf, cawffee.
A Kenyan would pronounce this as basically.
- I used to pronounce it that way but I changed after moving here. - How do you say it now?
- Basic'lly. - Yeah, basic'lly. But...
But you just... well, that makes sense, 'cause it has all those letters in it. Basically.
- Basically, exactly. - But yeah, basic'lly.
It's like, um, comfortable.
Com-fort-a-ble.
- Do people say that? Com-fort-a-ble? - Yes.
Really...
Interesting.
I know what the first word means.
Uh... mtu...
Ngoi...
...guys.
Ngaiz.
No, wait wait wait wait...
wait wait...
N... ngu...
...yaz. Nguyaz.
Hah? Like new year's? Nguyaz?
Sure. Mhm. Yeah.
Mtu ngyaz. Nu...
oh, gosh.
Okay.
Um, just to make you feel better, it's not actually a Swahili word, but it's slang.
What is it?
- As you know... - Well, it's people— person...
People from this certain part of Nairobi interchange, uh, letters,
so this would be mtu wangu or mtu yangu,
and you know what yangu means, mine.
- My people? - Yeah.
- So they switched the letters— - Wuyaz...
—and added a z.
Nguyaz. So, my people, my person, my guy?
Yeah. Yeah!
Would you be like, oh buda boss, mtu ngayaz!
- I don't know how to say it. - Nguyaz.
- Nguyaz. - Yes.
- What? - Oh my goodness.
Oh, but you you're gonna have to do... Sorry.
So, the next— this card and the next two cards go together.
- Okay. - Okay.
All right, so, this is how I would pronounce it in Kenyan, because I've learned
throughout the years. A bad.
- Bad. - Yeah, you know, the thing that flies.
Mhm, okay, now pronounce the next card.
Bad.
No, wait wait. Do the one before it again.
Bad.
- No no, now the next one. - Bad.
Bad and bad. What do you want me to say? Bad and bad.
All right, now read the sentence on the final card.
All right, hold on.
I had had a bad bad
starring in a far tree far away.
If you told a Kenyan what that was, they would know what you're talking about
so it's a special skill. - Is it?
- Yes. - Look, can I say it? 'Cause I'm sure our listeners will want to know.
I had heard a bad bird stirring in a fir tree far away.
That's exactly what I said.
I think I know what this is... uh...
Ki-tun-gu... wait, no no no.
Tin— kitunGUU.
Why do you sound like you're fighting someone again? Like kitunGUU?
I'm just throwing onions at them.
Kitunguu
not kitunGUU.
- Wait. Kitunguu. - Yeah.
Yeah, so, I do that because it reminds me that the emphasis goes...
Mmmbringanya?
Yeah, that was really good.
- Would you pronounce that g? - Yeah. Uh, no. Mbringa— yeah, yeah, yes.
Mbringanya?
I'm saying it in my American accent.
Mbringanya.
That's green peppers.
(British voiceover) Ah, yes, you see, when Grace said green peppers,
what she really meant was aubergine or what the Americans call eggplant.
Perhaps you should try speaking three languages someday. (end voiceover)
Chamacha wamama.
- I think I wrote it down in a wrong way. - What's chamacha?
It's chama cha wamama.
Chama cha wamama.
Yeah, but when you sound it, sounds like Chinese food, i don't know.
Chama cha wamama is a group of women, like
an association for women
Oh. Learning.
I'll do my best...
Do you need to stretch?
Yeah, I'm just gonna... a little stretching here...
All right, here we go.
Mtu nguyaz...
alinyanGAniwa...
kitunguu...
na... mbringanya.
Yeah. You did great. Apart from the alinyanganywa.
I'm sorry, what?
Alinyanganywa.
Alingaa-nyaa-nwa.
Nywa? Nywa?
- Alinyanganywa, yeah. - Nywa.
What do you think it means?
My guy...
- Yeah? - My guy...
stole... steal... snatched... grabbed...
onions... or just an onion, I'm not sure, it's one or the other...
and a pepper
(weird music from outside)
This is the Bronx.
So, mtu nguyaz alinyanganywa kitunguu na mbringanya means...
this guy had onions and, uh,
peppers, and they were snatched from him.
- Oh, they were snatched from him. - Yes.
My guy, he, uh, he got his onions and peppers stolen.
You know? You know what I'm saying?
Yeah, that's how we say it here...
I don't know what this a— this accent is a weird accent.
- Whew, that's it! - Yeah.
- We did 'em all! - We did it, yes!
Oh my gosh.
I didn't realize... so, i didn't expect you were gonna give me so many Swahili words.
- You married a Kenyan— - We didn't talk about that.
You need to learn just like the way i'm learning...
American English? - So wait,
is there like an American Awahili accent?
Was I doing that? No?
Yours is just nowhere, non-existent.
(laughing) What does that mean?
Thanks for watching. If you like this video and want to see more,
be sure to subscribe and like.
While we were making these word lists, we found all these words that
we just say different, we have different words for.
Um, so we think in the next video we might do that.
If you have any more ideas you'd like to see, send them to us.
- Yeah. - And comment.
That's right! But for now, kwaheri.
Bye!