chiShona: Complete Language Pack (A1–C2)

Your first sure steps in chiShona, the language of Zimbabwe: greet, count, shop and talk about home, with a say-it-like guide on every single line.

By the end you can:

• Greet people correctly for the time of day and respond politely to 'How are you?'
• Introduce yourself: say your name, where you are from and where you live
• Count from one to twenty, say the tens, and use 100 and 1000

Step into everyday life in Zimbabwe: talk about your day, the weather, plans and the past, getting around town, your health and the home, with a say-it-like guide on every single line.

By the end you can:

• Describe your daily routine and say what you do at different times of day
• Talk simply about the past and the future using recent-past and future tense markers
• Describe the weather and the seasons and say how it feels outside

An intermediate pack for longer conversations: talk about your work, studies, travel, shopping, health, feelings and plans, with a say-it-like guide on every line.

By the end you can:

• Talk about your job, workplace and daily duties, and ask others about theirs
• Describe your studies and learning, and explain what you are trying to improve
• Handle a phone call or text exchange: greet, ask to speak to someone, and leave a message

An upper-intermediate pack for confident speakers: give opinions, debate the news, talk work and money, handle technology and the environment, and tell a full story, with a say-it-like guide on every line.

By the end you can:

• Give and justify your opinion, then agree or disagree politely, including partly agreeing
• Follow and discuss news and current affairs, summarising the main points in your own words
• Take part in a workplace meeting: make proposals, ask for clarification and reach agreement

An advanced pack for confident speakers: debate, proverbs, formal register, abstract ideas and the language of officialdom, with a say-it-like guide on every line.

By the end you can:

• Argue a case persuasively, conceding points and rebutting them with measured, respectful phrasing
• Use tsumo (proverbs) and madimikira (idioms) at the right moment to strengthen and shorten an argument
• Switch between intimate, neutral and formal/professional registers as the setting demands

A C2 pack for near-native speakers: proverbs and what they teach, oratory, idioms, praise-names, and the unhu/ubuntu worldview that runs through the language.

By the end you can:

• Deploy tsumo (proverbs) and madimikira (idioms) precisely, choosing the right one for the moment and reading how it will land
• Speak persuasively in public: open, structure, signpost and close an address with the rhythm of a chiShona orator
• Shift register fluently between intimate, neutral and elevated speech, and use respectful indirectness (kupoteredza) with elders