The Power of Songs in Learning Kikuyu
In this journey of figuring out how to best teach Kikuyu to my children, there have been moments it has been very clear that they will learn Kikuyu fast through song. One of those moments is when we sing in church or family gatherings where Kikuyu choruses are sung. Both my kids could belt out the “Ngai Wakwa” tune as soon as they could speak circa two years old.
And when I think about it, the reason why this song – and not any of the rest like “Niĩ nĩ ngwenda” or “Jehovah Mwathani kumia kĩambĩrĩria” – is because of how simple and repeatable it is.
Ngai wakwa, Ngai wakwa-ĩ
Ngai wakwa wĩ wa magegania
Ngai wakwa, Ngai wakwa-ĩ
Ngai wakwa wĩ wa magegania
See?
Then there was a time Kameme TV would air the Akili and Me episodes every Saturday morning, translated into Kikuyu and we would sing along to the alphabet song in Kikuyu. My daughter could sing it all and I would find myself relying on her to remember what came next. It was sad to to see that come to an end.
And so it has been a great joy to finally Google now and find that they have recently uploaded it to YouTube. I love me some Akili and Me content! Whether it be for English, Swahili or Math purposes, it has been my covid-era babies’ first very vivid and effective teacher — before they ever stepped into play school.
Here is the Rwĩmbo Rwa Alifabeti. Big up to Akili and Me (Ubongo) for the awesome work they are doing for kids across different languages and countries! Though it’s very debatable if that’s even what it should be called. 😂Because they are obviously ndemwa!
Transcript below if you don’t get everything quite clearly.
A nĩ Akili – a a a Akili
B nĩ ya baba ba ba ba baba
C nĩ ya Cai – nitunyuei cai
Nd nĩ ya ndege nde nde nde nde ndege
Aa Bb Cc Ndnd ndemwa ĩyo ĩngĩ nĩ E
E nĩ ya enyera e e e enyera
G nĩ ya giciko g g g giciko
Ng nĩ ya nguo, tubangei nguo
Ng’ nĩ ya ng’ombe ng’o ng’o ng’o ng’o ng’ombe
Ee Gg Ngng Ng’ng’
Ndemwa ici nĩ njega muno
H nĩ ya hama, ha ha ha ha hama
I nĩ ya ikunũ i i i ikunũ
Ĩ nĩ ya ĩmwe, ĩmwe nĩ ya mbere
Nj nĩ ya njata, nja nja nja nja njata
Hh Ii Ĩĩ Njnj nĩ ndemwa cia Gĩkũyũ!
Ka nĩ ya karamu, kau karamu kega
M nĩ ya mũrũthi mũthamaki mwega
N nĩ ya nũgũ, nũgũ nene nogu
Ny nĩ ya nyũmba, nyu nyu nyu nyu nyũmba
Ici nĩ cio ndemwa, tuthome na Gĩkũyũ!
Kk Mm Nn Nyny tũine rwĩmbo rwa ndemwa!
O nĩ ya moko, moko makwa merĩ
R nĩ ya ritho, ritho rora rori
T nĩ ya tai t t t t tai
Tuthii na mbere na ndemwa cia Gĩkũyũ!!
U nĩ ya cukuru, cukuru ĩna ibuku
Oo Rr Tt Uu tũine ndemwa cia Gĩkũyũ
Ũ nĩ ya ũki, ũki ni wa njũkĩ, wĩ cama mũno, ta ũcũrũ wa mami
Wa nĩ ya waru wa wa wa wa waru
Ya nĩ yakwa, nguo ĩno yakwa (though not sure why they display a nyanya 🤔)
Ũũ Ww na Yy
Nĩ cio ndemwa cia Gĩkũyũ!
What you realise from this is that there are no kikuyu words that start with o or u… Or are there any? 🤔
That’s why the first time I listened to this song I wondered why they said moko for o and cukuru for u then it finally hit me after racking my brain.
Apart from the one or two typos/mispronunciations – e.g. baba is pronounced “fafa” technically in Kikuyu – this is one of the few publicly available resources I have found to teach kids Kikuyu anytime. I adore Ubongo for their incredible commitment to truly African content for kids. We didn’t have this at all in our time, but at least we did have parents teaching us stuff and telling us stories.
So, are you actually telling stories to your kids and generally spending time with them, playing, retelling them ng’ano cia marimũ to pass on the culture, or are you just sticking a phone in front of their faces in the name of kũmethera gĩa kūrĩa? Our parents did both.
Think about it.
I will be back.
The growing Akili and Me Kikuyu Playlist: