English-Swahili Swahili-English Immersive Dictionary
Organized in an English-Swahili section and a Swahili-English section, English-Swahili Swahili-English Immersive Dictionary is a comprehensive presentation of Swahili usual lexicon.
In both sections, entries are presented in clusters, based on the connections between the words of the target language (Swahili) in terms of meaning or origin. This meaning-driven presentation allows target language terms that are relatively similar in meaning, and therefore easily confused, as well as terms derived from the same base, to appear together in parallel contrastive lines. This creates an immersion effect that is particularly stimulating for language learning, since the user gets the opportunity to discover the words of the learned language group-by-group, rather than one-by-one, and is constantly reminded of subtle differences between different terms. It will help the learner master the vocabulary at a faster pace and with a better understanding of the rules that shape the lexicon of the target language. In addition, the introduction to the dictionary presents key grammatical points of Swahili that will help the reader make a productive use of information provided in the body of the dictionary. Additional grammatical information about the target language words such as the agreement pattern, the register of speech, or the level of use, is also provided in both sections to make it immediately accessible to the non-native user.
The book is ideal for English-speaking learners of Swahili.
Fidèle Mpiranya is Instructional Professor of Swahili and African Linguistics, University of Chicago.