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101 English Verbs — and their rich nyaudzosingwi

September 12, 2025March 2, 2023 by ZimbOriginal

This post was last updated on 12 January 2025. Adverbs and Nyaudzosingwi Adverbs are words that modify or describe verbs, adjectives, clauses, sentences, or even … Read more

Categories Language, Shona Language 5 Comments

These 28 madimikira make Tambaoga Mwanangu a great read

September 12, 2025February 9, 2023 by ZimbOriginal

After reading China manenji hachifambisi I wrote on idioms (madimikira) that the writer, Mordikai A. Hamutyinei, used in the story. I decided to do the … Read more

Categories Language, Literature 8 Comments

Tsumo| 20 Shona proverbs to inspire good work habits

August 18, 2025November 30, 2020 by ZimbOriginal

Tsumo on work tell a story of a hard-working society, and give the picture that agriculture was the mainstay of the economy of the Shona … Read more

Categories Language, Shona Language 10 Comments

Nyaudzosingwi| Breaking down 70 ideophones of breaking

February 20, 2025October 29, 2020 by ZimbOriginal
broken eggshells

In lay terms, ideophones are words that stand out (are ‘marked’) and whose form betrays something of (is depictive of) their meaning. The following 70 … Read more

Categories Language, Shona Language Leave a comment

My 5 Shona learning ingredients

August 28, 2025September 12, 2020 by ZimbOriginal
ingredients-recipe

This post was last updated on 28 August 2025. Culture and language are inextricably intertwined. Over the past few years, I’ve spent considerable time researching … Read more

Categories Language, Shona Language 4 Comments

63 Shona words you didn’t know were borrowed from Afrikaans

February 20, 2025August 15, 2020 by ZimbOriginal
shona afrikaans word bubbles

It is common knowledge that a few Shona words have an Afrikaans influence. I recently came across one that I found surprising, leading me to … Read more

Categories Language, Shona Language 10 Comments

Tsumo| 6 things I have learned through analysing over 200 Shona proverbs

March 21, 2025July 13, 2020 by ZimbOriginal

Over the past few months, I have taken time to analyse over 200 Shona proverbs, just out of interest. Some of them have motivated me … Read more

Categories Language, Shona Language 2 Comments

Tsumo| 25 Shona proverbs inspired by children

March 21, 2025June 30, 2020 by ZimbOriginal

Shona proverbs that relate to children help portray what the Shona understand about children and childhood. Below are 25 such proverbs. 1. Chikomo shata divi, … Read more

Categories Language, Shona Language 5 Comments

5 reasons children struggle with Shona language learning

February 20, 2025May 15, 2020 by ZimbOriginal
Children playing 'nhodo'

I have seen corporate advertisements with glaring irregularities, following a poor attempt by salesmen and marketers to communicate in the Shona language. In almost similar … Read more

Categories Language, Shona Language 12 Comments

Zvirahwe| Riddle me these 30 Shona riddles

August 7, 2025April 15, 2020 by ZimbOriginal

Why a riddle? Riddles are sometimes considered a form of folklore. Their function ranges from education to entertainment, revealing the thoughts and expressions of a … Read more

Categories Language, Shona Language 36 Comments
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  • An interesting look at what future historians might think about us October 30, 2025
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