0:00 / 0:21
Follow along
TwigaGuide · TeachersTwigaGuide · TeachersFollow along
Troubleshooting & Limits
Twiga works in both languages, and you get back the one you wrote in. The part that needs your attention is the Kiswahili it writes for you, because some of its teaching words are wrong.
Write to Twiga in English and the reply comes in English. Write in Kiswahili and the whole reply comes in Kiswahili, headings and all. You do not have to choose one language for good, and you do not have to set anything.
This is a real request from a teacher, sent the day before the lesson. It names the subject, the form and the topic. It ends by asking for Kiswahili.
Sasa nataka kufundisha bookkeeping Form 2 kesho. Nipe lesson plan
fupi ya somo la trial balance, kiswahili tafadhali.Asante sana! Sasa nataka kufundisha bookkeeping Form 2 kesho. Nipe lesson plan fupi ya somo la trial balance, kiswahili tafadhali.
Asante sana, mwalimu! Hapa kuna mpango fupi wa somo la Trial Balance kwa Book Keeping, Form 2: Jina la Somo: Uundaji wa Trial Balance Darasa: Form 2 Somo: Book Keeping Muda: 40 dakika 1. Waliozoea (5 dakika) 2. Matokeo ya Kujifunza (3 dakika) Wanafunzi wataweza: - Eleza maana ya Trial Balance 3. Matokeo (15 dakika) 4. Mfano wa Haraka (7 dakika) 5. Kazi ya Darasa / Kupitisha (7 dakika) 6. Kupitisha (3 dakika)
A full lesson plan came back in about twenty seconds, in Kiswahili, with timings for every stage. Keep those six headings in mind. Further down this page you will see what is wrong with them.
Look at the teacher’s message again. It is Kiswahili, but bookkeeping, Form 2, lesson plan and trial balance are all English, sitting in the middle of it. That is how teachers really write, and Twiga handled it.
So write the way you would write to a colleague. Twiga answers in the language you wrote in. If you want the other one, ask for it in the message.
Asking for a language
End your message withkiswahili tafadhali and the reply comes in Kiswahili. Write the message in English and it comes in English. You can ask for the same material again in the other language.Text you paste goes through as you typed it. Paste a Kiswahili passage, a set of notes or an exam question, then say what you want done with it. You can say it in either language. Nothing gets translated unless you ask for a translation.
This is the part of the page that matters most. Twiga’s Kiswahili reads well, and some of its teaching words are still wrong. Every example below came out of material a teacher was about to use in class.
| Twiga wrote | The problem | Use instead |
|---|---|---|
| ujia wa Hisabati | ujia is not a Swahili word | utangulizi, or dhana |
| Waliozoea (as the starter heading) | means “those who are used to it”, and is not a lesson plan section | Utangulizi, or Kuanzia |
| Mchango wa Somo (for lesson flow) | mchango means contribution | mtiririko wa somo |
| Kupitisha (used for classwork and for closure) | means to pass or approve, and it labels two different sections | Kupitia for review, Hitimisho for closure |
| Matokeo (for the development stage) | the same word as the objectives heading, Matokeo ya Kujifunza | Ufafanuzi, or Maendeleo ya Somo |
| soko la kwanza la Biolojia | soko means market, which makes no sense here | name the theme or the term directly |
| vipengele vya kimapokeo (for biotic and abiotic) | kimapokeo means traditional or customary, not living | viumbe hai, and visivyo hai |
| atasemweza | a garbled word | ataweza |
Notice what kind of words those are. They are section headings and subject terms. They are the words you copy onto the board and hand to a class. They are also the words your head of department reads first in your plan book.
Good Kiswahili around a wrong heading is more dangerous than Kiswahili that is obviously broken, because it reads as correct. So do this before you photocopy anything:
Ask how a plan was made and Twiga tells you its Kiswahili matches the TIE textbooks. It says so in as many words.
how is the leasson plan made?
Pia nimejitahidi kuhakikisha kwamba: - Maneno yote ni ya kiswahili kama yanavyotumika kwenye vitabu vya TIE - Mifano inafaa kwa umri wa wanafunzi wa sekondari - Mchango unafuatia muda wa somo (40 dakika) - Kuna mahali pa wanafunzi kushiriki kikamilifu
The first bullet claims every word is Kiswahili as the TIE books use it. The third bullet breaks that claim in the same breath: mchango means contribution, not the flow of a lesson. Read the claim as a promise, not as proof. Check the words yourself.
The English answer was sharper once
One teacher asked the same sensitive classroom question in both languages. The English answer came back sharper. The Kiswahili one used a phrase that meant very little. That is one case, not a rule. Write in the language you teach in, and read what comes back either way.You cannot switch Twiga to one language and leave it there. The only thing that decides the language is the language you type in.
If a reply in the chat ever offers you a language setting to save, it is making that up. See Fixing Your Profile for how to tell an invented settings form from the real one.