All languages
Central Africa
Lingala
LingálaThe language of the Congo River, of Kinshasa and Brazzaville, and of soukous and rumba — music carried Lingala across the whole continent.
- Family
- Niger–Congo (Bantu)
- Script
- Latin
- Speakers
- ~40 million speakers
- Spoken in
- DR Congo, Republic of the Congo, Angola, CAR
The course
Five units, one word at a time
0/5 mastered
Unit 1
Greetings
Mbote works morning, noon and night.
- Mbote — Hello
- Sango nini? — What's the news? (how are you?)
- Sango te — No news / all is well
- Matondi — Thank you
- Kende malamu — Goodbye (go well)
- Boyei bolamu — Welcome
Unit 2
People and family
The people in your life.
- Mama — Mother
- Tata — Father
- Mwana — Child
- Moninga — Friend
- Moto — Person
- Mwasi — Woman
Unit 3
Numbers one to ten
Counting along the river.
- Moko — One
- Mibale — Two
- Misato — Three
- Minei — Four
- Mitano — Five
- Zomi — Ten
Unit 4
Food and the market
Zando — market — talk.
- Mai — Water
- Bilei — Food
- Zando — Market
- Ezali motuya boni? — How much is it?
- Nalingi — I want / I like
- Ezali talo — It is expensive
Unit 5
Everyday phrases
The essentials for Kinshasa.
- Iyo — Yes
- Te — No
- Nabondeli yo — Please / I beg you
- Wapi? — Where?
- Nakomi koyeba te — I don't understand
- Limbisa ngai — Forgive me / excuse me
How to sound right
- Lingala is simpler than most Bantu languages in its noun classes, which is part of why it spread so fast.
- Accented vowels (á, é, ó) mark high tone.
- Much everyday Kinshasa speech mixes Lingala with French.
The audio button in lessons uses your device's speech engine, which rarely has a native African voice. Treat it as a rough guide and trust the written pronunciation hints and the coach instead.
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