Zulu Lesson Appear

This blog has Zulu lessons but they are irregular because of the difference between Zulu and English. I can only prepare a lesson if I can explain it in English. Take limbo for example. I have used it in previous lessons because it is pronounced like -mboza, which means to cover something in Zulu.

I had a brilliance moment this morning when I wrote a piece about nature, called imvelo, in Zulu. It comes from the verb ve-la, which means to appear. You say the first part like very and the second one like lass. Let’s look at ‘appear’ in context.

Vela. Kids don’t like acne but it appears anyway.

Vela. We love the wonder of the full moon, but we fall asleep and miss it.

Vela. We go to sleep and wake up to little yellow flowers that herald spring.

Vela. Girls have things growing on their chest to warn them womanhood is around the corner. Trans gender people have a solution and use drugs to stop it. For little boys, they just chop their thing off.

Vela. Great joy at home when babies get their first teeth, but it’s agony for them because it’s painful. How they cry! Sorry.

Vela. Going to grandma’s place for the summer? Your mum gives you a message. “Tell her I’ll appear very soon.” She means she will visit very soon.

Vela. Someone dies and mum visits the family to comfort them. “Let me appear,” she says.

All this appearance is nature. Spring, summer, fall and winter just appear, so does the sun and moon. That is why nature is called imvelo in Zulu. Im-ve-lo. You say the first part like important, the second like verse and the last like lock.

By: Nonqaba waka Msimang.