Shona
Spoken languageWikipedia
50
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24
EPISODES
23
PODCASTS
Search complete. 50 mentions across 24 episodes found for "Shona".
Oct 27, 2026
Peter BrathwaiteHOST
His more recent pieces gather unusual objects into intriguing sculptural forms, an experimental approach he first developed while studying sculpture at the Harare Polytechnic School in Zimbabwe.
Peter BrathwaiteHOST
Following a Master of Fine Arts degree at the University of Michigan, he went on to get his PhD from the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna, where he explored sound and politics in relation to the indigenous Shona people of Zimbabwe.
Peter BrathwaiteHOST
Let's hear from Masimba about what drives his work.
Masimba HwatiSOUNDBITE_SPEAKER
I'm interested in themes of what I call everyday forms of resistance, which is the ways in which everyday people do small things or perform small things against oppressive systems.
Peter BrathwaiteHOST
But it also suggests a borrowed identity, one that perhaps isn't authentic.
Peter BrathwaiteHOST
How does Masimba understand this?
Masimba HwatiSOUNDBITE_SPEAKER
Actually, ZHK is the Chidzimbawa word or Shona word for second-hand clothing.
Masimba HwatiSOUNDBITE_SPEAKER
So in the piece, I'm also thinking a lot about secondhand clothing and the politics of that idea because secondhand clothes come into our space in Southern Africa and I'm sure in other parts of Africa.
Tuhin ChakrabartyGUEST
So I think that this kind of oversimplification sort of like hurts
Kwangu Liwewe AgyeiHOST
Yeah, but what about if I put to you that Africa has 54 distinct nations with different kinds of writing that could have been a direct translation from Zimbabwe and I believe from Shona, for instance.
Kwangu Liwewe AgyeiHOST
So how do you pick that up? Because, as I said, different languages and different translations.
Tuhin ChakrabartyGUEST
That is understandable.
Tecla MlamboGUEST
So that's the medium of instruction.
Tecla MlamboGUEST
We haven't translated into Shona and Dewele, but I suppose for the purposes of education, the communities to understand, because some people may not be well-conscious in English.
Tecla MlamboGUEST
It would be good maybe to translate some of the things into Shona and Dewele, but at the moment we haven't done any translation.
Justine Valencia-JeckerHOST
Yeah, and the other thing I could imagine having practiced and worked with Indigenous communities in Canada is even the concept of occupational therapy doesn't translate easily per se.
Justine Valencia-JeckerHOST
So that's the first step is, you know, there's the theme and the slogan and the promotional material, but even just occupational therapy, finding words that capture that in Native languages can take some time for people to feel like they've landed on the words that make sense.
Enock ChikavaGUEST
We're a farmer using their own language, local language.
Enock ChikavaGUEST
My local language is called the Shona.
Enock ChikavaGUEST
So I'm looking forward, my mom was now 87 years and still on the farm, to be able to speak in a local language.
Enock ChikavaGUEST
And say, you know, I'm here, When you say here, then your gadget knows what here is.
speaker_3SOUNDBITE_SPEAKER
Across the Bantu-speaking world, there is an ethic known as Ubuntu.
speaker_3SOUNDBITE_SPEAKER
Boto in Sosoto, Hunhu in Shona, Utu in Swahili.
speaker_3SOUNDBITE_SPEAKER
It's carried in a proverb.
speaker_3SOUNDBITE_SPEAKER
A person is a person through other persons.
Tonderai MakoraGUEST
Zimbabwe has, uh, have their own sign language.
Tonderai MakoraGUEST
The same way you have your own Shona, um, different languages, dialects in Zimbabwe, they also have, uh, different, uh, languages.
Tonderai MakoraGUEST
But International Sign Language...
Tonderai MakoraGUEST
But when people meet they all speak in English.
Tonderai MakoraGUEST
It is, it is saying so, but we are not doing anything about it.
Tonderai MakoraGUEST
That's the way I think every school may be starting when, when, when the kids are still small.
Tonderai MakoraGUEST
For example, we've got Shona language, we've got English there, we've got Ndebele language.
Tonderai MakoraGUEST
We must also have sign language part of, uh, the curriculum as a subject so that they grow up knowing sign language and know that, knowing that there are deaf people there.
Trezor YennyGUEST
So I think these things are real.
Trezor YennyGUEST
But in Joplin, I saw someone speaking Shona, the language of Zimbabwe.
Trezor YennyGUEST
It was clearly from Midwest.
Trezor YennyGUEST
So my friend, for some who will know him, Muchengeto Aboni, is from Zimbabwe.
Trezor YennyGUEST
And so he would probably tell you about some of our experience there.
Trezor YennyGUEST
So constantly things happen like that.
Trezor YennyGUEST
And so when I know that something is not here, is not normal, is when I have a Midwestern girl answering someone in Shona.
Trezor YennyGUEST
And the rest of the time, one of the guys who was there with us tells us that she was speaking in Latin.
Ruramisai CharumbiraGUEST
But the word for country, for example, or even in country and land are kind of sometimes interchangeable.
Ruramisai CharumbiraGUEST
In Kishona means you can say Nyika, N-Y-I-K-A.
Ruramisai CharumbiraGUEST
But also if you change the tone, you can say Nyika, which means dip or submerge.
Ruramisai CharumbiraGUEST
So in a way it's like the land in and of itself has a memory.
speaker_1HOST
Yeah.
speaker_1HOST
Shona, Ndebele, and Tonga.
Jess JessopHOST
And they went a step further than just direct translation too.
Jess JessopHOST
They collaborated with over 30 women across Zimbabwe to build a custom English/Shona code-switching dataset.
speaker_1HOST
Which is so crucial.
Jess JessopHOST
It is.
Jess JessopHOST
It means the AI understands how people in Harare actually speak, you know, fluidly mixing English and Shona, and it replies by voice with a natural-sounding Shona accent.
speaker_1HOST
Yeah.
PulumiGUEST
And then we're going to look at verses 9 through to 12, which Mel is going to read to us in Polish.
PulumiGUEST
And then we're going to also look at verses 38 and 39, which Nick is going to read in Shona.
PulumiGUEST
So prepare yourself.
PulumiGUEST
Follow along.
14 more episodes mention Shona.
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