Swahili Asante sana.
“Asante sana.” means “thank you very much”.[8]
No speaker has looked at this phrase yet.
Learn
Languages
Fourteen African languages: where they come from, where they are mentioned, and which you can learn on Duolingo.
Fourteen languages
These are the languages of the phrases in the language quiz. The family is Glottolog's[22]; the countries are those whose World Factbook entry names the language[23], so a country missing from a row may well speak it.
| Language | Family | Factbook mentions | On Duolingo |
|---|---|---|---|
| Swahili | Atlantic-Congo | Burundi, DR Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda | Yes |
| Zulu | Atlantic-Congo | Lesotho, South Africa | Yes |
| Xhosa | Atlantic-Congo | Lesotho, South Africa, Zimbabwe | No |
| Yoruba | Atlantic-Congo | Benin, Nigeria | No |
| Hausa | Afro-Asiatic | Niger, Nigeria | No |
| Wolof | Atlantic-Congo | Gambia, Mauritania, Senegal | No |
| Amharic | Afro-Asiatic | Ethiopia | No |
| Malagasy | Austronesian (Glottolog: Plateau Malagasy) | Madagascar | No |
| Kinyarwanda | Atlantic-Congo | Rwanda | No |
| Setswana (Tswana) | Atlantic-Congo (Glottolog: Tswana) | Botswana, South Africa, Zimbabwe | No |
| Sesotho (Sotho) | Atlantic-Congo (Glottolog: Southern Sotho) | Lesotho, South Africa, Zimbabwe | No |
| Somali | Afro-Asiatic | Djibouti, Ethiopia, Somalia | No |
| Twi (Akan) | Atlantic-Congo (Glottolog: Akan) | Ghana | No |
| Igbo | Atlantic-Congo | Nigeria | No |
Glottolog groups languages into families; here only the top-level family is shown. Atlantic-Congo is the large family that holds most languages of West, Central, East and Southern Africa, including Swahili, Zulu and Yoruba. Language names follow Glottolog where they differ: it lists the Malagasy of the highlands as Plateau Malagasy, and Twi as a variety of Akan.
Learning them on Duolingo
Of these fourteen languages, 2 can be learned on Duolingo from English: Swahili and Zulu. For the other 12, there is no course: Duolingo's own list of every course, for every interface language, has none[1].
- Swahili. A course exists, taught from English. TIME reported its launch on 3 March 2017 as Duolingo's first African language.[1][2][3]
- Zulu. A course exists, taught from English, made with the South African reading campaign Nal'ibali.[1][4][5][6]
- Xhosa. Announced together with Zulu in 2021, but not on Duolingo's list now. An unofficial guide says it was withdrawn in September 2023.[1][6][7]
Checked on 8 Oct 2026. Duolingo's own list of all courses, for every interface language, read on the checked date: 285 courses in 43 languages. Courses may have been added or withdrawn since. Courses come and go: look at Duolingo itself before relying on this. The list also has Arabic, which is spoken in North Africa but came from elsewhere, and is not counted here. Duolingo is named because many people ask; the site has no link with it and gets nothing from it.
The phrases, and the people who speak them
Each phrase comes from a travellers' phrasebook, cited under it, and none has been checked by a speaker. If you speak one of these languages, you can say whether the phrase is right, how it is said where you live, or what a learner should know.
Zulu Sawubona.
“Sawubona.” means “hello (to one person)”.[9]
No speaker has looked at this phrase yet.
Xhosa Enkosi.
“Enkosi.” means “thank you”.[10]
No speaker has looked at this phrase yet.
Yoruba Bawo ni?
“Bawo ni?” means “how are you?”.[11]
No speaker has looked at this phrase yet.
Hausa Na gode.
“Na gode.” means “thank you”.[12]
No speaker has looked at this phrase yet.
Wolof Jere jef.
“Jere jef.” means “thank you”.[13]
No speaker has looked at this phrase yet.
Amharic ሰላም
“ሰላም” means “hello (informal; Selam)”.[14]
No speaker has looked at this phrase yet.
Malagasy Tongasoa!
“Tongasoa!” means “welcome”.[15]
No speaker has looked at this phrase yet.
Kinyarwanda Murakoze.
“Murakoze.” means “thank you”.[16]
No speaker has looked at this phrase yet.
Setswana (Tswana) Ke a leboga.
“Ke a leboga.” means “thank you”.[17]
No speaker has looked at this phrase yet.
Sesotho (Sotho) Kea leboha.
“Kea leboha.” means “thank you”.[18]
No speaker has looked at this phrase yet.
Somali Mahadsanid.
“Mahadsanid.” means “thank you”.[19]
No speaker has looked at this phrase yet.
Twi (Akan) Akwaaba.
“Akwaaba.” means “welcome”.[20]
No speaker has looked at this phrase yet.
Igbo Kèdú
“Kèdú” means “hello (informal)”.[21]
No speaker has looked at this phrase yet.
- The phrases were read in volunteer-written phrasebooks and have not been checked by speakers. Several languages have more than one standard spelling, and the quiz uses the form the phrasebook gives.
- Fourteen languages are a small share of the languages of Africa. They were picked because a phrase could be read on a page, not because they matter more.
- The Duolingo check reads Duolingo's own list of courses; it is not a statement from the company, and it covers only the fourteen languages here, not other apps.
- The form to send a note is in English only. A short consent text in French and Italian, and an option to stay anonymous, still have to be written with people who use them.
Sources
- Primary source[1] Language courses on Duolingo (all courses page). Duolingo. it.duolingo.com retrieved 8 Oct 2026
Duolingo's own list of every course, for every interface language. Loaded in a browser on 2026-10-08: 285 courses in 43 languages, and the list did not grow when scrolled. The only African languages are Swahili and Zulu (one course each); Arabic, also on the list, was not counted as an African language here. Yoruba, Hausa, Igbo, Xhosa, Amharic, Somali, Wolof, Malagasy, Kinyarwanda, Setswana, Sesotho and Twi do not appear. - Primary source[2] Learn Swahili. Duolingo. www.duolingo.com retrieved 7 Oct 2026
Duolingo's own page for the course, taught from English. - Press[3] Duolingo's Luis von Ahn on adding Swahili, first from Africa. TIME. time.com retrieved 7 Oct 2026
Dated 3 March 2017. Describes Swahili as Duolingo's first indigenous African language course. - Primary source[4] Learn Zulu. Duolingo. www.duolingo.com retrieved 7 Oct 2026
Duolingo's own page for the course, taught from English. - Press[5] IsiZulu goes international. Nal'ibali. nalibali.org retrieved 7 Oct 2026
The reading campaign that worked with Duolingo on the course describes the launch announced at DuoCon on 26 August. The year is not confirmed here: the page was summarised with two different years. - Press[6] Duolingo to add Xhosa and Zulu. Stuff (South Africa). stuff.co.za retrieved 7 Oct 2026
Dated 23 August 2021. Reports Duolingo's DuoCon announcement that Xhosa and Zulu courses, made with Nal'ibali, were coming. - Press · to verify[7] Duolingo Xhosa: current status and alternatives. Duolingo Guides (unofficial). duolingoguides.com retrieved 7 Oct 2026
An unofficial guide that says the Xhosa course was withdrawn in September 2023. Duolingo's own page for Xhosa carries no course description, which fits, but Duolingo has not been read saying so. - Encyclopedia · to verify[8] Swahili phrasebook. Wikivoyage. en.wikivoyage.org retrieved 7 Oct 2026
Used for one phrase in the language quiz. A traveller's phrasebook written by volunteers; the phrase was read on the page but has not been checked by a speaker of the language. - Encyclopedia · to verify[9] Zulu phrasebook. Wikivoyage. en.wikivoyage.org retrieved 7 Oct 2026
Used for one phrase in the language quiz. A traveller's phrasebook written by volunteers; the phrase was read on the page but has not been checked by a speaker of the language. - Encyclopedia · to verify[10] Xhosa phrasebook. Wikivoyage. en.wikivoyage.org retrieved 7 Oct 2026
Used for one phrase in the language quiz. A traveller's phrasebook written by volunteers; the phrase was read on the page but has not been checked by a speaker of the language. - Encyclopedia · to verify[11] Yoruba phrasebook. Wikivoyage. en.wikivoyage.org retrieved 7 Oct 2026
Used for one phrase in the language quiz. A traveller's phrasebook written by volunteers; the phrase was read on the page but has not been checked by a speaker of the language. - Encyclopedia · to verify[12] Hausa phrasebook. Wikivoyage. en.wikivoyage.org retrieved 7 Oct 2026
Used for one phrase in the language quiz. A traveller's phrasebook written by volunteers; the phrase was read on the page but has not been checked by a speaker of the language. - Encyclopedia · to verify[13] Wolof phrasebook. Wikivoyage. en.wikivoyage.org retrieved 7 Oct 2026
Used for one phrase in the language quiz. A traveller's phrasebook written by volunteers; the phrase was read on the page but has not been checked by a speaker of the language. - Encyclopedia · to verify[14] Amharic phrasebook. Wikivoyage. en.wikivoyage.org retrieved 7 Oct 2026
Used for one phrase in the language quiz. A traveller's phrasebook written by volunteers; the phrase was read on the page but has not been checked by a speaker of the language. - Encyclopedia · to verify[15] Malagasy phrasebook. Wikivoyage. en.wikivoyage.org retrieved 7 Oct 2026
Used for one phrase in the language quiz. A traveller's phrasebook written by volunteers; the phrase was read on the page but has not been checked by a speaker of the language. - Encyclopedia · to verify[16] Kinyarwanda phrasebook. Wikivoyage. en.wikivoyage.org retrieved 7 Oct 2026
Used for one phrase in the language quiz. A traveller's phrasebook written by volunteers; the phrase was read on the page but has not been checked by a speaker of the language. - Encyclopedia · to verify[17] Tswana phrasebook. Wikivoyage. en.wikivoyage.org retrieved 7 Oct 2026
Used for one phrase in the language quiz. A traveller's phrasebook written by volunteers; the phrase was read on the page but has not been checked by a speaker of the language. - Encyclopedia · to verify[18] Sesotho phrasebook. Wikivoyage. en.wikivoyage.org retrieved 7 Oct 2026
Used for one phrase in the language quiz. A traveller's phrasebook written by volunteers; the phrase was read on the page but has not been checked by a speaker of the language. - Encyclopedia · to verify[19] Somali phrasebook. Wikivoyage. en.wikivoyage.org retrieved 7 Oct 2026
Used for one phrase in the language quiz. A traveller's phrasebook written by volunteers; the phrase was read on the page but has not been checked by a speaker of the language. - Encyclopedia · to verify[20] Twi phrasebook. Wikivoyage. en.wikivoyage.org retrieved 7 Oct 2026
Used for one phrase in the language quiz. A traveller's phrasebook written by volunteers; the phrase was read on the page but has not been checked by a speaker of the language. - Encyclopedia · to verify[21] Igbo phrasebook. Wikivoyage. en.wikivoyage.org retrieved 7 Oct 2026
Used for one phrase in the language quiz. A traveller's phrasebook written by volunteers; the phrase was read on the page but has not been checked by a speaker of the language. - Academic[22] Harald Hammarström, Robert Forkel, Martin Haspelmath and Sebastian Bank, Glottolog. Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. glottolog.org retrieved 7 Oct 2026
Family and code for each language on the Languages page. Read from the CLDF export of the database (github.com/glottolog/glottolog-cldf, licence CC BY 4.0); the repository's README says version 5.3, its metadata file says 5.2.1. Glottolog gives only the top-level family here; the finer branches are not shown. - Institutional · to verify[23] The World Factbook: Government type, Languages, Religions (africa/*.json). CIA, via the factbook/factbook.json copy on GitHub. github.com retrieved 7 Oct 2026
Public-domain text copied unchanged. The copy does not say which edition it holds, and each figure carries its own estimate year in the text. Shares are estimates from censuses or surveys of different years; official languages are as the Factbook records them.