Intensive Swahili

I have taken years of language classes but others do not compare. Hamisi is the best language teacher I’ve ever had. At first I was a bit worried about learning one on one but in the end it was so worth it! I learned so much so quickly. I was astounded how much I was able to learn in just the first week and even more so by the end of the month. I can have conversations with locals after only five weeks of lessons. Hamisi is great at explain the grammar rules and made everything very easy to understand. He was able to adjust to my needs as a student (spending more time on things I needed help with and less time on things I got quickly). There was emphasis on conversation practice from very early on which helped develop my skills a lot. Hamisi is not overly congratulating which makes any praise he does give all the more genuine. I would recommend this class to anyone interested in learning Swahili.

The course itself was brilliant and Khamis was a fantastic teacher. He explained all the grammatical rules so clearly, and I came away with far more Swahili knowledge than I expected from a 2-week course.
My only complaint is that the classroom was very difficult to find. It isn't in the Old Dispensary anymore as many of the previous reviews say, and it is in the gated building behind the Azam Marine Ferry Office, after the roundabout. I was given instructions that it was opposite the office which wasn't correct, and other students hadn't received any instructions at all. Better communication is needed from KIU, but beyond this the teaching was brilliant. Learning with Khamis was worth the struggle of finding the building.

As a student with some experience looking to accelerate my learning, the week I spent at KIU doing customised classes was perfect. The teachers quickly assessed what I knew already and were really accommodating and kind about adjusting classes to match my strengths and weaknesses. They especially encouraged me to ask questions at all stages of the learning process, to make sure I was taking it all in and to find ways they could teach better. Couldn’t recommend it more highly.

I spent a month with KIU in Stone Town and loved it! We were a very small class of 2 students, which meant that the teaching was very intensive and we were able to cover a lot of ground in a short period of time. The fact that our teachers were from Stone Town made the learning experience very "genuine" and gave us the opportunity to learn lots about the Zanzibar culture, cooking, traditions etc. Our teachers were extremely motivated and very eager to customize the learning experience to our personal needs and requests. I particularly enjoyed learning about the differences between both spoken and written Swahili in the different regions of eastern Africa and was pleased with the mix between grammar and conversation. Unfortunately, our original teacher fell sick during the second week time but a replacement was organized fairly quickly so we only ended up missing out on about a day and a half of classes.

I studied for two weeks, but we missed one day each week (once because of the teacher, once because of me), so I caught up the missing classes two weeks later (I contacted the teacher to schedule them, he was flexible and accommodating). The school is ideally located in a historic building, easy to find. The classroom is basic, a small room with air conditioning. The teacher was pleasant, helpful and experienced. There were no extra-curricular or cultural activities, nor was there any pre-course level-test. I did not meet anyone from the school other than the teacher. The first week I shared classes with another student whose level was quite a bit higher than mine, and I felt the teacher was directing the class to her, at her level, I felt a bit out of my depth. The second week it was just me and the teacher. We had a course book and he stuck to it closely - it would have been good to have had some additional, more varied material and activities, as well as more listening exercises, writing, reading, more grammar practice etc, I felt we just went through the book. The second week I was able to flag some of my language gaps and try to focus on them a bit more. I sometimes got the impression the teacher is bored with his job, or maybe focused on other areas of it that he considers more important, or was preoccupied with other things - maybe he had some problems I wasn't aware of that impacted his teaching, because it wasn't dynamic in any way (though maybe that is just the Zanzibari style, polite and leisurely!) and I often felt he was distracted. But I do feel like I made progress, just that the course could have been more structured and dynamic to make the most of the short time period. I organised my own accommodation, as the school only suggested hotels that would have worked out quite expensive. I think this course could be more beneficial to people with a longer study period available. Although I would generally recommend it, similar courses are also offered by the State University (SUZA) and seem better organised, from what I have heard, so another time I would probably try there. But it was an enjoyable experience, and the old dispensary provides a beautiful, calm study environment.

Teacher was excellent. Facilities were fair but I had great difficulty finding it on the first day. Course was very thorough

I am a 60 year old gay man from the USA who spoke absolutely no Kiswahili and wanted to learn the basics for work. I chose Zanzibar in part because I wanted to study in a beautiful location and in part to give me the space to learn Swahili (since my work is taking me to Dar). I had a great experience and would highly recommend KIU in Zanzibar to others. My teacher, Hamisi, was wonderful. He made each class exciting, enjoyable, and the language accessible. It was fun, and even for an older student who needed more time to learn vocabulary, I learned a lot in two weeks. Biggest pluses: KIU has one of the few good textbooks to learn Kiswahili and Hamisi really knew the material well. It's obvious he cares deeply about both the language and his students. Biggest negative: The website describes KIU as opposite the Old Dispensary Building - it's not. It's inside on the second floor. The building is super easy to find as it is right in town opposite the ferry terminal. Biggest surprise: I went during Ramadan and rainy season which turned out to be a great idea budget-wise and for quiet study (but take an umbrella). I can recommend the Hotel Tembo as it is a ten minute easy walk to KIU, has great food, nice rooms, a good swimming pool and spectacular views of the sea. Plus it's quiet and friendly - all the staff made it their personal mission to help me practice my Kiswahili. For women and sexual minorities, Zanzibar is conservative and predominantly Muslim, so you need to respect the culture. But it's rich with history and felt like one of the safest towns I have visited anywhere. It was so hard to leave.

The teacher was good, adjusted the lessons to my needs. The facility was also very nice. Only thing is that it should be better explained to students where the room of kiu is on zanzibar (in the old, minty green dispensory building on the 2nd floor). Also, it should be arranged when lessons start exactly and the phone number of the teacher should be shared in advance (teacher wasn't there on the first say)

As a beginner I was lucky to get a good structure in grammar and of course more information about the cultural habits.
The classroom was well situated and because of my one-on-one course I had enough space.

My teacher was "old school" in methods but at the end of the lesson, it was very helpful with my personal needs.
I sometimes wished to get more of practice and activities to learn not only from book and flip chart.
The "Swahili Survival Kit" supported me in direct communication although I got it in the end of the second week.

I paid €53,-- for school-materials and I wondered about a CD lying in a box - unfortunately I didn't ask for it until my last day.
Is there a way to send it to my home-address, because I would really like to keep on speaking this nice language?

Thank you so much for booking my hotel in advance! It was in the near of KIU and good enough for the price.
Only the WiFi made problems, but my teacher told them about the necessarity to work and at the most time a had.

When I decided to learn Kiswahili I got the advice to do this in Stone Town - and it was a good decision!
Thank you for making it possible!

I did a one week "crash-course" in Kiswahili with KIU. The lessons were delivered at a comfortable pace, with positive interactive teaching methods. By the end of the week, I could hold a simple conversation with regard to greetings, buying in shops, and asking/answering simple questions about myself and others. Overall, it was a fantastic course with great teachers. Thank you KIU.