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Sharifa Zawawi, Mwalimu wa Kiswahili - Brooks Goddard

Page history last edited by goddard@... 12 years, 6 months ago Saved with comment


Sharifa Zawawi, Mwalimu wa Kiswahili

 

Note: Others who remember the teaching of Bibi Zawawi

 are encouraged to submit additional material about her.


Brooks Goddard writes:

 Something here should be said of Sharifa Zawawi who taught many of us Swahili at Teachers College/TC. Myself, I shall never forget her and her energy. And we were learning from a Zanzibari by way of Oman. As Shakespeare said, “she was short but she was fierce.” Fierce in that “I’m going to teach you, you better learn” sense. I recall that she spotted someone reading the yellow and black colored cover of Teach Yourself Swahili and told the miscreant to put the book down, that that book was not her equal. Sharifa didn’t come into a room, she burst into it. The energy level went way up, and it is by lifelong regret that I never mastered her Swahili, much less the nuances that surrounded the word “bibi.” One of her other students commented: "She assured me that I spoke Swahili with an Italian accent for which I loved her. As luck would have it, I was posted to Kampala and Sharifa's excellence as a teacher would not be judged by my ability to speak Swahili in the kingdom of Buganda."

Comments (2)

goddard@... said

at 1:28 am on Oct 1, 2011

add to the end: One of her other students commented: "She assured me that I spoke Swahili with an Italian accent for which I loved her. As luck would have it, I was posted to Kampala and Sharifa's excellence as a teacher would not be judged by my ability to speak Swahili in the kingdom of Buganda."

goddard@... said

at 8:12 pm on Feb 24, 2012

In February, 2012, I had lunch with Sharifa who is still as energetic as I remember her. She continued teaching at Columbia until the mid 1970s when she joined City College, New York, from which she retired in the 1990s largely to help care for her mother in Oman. That care must have been wonderful because the mother is still alive. Sharifa had several visiting professorships and consults regularly on Swahili and Arabic language exams in various locations. She had a condo in the Fordham Oval in the Bronx and delights in visits to the nearby botanical gardens. We shared several memories of Susan Hall I, A, whose sudden death some 10-15 years ago was a tragic loss for many. Sharifa will be added to our directory.

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