Xavery Mpombo

English speakers who want to learn Swahili - Xavery is 100% your best option!! I went from not speaking a single word of Swahili besides “hakuna matata” to being able to make small talk and have surface level conversation in only a few short months to prepare for a trip to Tanzania. He has a VERY excellent grasp on how to teach a language effectively, and a very good instinct for understanding common mistakes from English speakers because he is also a great English speaker himself who has learned from the other direction. I have had many language teachers over the years and I can tell you Xavery is one of the best I’ve had. Truly a great teacher who communicates concepts effectively, and on top of that, is an incredibly kind and patient person! Look no further!! Xavery should be your Swahili teacher!

I'm so thankful and grateful to be formally learning noun classes with a native certified Swahili teacher! For me, this is the trickiest part of learning Swahili and Xavery is the best teacher to help guide you through this. I love his verb perspective approach, it is helping to unlock the mysteries of this new grammatical concept for me. Asante sana kwa kazi yako, Xavery. Wewe ni mwalimu bora!

Mwalimu Xavery has prepared absolutely beautiful notes for his students! They are extremely clear, very well structured, beautifully presented and help explain all of the different grammatical structures and rules in the Swahili language. It was through his notes that I began to understand what noun classes were and how to conjugate verbs according to the different noun classes. Apart from noun classes, Mwalimu Xavery has pretty much taught me all of Swahili grammar and I get the chance to practice what I've learned through my conversations in Swahili with him. He patiently coaches me when I'm trying to put together a sentence and adds to my vocabulary in Swahili when we speak about specific subjects. Today we talked in Swahili about food and education in our respective countries. Xavery, wewe ni balaa kubwa! Ninaweza kuongea Kiswahili kwa sababu yako. Nashukuru sana kazi yako, asante sana kwa kila kitu!

This is my son's 15th lesson - starting weekly lessons with Xavery some months ago to learn Swahili. Not only is my son extremely motivated (we are going back to volunteer again in Tanzania this July) - but Xavery has been fabulous in getting my son to the stage where he can have simple conversations across a range of subjects. More progress to come but this is one of my son's favorite things to do! Thanks so much Xavery.

What an amazing class (as per usual)! Today we had an absolutely fascinating discussion (all in Swahili of course) about the average age of life milestones, population growth, immigration, etc in our respective countries. Not only was it an opportunity to learn more about our respective backgrounds, but it was also a great way to put into practise all that Mwalimu Xavery has taught me over the years, i.e. noun classes, moods, specific vocabulary, etc. I am so grateful to him for teaching me how Swahili is structured and for explaining the rules so clearly. Nashukuru kabisa kwa kazi yako, Xavery, wewe ni balaa kubwa! Asante sana kwa kila kitu!

As always, it is incredible to be able to have a class with Mwalimu Xavery! He is a consummate professional, he is always on time, always responsive and always listening to students to meet their Swahili learning needs. Even despite the recent Internet blackout in Tanzania did everything humanly possible to our reschedule class. He works tirelessly to give the best quality teaching experience. We had a conversation in Swahili today which helped me integrate new vocabulary, practice noun classes and moods as well as the subjective in Swahili. Nashukuru kabisa kwa kazi yako, Xavery, asante sana kwa kipindi cha chetu cha leo. Wewe ni balaa kubwa!