How good is your Shona?

When last did you have a chat with your friend in Shona completely without mixing it with a little English, or better yet, how well can you count up to 20 in your mother tongue? For most of us Shona has become a language we native speakers barely know.

Fortunately, Chivara co-founded by Surprise Svisveni and Batanai Sandura has just released their very first version of a web-app aimed at solving this. Svisveni says Chivara was born out of the all too familiar frustration faced by many Zimbabwean families.

“During our own school years, many of us struggled with Shona homework, and later, as parents, we found ourselves helping our children with the same assignments, often discovering that accurate, accessible answers were surprisingly difficult to find,” Chivara explains.

He decided to do something about it. Svisveni says he began a process of gathering and organising Shona language resources back in 2021. And after years of work, launched Chivara in February this year. He wants to preserve and apparently, modernize the Shona language.

We browsed around the site. It feels there are 4 distinct things – the main language section called “ruzivo” from where you can access the Shona dictionary, browse the Dudziramutauro, the Rungamutauro, names of things like Mhuka, Hukama, Wanano Mitupo… you know, the stuff that you see parents struggle with in WhatsApp groups when they need help with their kids’ homework.

In addition to that there are 3 key other sections which are almost distinct apps that could even stand alone. A tourism section called Mauya where visitors can learn Shona basics but can access a tourism services classifieds of sorts. A learning management system called Schools (Should have been “Zvikoro”, no?). And lastly, a Shona short stories section where users can submit stories and read stories by other Chivara users.

Anyone can use Chivara for free, even without registering, with the exception of some features that can only be accessed by registered users such as online classes, quizzes, progress tracking, bookmarks, certificates, and other learner engagement activities.

The platform has emerged alongside other ed-tech startups by various founders and software developers and most are yet to find their footing. Chivara hopes to conquer the ed-tech space with their eye-catching free model. That is, not a single dollar is taken from your pockets to have access to their resources. Shocking as it is, it all starts to make sense when their business model is explained to you. They are a sponsorship-driven business, most if not all of their revenue is expected to come from sponsors.

One interesting thing is that the site has so much stuff but navigating this rich content is not easy. There are sections of the app that are rich with content, and others that are quite underwhelming. The Rungamutauro section for example has some 2000 entries, while the dictionary has about 300.

Navigation could really improve so visitors can benefit from what feels like a massive resource. Consistency in language is also a thing. We found ourselves wondering why some menu items are in Shona and others in English.

With that being said the Chivara team has a solid vision but their grit, patience and determination will be tested by the rough and unforgiving space they are willing to indulge in. Is this the revival of a lost language or rather is it a dead-end?

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