We come from a story
Our parents passed a story down to us, and the language is part of it. It carries a part of who we are: a way of greeting, joking, comforting, praying. Speaking Lingala keeps you connected to that story.
The project
The vision, the mission and the values that guide this project. Simple words, but ones that matter.
First, hello
First, hello. Behind this site there is a first name, Hans, Congolese roots and a childhood in Switzerland. But the story isn’t only mine, it’s ours. Growing up between two languages, understanding Lingala without daring to speak it, feeling that thread thin out from one generation to the next. Many of us know that silence.
We can regret it for a long time. Note it, complain, wait for someone else to deal with it. But a language isn’t saved with words, it’s passed on through action. That takes time, effort, a little training, real commitment. This project is that choice made concrete. It carries a mindset: to act, not just to observe. And that mindset is carried, above all, by my Christian faith: to give rather than keep for oneself, to serve rather than wait.
Passing on Lingala is not about retreating into a closed circle. By shutting ourselves inside our community, we end up locking it in. It’s openness that lets us see further, without ever turning our back on our own. Loving your people while staying open to the world, that is what brings us together, the opposite of withdrawal. Here we choose sharing and mutual aid, in deeds far more than in words.
To grow, this project has to belong to all of us, and to reach far beyond any single person. Learn it, pass it on, fix a word, tell the people around you, support it with a donation if you can. Every gesture carries it further. Congolese or friend of the Congolese, this language connects us, and in the end, we all reap the fruits.
Something is fading
Many of us, born elsewhere, never had the chance to learn. And modern life, screens and artificial intelligence included, pulls families a little further away from what they were, day after day. What is not passed on fades away.
Passing it on, out of love
This site passes on living knowledge: a language you speak with the people you love. Not a museum, not folklore. An act of love for those who come after us.
To open a simple, joyful path to Lingala for everyone, wherever they live: understand the language, listen to it, practise it, until you speak it with your loved ones. Then do the same for Swahili, Kikongo and Tshiluba. A mission that reaches beyond any single person, and moves forward thanks to those who carry it.
What this site promises you
- Free and ad-free. No account, nothing to install: open a page and learn.
- Honest: when a translation is not certain, we write “coming soon” rather than making it up.
- Patient and encouraging: step by step, listen and repeat, no one is judged.
- For everyone, Congolese or friend of the Congolese: adults and children alike, in French, English, German or Lingala.
Integrity
We say what is certain and admit what is not. No inventing, no shortcuts. Trust is earned one word at a time, and trust is what we mean to serve.
Consistency
We don’t just talk, we do what we say. The site practises what it teaches, and passing the language on lives in deeds, not only in words.
Empowerment
We hand you the keys, you hold the wheel. Everyone learns at their own pace, passes it on in turn, and can help the project grow. Congolese or friend of the Congolese, everyone has a part to play.
Commitment
To act rather than observe, and to stay the course. The site grows page after page, carried by those who invest in it, far beyond any single person.
A language is passed on out of love.
The story continues with you
Every word you learn ties a thread back together. Start small, go at your own pace: the rest will follow.
Start with the basics