Sheng, slang and switching codes: writing copy that sounds like your customer

Listen to a conversation in a Nairobi matatu, a Mombasa market or a Kisumu salon and you will hear several languages at once. A sentence starts in English, slides into Kiswahili and ends with a Sheng word that did not exist five years ago. Linguists call it code-switching. Kenyans just call it talking.

Advertising that ignores this sounds stiff. Advertising that tries too hard sounds like an uncle at a youth party. The craft is in between.

Why mixing works

• It feels familiar. People trust messages that sound like the people they know.
• It signals belonging. Using the right word tells a young audience you understand them.
• It is efficient. Some ideas land faster in one language than another: a joke in Sheng, a price in English, a warm greeting in Kiswahili.

Know who you are talking to

Code-switching is not one style. It varies by:

• Age: Sheng is strongest among young urban Kenyans and changes fastest
• Place: Nairobi Sheng differs from Mombasa's coastal Kiswahili and from up-country speech
• Setting: a bank can be warmer than it used to be, but not too casual
• Product: a sneaker drop can be playful; a hospital should be clear and calm

Rules of thumb

1. Write it the way your customer would say it, then read it aloud. If it sounds strange in your mouth, it will sound strange in theirs.
2. Check fresh slang with someone who uses it. Sheng moves quickly; last year's word can sound dated, and some words carry meanings you did not intend.
3. Keep key information clear. Prices, dates, addresses and instructions should be unambiguous, whatever language surrounds them.
4. Avoid stereotypes. Mixing languages should not mean mocking accents or communities.
5. Respect Kiswahili. Mixing is natural; careless Kiswahili is not. Get the grammar right where you use it.

Setting the language in the Studio

Tari Studio lets you set the language of speech and on-screen words on every quote. One option is Kiswahili and English (Kenyan mix), the everyday mix many Kenyans use. Others include Kiswahili, English as Kenyans speak it and English (international). Brand names, prices, phone numbers and web addresses stay exactly as you typed them. Ads in the languages your customers speak.

Write your own lines when you want control: the AI director keeps your words as written. Or use /script and edit the dialogue it writes. Either way, have a native speaker of your audience's style read the final words. Scripts with /script.

A test

Show the script to three people from your target audience and ask one question: "Would someone you know say this?" If the answer is a laugh in the wrong place, rewrite.

Write your first mixed-language script.