| Sarah Mirza | |
|---|---|
| |
| Biographical information | |
| Full name |
Sarah Mirza |
| Birthplace |
Mombasa, Kenya |
| Career information | |
| Years |
2015 - Present |
| “ |
|
” |
Sarah Mirza is the Swahili consultant for The Lion Guard: Return of the Roar and its follow-up television series, The Lion Guard.
Biography[]
Mirza was born in Mombasa, Kenya, and studied Linguistics at the University of Nairobi.[1] After graduating, she moved to the United States to earn her postgraduate degree.[1] Shortly afterward, she began teaching at UCLA.[1] She is responsible for writing key Swahili teaching text that is used in schools around the world.[1]
Mirza recounts that she would often speak to people in the social sphere and cite character names from The Lion King to teach people about Swahili:
- "We need a follow-up, because I'll meet people at parties, and they'll say they don't know any Swahili, and I'll say, 'Really? Do you know Hakuna Matata? Do you know Simba? Do you know Rafiki?' And they say, 'Yes,' and I say, 'Well, that's Swahili.' So I've been wanting to go past the four words to more!"[1]
She was brought on to the show by its producers, who wanted to incorporate Swahili words and phrases into the series.[1] Since joining the project, Mirza has created several phrases that are in "Swinglish": half-English and half-Swahili.[1] For different characters, she would create names and catchphrases that matched their personality and role, such as Makuu the show-off crocodile, whose name means "big things."[1]