Swahili (or Kiswahili as it is called when one is speaking the language) is the most important and widely studied indigenous language of Africa, the National and official language of Kenya and Tanzania. It is spoken as a native language on the East coast of Africa and the islands adjacent to the coast from Southern Somalia in the north down through the Kenyan and Tanzanian coasts. There are many benefits of knowing the Swahili language, including the fact that it serves as a good vehicle to accessing Swahili culture. Swahili has a long written tradition and remarkable history. Swahili is a Bantu language of the Niger-Congo family and has a typical, complicated Bantu structure. For example, Swahili utilizes over 13 noun classes, the equivalence of a romance language having 13 genders. Three full noun classes are devoted to different aspects of space and time. Swahili represents an African World view quite different from that of a European language.