Western Africa
Video Chat with People from Sierra Leone
Freetown is squeezed between green mountains and the Atlantic, and the beaches running south from the city, from Lumley to River No. 2 and Bureh, are a favorite weekend topic. Plenty of people live right in Freetown, while others are in Bo, Kenema, Makeni or Koidu further inland. English is the official language, but Krio, an English-based creole, is what almost everyone speaks with one another. Mende is widely spoken in the south and east and Temne in the north, along with Limba and several others. If you speak English, you'll catch a lot of Krio once your ear adjusts.
Sierra Leone keeps GMT all year, so when evening starts in Freetown it's lunchtime or early afternoon in New York and dinnertime in Paris. People call their country Salone, and it comes up with pride. Good topics include cassava leaf stew, groundnut soup, jollof rice and binch akara, the bean fritters sold on street corners; the Leone Stars football team; Afropop and gumbe music; the Banana Islands; or the chimpanzee sanctuary at Tacugama, in the hills above Freetown.
Sierra Leone at a glance
| Flag | 🇸🇱 |
|---|---|
| Official name | Republic of Sierra Leone |
| Capital | Freetown |
| Region | Africa · Western Africa |
| Official language | English |
| Currency | Sierra Leonean leone (Le, SLL) |
| Calling code | +232 |
| Time zone | Greenwich Mean Time (Africa/Freetown) |
How to say hello
A friendly local greeting makes a great first impression.
| Language | Phrase | Say it | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| Krio | Kushɛ! | KOO-sheh | Hello! |
| Krio | Aw di bodi? | ow dee BOH-dee | How are you? (literally "how's the body?") |
| Krio | Di bodi fayn. | dee BOH-dee fine | I'm fine. |
| Krio | Tɛnki! | TEN-kee | Thank you! |
Tips for chatting with people from Sierra Leone
- Krio sounds close to English but has its own grammar; listen for a moment before jumping in, and ask what a phrase means if you're lost.
- Say "Salone" instead of Sierra Leone once you're chatting; it's the everyday nickname and sounds friendly.
- Ask for a beach recommendation on the Freetown peninsula; people enjoy naming their favorite spot.
- Liberia next door shares a lot of food and music; if you've chatted with someone from Liberia, comparing notes makes a good opener.
Only meet people from Sierra Leone
Omlet matches you Worldwide by default. To meet only people from Sierra Leone, use the country filter, the only filter Omlet has:
- Open Omlet and press Country on the control panel.
- Search for Sierra Leone and select it.
- Press Start. Press Next to meet someone else from Sierra Leone, or switch back to Worldwide any time.
Your first day is free: you add a card through Stripe to start it, and nothing is charged that day. When the 24 hours end, the country filter costs $3 one time, charged to that card, unless you cancel before then in Settings (if you cancel, you can still pick a country until the day ends). It's not a subscription, and it stays unlocked on that device and browser. It doesn't carry over to other devices or browsers, and clearing your browser data removes it. There's one free day per device, home network and card. Payment goes through Stripe, so Omlet never sees your card number.
The filter works both ways, and matching can be slower when fewer people from Sierra Leone are online. Chatting itself is free, and Worldwide matching never costs anything.
Your own country is detected automatically and shown to the people you meet as a flag.
Neighboring countries
Sierra Leone borders 2 countries. Curious about the people next door? Meet them too: