FYI, this item from the Kigali paper, The New Times, was seen on AllAfrica.com at http://fr.allafrica.com/stories/200607030684.html . Virtually all Rwandans have the same one maternal language - Kinyarwanda (a language almost identical to Kirundi of Burundi and similar to some other languages in the region), but Rwanda also has two European languages with official status - French and English. The situation described in this column reflects this reversal of the more commonly seen pattern in Africa... DZO
Rwanda: Anglophone or Francophone? The New Times (Kigali) http://www.newtimes.co.rw/ COLUMN 2 Juillet 2006 Publié sur le web le 3 Juillet 2006 Thomas Kagera Kigali O Galatians! Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified? .....Have you suffered so many things in vain-if indeed it was in vain? (Gal.3) Early this week, in The New Times lead story, were reports that Guild elections at the prestigious Kigali University of Science and Technology have been grappling with calls and counter-calls of divisionism along 'phone' lines; that is between English and French speaking students. In the news report it is said that the Dean of Students Robert Barigira went as far as sowing seeds of divisionism along lingual lines by trying to persuade KIST Representatives Board (KRB) the students' parliament, to disqualify Eric Ntaganda, an Anglophone, from running for the guild presidency. Indeed, I must say, it is very unfortunate that after decades of colonial domination, neo-colonial mentalities continue to stifle Africans' perception of themselves, their social environments and interpretation of economic and political policies. It is unfortunate that as we are getting entrenched into the circles of globalization, some people continue to look at their social cocoons as impenetrable and un-adjustive. With globalization, one would think of mastering many languages to effectively fit into the global village. The French people and the language have been with us in Rwanda for almost a century now. In the 1994 mayhem when the extremists were bent on terminating another section of Rwandans how did the French people and the French Language help in extinguishing out the killings. Were they not the very ones who instructed the militias, armed them and provided counter-intelligence? Where were the English super-powers of USA and Britain? Were they not the ones who sang the 'we do not have strategic interests in Rwanda' song? Where were those people and languages you so much cherish during the 1994 bedlam? Were they not the Kinyarwanda speaking Rwandans-the diasporas (RPA/F) that after a valiant struggle, sacrifice and commitment rescued this country from the hands of political scavengers? Then where does this thing of Anglophone or Francophone come in? However fluent you may be in French or English, you can never become French or English. You will remain a Rwandan. So why let foreign languages divide you? And multi-lingualism is itself such a virtue which has seen countries being spurred into development through efficient international relations. We should not abuse multilingualism. For the past 30 years, Canada has played a leadership role in the respect of cultural and linguistic diversity and in the promotion of language skills. Switzerland and Sweden are favoured by their mutilingual character. The development of international exchanges have made the mastery of two or three languages an essential asset in the modern world. The "language barrier" has to be overcome due to ever increasing international relations. The ease of traveling, the intensification of immigration and the presence of new populations in Rwanda's socio-cultural landscape are engendering a more and more pressing need to learn more than one language. The knowledge of several languages responds to the intensification of exchanges and communications, the advantages of individually mastering several languages, multilingualism in other words, is being felt by many. Multilingulaism indeed presents advantages in many areas: individually, socio-culturally, economically and politically. This means that we should employ multilingualism as a development tool not as a divisive medium. It is better for all Rwandans to know that their Alpha and Omega lingua franca is Kinyarwanda which they should be proud of, to protect and develop, and use foreign languages as conduits for acquiring and disseminating knowledge; for if they jealously scramble for and grumble amongst themselves because of foreign languages then what next? ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Great things are happening at Yahoo! Groups. See the new email design. http://us.click.yahoo.com/TISQkA/hOaOAA/yQLSAA/TpIolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AfricanLanguages/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
