After having joined the East African Community, the Commonwealth and adopted English as a language of instruction in schools, this weekend saw the launch of the inaugural Fountain Publishers Kinyarwanda-English dictionary, right here in Kigali.

The ability to communicate and interact with the outside world is, and will continue to be, an essential component of Rwanda’s development strategy. English is the most popular language for trade, finance, research and science and technology, worldwide.

Rwanda found it essential to be part of this modern-day globalised world. To give each Rwandan the capacity to be a part of this globalised world is something that the government values.

The government has, along with other initiatives, trained teachers and civil servants with the aim of expanding their use of English. However, the initiatives have to be supplemented by various language learning tools that would enable people to master the English language. This new dictionary is one of the most important tools that we can have.

With the dictionary, Rwandans will be able to learn English faster. And, on the other, hand, those who want to learn Kinyarwanda, will find the dictionary extremely useful. Rwanda, as an ideal investment and tourism destination receives many visitors who express a lot of interest in learning the language. They too, will find the dictionary an important resource.

That said, the publishers should endeavour to make the dictionary available both at learning institutions and in stores. And, those who want to learn either language should have this book, by their side.

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