Dear Editor,

Thank you for giving me a chance to express myself in your newspaper. I am a keen follower of news through your publication, and, I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for a job well done.

I would like to use this forum to raise my concern over our language; Kinyarwanda, whose future use I am beginning to worry about. While I was growing up, my parents, who were quite learned could not speak to me in any other language other than Kinyarwanda, something that I still do today with my own children.

However, wherever I go these days, whether its in church, supermaket or in people’s homes, I am surprised to hear parents addressing their children in either French or English. Some parents seem to think its classy that their children prefer foreign languages because its not uncommon to hear a parent tell you how his son or daughter prefers English.

I am beginning to wonder, if these particular parents remember to educate these children about their culture, since their mother tongue seems to be history.
I would like to advise the Ministry of Culture to set up a languages and Culture centre that will preserve our language and encourage its use within our society, lest we wake up one day and its gone.

With this centre, I am sure interest in our langauge and culture shall be promoted and put to better use by future generations.

Ian Manzi
Nyarutarama