Editor, I WISH to react to the article, “Should Kinyarwanda be the language of instruction in schools?”, published in the Society Magazine of The New Times on May 10. As we all know, there are three official languages—Kinyarwanda, English and French—in Rwanda; I’m wondering why English plays such a predominant role. Kecke, Germany ************************** HERE are some of the reasons why English should be the medium of instruction in Rwanda: Rwanda is a poor country; we have limited resources; we do most of our trade to or through East Africa, which is an English speaking economic bloc. We have to speak English. Have you compared the number of English web pages to French web pages? Have you compared the number of scientific publications in English and French? Even France’s Institut Pasteur publishes in English now. Our primary connection to the world must be in English; we have no choice. Did you notice that the largest and more dynamic economies are adopting English as their lingua franca? This is the case in the Middle East, China, Japan, and all of South East Asia. 300 million Chinese who are speaking English cannot all be wrong. This brings me to question your (Kecke) interest in promoting French in Rwanda. Germany itself and all of Northern Europe has a strong bias for English. Could it be that maybe you are not who you claim to be? By the way, I am fluent in French. So my opinion is not caused by my ignorance of the language. Rashid Swaleh, New York, United States
