Editor, RE: “Why Rwanda’s move to English?” (The New Times, November 11). This is true because English is becoming a global language. And Rwanda has made a right choice to make it an official language. On the other hand, using a bigger lens, do we really speak English or French? Since I was young, teachers and parents encouraged me to speak French at all costs so as to prepare for a bright future. From a very young age, I was really good at speaking and writing French. To my surprise, when I went to France my language skills were questioned, more often people were referring to my French as “français-africain”. And I was denied several jobs opportunities that required to write reports in French. Even though I grew up mimicking the French people accent, when I got a job in a secondary school, French children could hardly understand my accent. It was as if I was speaking a different language to them. A few decades ago I moved to England working as an interpreter and a translator. Once again to my surprise sometimes, I helped graduate clients from the English speaking countries in Africa whose first language is English but their accent and vocabularies seemed strange to English native speakers and language barrier was visible in accessing various services. This phenomenon provoked me to ask myself: do we really speak English or French? We often forget that language is about identity and culture. It will be a big loss if we stick to foreign languages and ignore our own—Kinyarwanda. Sincerely, it does not require a big investment to develop Kinyarwanda which seems to have really been neglected. MM *************** Rwanda should gain more by promoting both English and French—do not be short-minded. Do you mean Rwanda should leave CEPGL or CEEAC? Come on, we are still more a part of Africa than the Commonwealth... Rwanda is a landlocked country, so it has no choice but to embrace integration, not only in the East Africa, but also in other parts of Africa. Why do you think our Government’s has opened embassies in Congo-Brazzaville, Senegal, Angola, and so on? Is it a waste of time? I don’t think so. For those who are parents, let the kids learn more foreign languages—c’est une grande richesse. Tippo
