The Multilingual Geniuses of Rwanda

eople I have always admired are athletes, mathematicians and multi-linguals. Not necessarily in that order, but these are qualities I have woefully come to accept that I do not have, nor will I have in this lifetime.Multi-linguals are people I secretly compare to demi-gods, and nowhere was this better expressed than at Comedy Nayiti; an event that takes place on a monthly basis at the Ishyo Arts Centre in Kacyiru.As we paid for our tickets, there was a small group of us that asked the people at the ticket-stand if it was in English.They assured us it was, and our group, which also consisted of Kenyans and Ugandans, happily trooped in and settled comfortably in our seats. Looking back, I think what the ticket-stand gentleman should have done was to scoff at our question, and assure us that no such thing as an exclusive language would form the basis of a cultural and unique event such as comedy night in Kigali.And rightly so. What we were to witness to was an impressive switch of languages by the comedians, intricately and effortlessly weaving together Kinyarwanda, French, English, Luganda and Kiswahili for their comedy skits, sending the audience into non-stop fits of laughter. If it was necessary, I’m sure some of them would include Spanish, just for good measure.This of course, wasn’t an issue for 99 per cent of the audience members, whose language skills were most likely as enviably good as all the comedians on stage. Watching all this, I realised I was part of this generation that missed the bus.What is emerging in Rwanda today is a critical mass of young people whose adept language skills give them an edge over their Rwandan and even East African counterparts. Their French is impeccable, their Kinyarwanda enviable and their English stellar.Even their Kiswahili, be it DRC or Tanzanian type is quite impressive. After the show, I approached one of the comedians to discuss further this wonderful phenomenon, to learn that he dreams in Kinyarwanda, thinks in French and spends most of his time speaking English. Tell me, if these are not demi-gods then who are?There are various explanations for this, and a common thread I’ve noticed is that most of these language maestros are usually originally Francophone and growing up in Rwanda, picked up English from school and social settings, while Kinyarwanda was either a first or second childhood language.Then again, I know of primarily English speaking children who upon returning to Rwanda in the mid-nineties, learned French and speak it with such aplomb, it is hard to discern what their first languages were. An element too of immersion over time explains the ability of such youth to fine-tune each language, including the aspect of having no other choice but to do so. Compare this to those who had a choice of learning a language or not (and obviously choosing the latter), and whose levels of immersion are only limited to knowing the basics of a language.My younger sister, during the festive season, left us gaping in shock, as she rattled to her friends over the phone in French. And decent French, may I add. What we thought was an overnight sensation was in fact a result of socialising in different language circles over time, culminating into learning a language she was now confident in speaking.I am still keen on discovering the dynamics at work for this important trend, and it was interesting to know that studies today show that bilingualism makes people smarter. Bilinguals (to think in Rwanda we’re dealing with multi-linguals) have a heightened ability to monitor their environment compared to monolinguals, and would you believe this – are more resistant to the onset of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease than monolinguals.I can only hope that this particular trend keeps on growing, and look forward to what it translates into for Rwandan youth in the future.