French influences in Rwanda
Blog post by Perry Beeman • pbeeman@dmreg.com • October 7, 2009
The official line is that Rwanda will be pushing English as the go-to second language, replacing French, to position the country better in international business circles. As it is, Kinyarwanda is the prevailing language, and French is spoken almost everywher, too. People here hold a lot of disdain for the French for that country’s role in setting up the tensions that led to the 1994 genocide, when nearly 1 million Tutsis and moderate Hutus were beaten, shot or hacked to death.
Yet French influences are everywhere here. Many businesses have names that employ French. I tried to use the computer in the hotel lobby today and discovered the browser was in French and the keyboard, which contained French symbols, did not have the same alignment of letters as U.S. computers do. Tellingly, when Rwandans see a Muzungu, or white person, they almost instinctively begin speaking French, assuming their visitor will understand. My French begins and ends, almost, with “bon jour.”
I’ve been surprised at how big a barrier language has been here, because English is an official language in Rwanda and is taught in the schools. In Kigali, the capital and a city of some 800,000, English is fairly widely spoken. But in the villages, it’s best to know some French. Those who have tried to learn Kinyarwanda tell me it is a tonal language that is very tough to learn. Imagine how my Midwest accent would play if I went much farther than “Muraho,” which is “hello.”
Kids have this rap going where the conversation goes, “Hello, how are you? I am fine.” Over and over again, sometimes. They also are very good with “Give me money” — which would make President Paul Kagame, a preacher of self-reliance, cringe — and “Pass the bottle.” The latter is their request to re-use empty water bottles, not to take a swig of Rwanda’s very fine beer, Primus.
So it will be interesting to see if or when the Rwandan masses discard French as their backup language. Rwanda is now part of the East African Community, which also is pushing English in the name of progress, business and economic prosperity.
Rwanda is changing quickly in many ways, but some practices are tough to give up. To wit: The government changed the name of Ruhengeri to Musanze, and Butare became Huye, in a move meant to put some of the bitter genocide memories in the past. Almost everyone here uses the old city names, regardless.
http://blogs.desmoinesregister.com/dmr/index.php/2009/10/07/french-influences-in-rwanda/
Blog post by Perry Beeman • pbeeman@dmreg.com • October 7, 2009
The official line is that Rwanda will be pushing English as the go-to second language, replacing French, to position the country better in international business circles. As it is, Kinyarwanda is the prevailing language, and French is spoken almost everywher, too. People here hold a lot of disdain for the French for that country’s role in setting up the tensions that led to the 1994 genocide, when nearly 1 million Tutsis and moderate Hutus were beaten, shot or hacked to death.
Yet French influences are everywhere here. Many businesses have names that employ French. I tried to use the computer in the hotel lobby today and discovered the browser was in French and the keyboard, which contained French symbols, did not have the same alignment of letters as U.S. computers do. Tellingly, when Rwandans see a Muzungu, or white person, they almost instinctively begin speaking French, assuming their visitor will understand. My French begins and ends, almost, with “bon jour.”
I’ve been surprised at how big a barrier language has been here, because English is an official language in Rwanda and is taught in the schools. In Kigali, the capital and a city of some 800,000, English is fairly widely spoken. But in the villages, it’s best to know some French. Those who have tried to learn Kinyarwanda tell me it is a tonal language that is very tough to learn. Imagine how my Midwest accent would play if I went much farther than “Muraho,” which is “hello.”
Kids have this rap going where the conversation goes, “Hello, how are you? I am fine.” Over and over again, sometimes. They also are very good with “Give me money” — which would make President Paul Kagame, a preacher of self-reliance, cringe — and “Pass the bottle.” The latter is their request to re-use empty water bottles, not to take a swig of Rwanda’s very fine beer, Primus.
So it will be interesting to see if or when the Rwandan masses discard French as their backup language. Rwanda is now part of the East African Community, which also is pushing English in the name of progress, business and economic prosperity.
Rwanda is changing quickly in many ways, but some practices are tough to give up. To wit: The government changed the name of Ruhengeri to Musanze, and Butare became Huye, in a move meant to put some of the bitter genocide memories in the past. Almost everyone here uses the old city names, regardless.
http://blogs.desmoinesregister.com/dmr/index.php/2009/10/07/french-influences-in-rwanda/