{"id":36308,"date":"2023-02-23T17:03:30","date_gmt":"2023-02-23T17:03:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/kinyarwandas-hope-for-survival-lies-in-our-tongues"},"modified":"2023-02-23T17:47:56","modified_gmt":"2023-02-23T17:47:56","slug":"kinyarwandas-hope-for-survival-lies-in-our-tongues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/kinyarwandas-hope-for-survival-lies-in-our-tongues","title":{"rendered":"Kinyarwanda\u2019s hope for survival lies in our tongues"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Rwanda. <\/strong><\/span>There are more than 20 million Kinyarwanda speakers globally, and it is the first language for almost the entire Rwandan population \u2013 about 13 million people.<\/p>\n

Even the national anthem, composed decades ago, says \u201cour language unifies us,\u201d but this could change if no sufficient intervention is made to save Kinyarwanda from being \u2018hybridized\u2019 with other languages such as French, English or Swahili, which are also official languages in Rwanda.<\/p>\n

Professor Eugene Nsanzabiga in his 2015 study: \u201cFrom the \u201ctrapped language\u201d to the hybridized language: An educational dilemma in teaching Kinyarwanda,\u201d said Kinyarwanda appears to be one of the world\u2019s most complex and possibly richest, but increasingly endangered by foreign influences.<\/p>\n

\u201cIts richness seems to be increasingly overshadowed by a culture of language simplification and hybridization that affect key aspects of the language, which might be stemming from cultural crossbreeding that the Rwandan society has been undergoing for some years,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Indeed, we seem to have made efforts in pushing Kinyarwanda aside and mastering other languages, instead of acknowledging the beauty in diversity.<\/p>\n

In 2018, the Rwandan Academy of Language and Culture (RALC) raised an alarm about Kinyarwanda being in danger of extinction should current generations continue favouring foreign languages over their mother tongue.<\/p>\n

According to UNESCO, a language is considered \u2018vulnerable\u2019 if most children speak the language, but it may be restricted to certain domains, such as at home or other social functions.<\/p>\n

A language is considered \u2018definitely endangered\u2019 if children no longer learn the language as a ‘mother tongue’ in homes, and it is considered \u2018severely endangered\u2019 if the language is spoken by grandparents and older generations; while the parent generation may understand it, they do not speak it to children or among themselves.<\/p>\n

Sadly, Rwanda may soon qualify for most of the above if we don\u2019t put in more effort in teaching children Kinyarwanda as their mother tongue and giving it the honour it deserves, which is speaking it, creating literary pieces in it, and more.<\/p>\n

Some parents and teachers have banned \u2018vernacular\u2019 from schools and homes, without even considering that Kinyarwanda is a Rwandan identity.<\/p>\n

While multilingualism is an added value, Kinyarwanda is ours, and if we can\u2019t speak it, no one will.<\/p>\n

Kinyarwanda\u2019s hope for survival lies in our tongues. Let us speak it, teach it to our children so that they can teach it to their children.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Rwanda<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Rwanda. There are more than 20 million Kinyarwanda speakers globally, and it is the first language for almost the entire Rwandan population \u2013 about 13 million people. Even the national anthem, composed decades ago, says \u201cour language unifies us,\u201d but this could change if no sufficient intervention is made to save Kinyarwanda from […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":36307,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,761],"tags":[760,763,758],"class_list":["post-36308","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-files","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-rwanda","tag-rwanda"],"yoast_head":"\nKinyarwanda\u2019s hope for survival lies in our tongues - Rwanda<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"There are more than 20 million Kinyarwanda speakers globally, and it is the first language for almost the entire Rwandan ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/kinyarwandas-hope-for-survival-lies-in-our-tongues\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Kinyarwanda\u2019s hope for survival lies in our tongues\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"There are more than 20 million Kinyarwanda speakers globally, and it is the first language for almost the entire Rwandan ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/kinyarwandas-hope-for-survival-lies-in-our-tongues\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Rwanda\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-02-23T17:03:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-02-23T17:47:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sites\/23\/2023\/02\/postQueueImg_1677159223.05.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"562\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/kinyarwandas-hope-for-survival-lies-in-our-tongues#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/kinyarwandas-hope-for-survival-lies-in-our-tongues\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Kinyarwanda\u2019s hope for survival lies in our tongues\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-02-23T17:03:30+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-02-23T17:47:56+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/kinyarwandas-hope-for-survival-lies-in-our-tongues\"},\"wordCount\":414,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/kinyarwandas-hope-for-survival-lies-in-our-tongues#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sites\/23\/2023\/02\/postQueueImg_1677159223.05.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Rwanda\",\"Rwanda\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"files\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/kinyarwandas-hope-for-survival-lies-in-our-tongues#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/kinyarwandas-hope-for-survival-lies-in-our-tongues\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/kinyarwandas-hope-for-survival-lies-in-our-tongues\",\"name\":\"Kinyarwanda\u2019s hope for survival lies in our tongues - 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