Patrice Ntawigira speaks during the launch ceremony of the Kinyarwanda course at BFSU in Beijing on October 8, 2019 (EMBASSY OF RWANDA IN CHINA)

Africa is a home to over 2,000 languages, encompassing nearly one-third of all languages spoken on Earth. South Africa alone has dozens of languages, Chad more than 100, and in Nigeria people speak over 500 languages. One of these languages is Kinyarwanda, which is spoken by more than 40 million people who are mainly natives of Rwanda and Burundi, with some from neighboring countries such as Uganda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Tanzania.

Kinyarwanda has attracted people from all corners of the world to the extent that some foreign countries have incorporated it in their university curricula. These include Harvard University, Indiana University, Stanford University, Beijing Foreign Studies University (BFSU) and many others.

African language teaching

Kinyarwanda was introduced into BFSU in 2019, becoming the second language from East Africa to be taught at this university after Kiswahili. Ye Yushi, also known as Murekatete, her Kinyarwanda nickname, is one of the first Chinese students who enrolled and graduated in Kinyarwanda at BFSU. She feels proud to say that when she meets a Rwandan, she greets them using a Kinyarwanda common greeting word “Muraho!” (Hello). In an interview with ChinAfrica, she expressed strong enthusiasm toward this subject. She noted that it’s hard for Chinese and other foreigners to learn Kinyarwanda and other African languages but with passion and perfect guidance, she learnt it and gained perfection.

She concurred with the view that the connection between language and culture is undeniable. She said that her passion for African languages increased as she grew up reading foreign literary works including those from Africa.

“I have been interested in foreign cultures since I was a child, and I liked to pay attention to foreign literature and watched films when I was a senior high school student. I found that learning foreign languages may allow me to see the world from a different perspective. That’s why I chose to learn foreign languages especially Kinyarwanda and Swahili in the university,” she told ChinAfrica.

Ye also believes that a language is the foundation of culture. “The progress and development of human civilization cannot rely only on a few commonly used languages. Africa is the birthplace of human civilization. Therefore, learning African native languages is of great value to understanding the past of human beings and looking forward to a bright future,” she added.

The views were complimented by Ma Xiujie, Doctor of Philosophy in Linguistics of University of Rhodes in South Africa who is teaching Zulu language at BFSU. Ma argues that the African language learning contributes to the concept of “a shared future for mankind” by enhancing mutual understanding. “Through learning a language, a person can better know the culture, so it would be easy to understand each other.”

People-to-people exchanges

Nelson Mandela once said, “If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart.” It’s true that while communicating in someone’s native language is a great way to not only show respect, but also connect with them on a deeper level. The idea has been put into practice by the introduction of Kinyarwanda at BFSU which is believed to bolster the process of people-to-people interactions between Rwanda and China in the long run.

Patrice Ntawigira, a Kinyarwanda language course instructor at BFSU, applauded the introduction of the Kinyarwanda course among other foreign languages taught at the university, adding that “Rwanda as a country has a high interest in this move in as far as the importance of the language is concerned. Kinyarwanda has created a direct bridge between people of Rwanda and China. It will facilitate the trade relations, cultural relations and simple people-to-people communication. It demonstrates the value China attaches to the Rwandan culture and Rwandan people.”

Emphasizing on smooth cooperation between the two countries through the language, Virgile Rwanyagatare, the Second Councilor at the embassy of Rwanda in Beijing, told ChinAfrica this move will enable people-to-people exchanges between Rwandans and Chinese people in the future. “[It is] a great tool that will deepen and strengthen our people-to-people cooperation as well as cultural exchanges,” he added.

Value of language skills

Young Chinese people are not only interested in the languages of Africa. They also understand that mastering a language has many other benefits. Ye said, “It takes internal drive to keep learning a language, so I think we need to be interested in Africa, including its food, culture, climate, and people. Only people who really like Africa can learn an African language well.”

This drive is demonstrated by a considerable number of students who enrolled into Kinyarwanda program. Ntawigira lauded the high enrollment of Chinese students into his program. “We’re happy that Kinyarwanda has attracted many Chinese students. We hope that the research we are carrying out on the role Chinese and Kinyarwanda languages play in strengthening bilateral relations between China and Rwanda will even contribute to the increase in the number of students,” he said.

Learning Kinyarwanda helps to communicate with locals in a country where every Rwandan uses it as the mother tongue. It makes it easier for those who would like to visit Rwanda to explore the country and discover its cultural and artistic wonders. Although the country has experienced several episodes of violence which culminated in the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi, it has kept alive its sophisticated traditional values, which are worth discovering.

Academically, for people who are interested in research on the dominant central African cultures, Rwanda is undoubtedly a unique case in genocide studies, anthropology, sociology, and African linguistics, which can be more deeply understood if one understands Kinyarwanda.