Connecting Through Language
Teaching of Kinyarwanda language further boosts China-africa cultural exchanges
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.