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KISWAHILI IN
INTERNATIONAL LEVELS
a) Official Language in EAC
Big
news! The East African Community has decided to use Swahili as their the
official language. This is no surprise, as a large part of the population in
most of the association’s countries already speak the language. However, this
is not the case in Uganda, which is why all Ugandan citizens have been ordered
by the government to learn the language.
When
a number of countries form an alliance and a number of countries share the same
language, it can be convenient use this language as the main language of
communication. According to the Africa Report, this is exactly what
happened for the East African Community, which consists of Kenya, Tanzania,
Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi. They have declared Swahili to be their official
language.
This
decision can easily be explained, as Tanzania and Kenya already regard Swahili,
which is a mix between the local languages of east African tribes and Arabic,
as an official language, the Africa Report says.
In
addition, many people in Rwanda and Burundi speak the language as well. The
only outsider here is Uganda; here, Swahili is only spoken by a small part of
the population.
The
Africa Report claims this has to do with the fact that many Ugandans dislike
the language because it was used by dictators and colonial officials.
The
Ugandan government has decided that now the language will become the official
language of the EAC, all Ugandans must learn Swahili.
According
to the Africa Report, this president Yoweri Museveni is thus keen to increase
the popularity of the language. To create more Swahili speakers, all
institutions involved in languages have not only been asked to use Swahili, but
also to promote the language and teach it to those that do not speak it. As a
result, the government hopes the language will become another national language
in Uganda, the African Report says.
According
to Barbra Nekesa, Uganda’s Information Minister, the government hopes the
decision to make Swahili more widespread in the country will mean conducting
business with other EAC states will be easier. She says communication will run
more smoothly as the language barrier between business partners will disappear.
Nekesa states that the Ugandan government has always promoted the Swahili
language but that the negative image the language obtained during the
regime of dictator Idi Amin had prevented the efforts from becoming successful.
b) Official Language in SADC
In celebration of 2019
as the International Year Of Indigenous Languages, SADC has adopted a language
from its east African brothers and sisters. Not only will Swahili be recognized
as an official language, but will be recognized as a mode of communication in
business in all sectors and the environment.
Last week the Pan South African Language
Board (PanSALB) welcomed the declaration by the Southern Africa Development
Community (SADC) to adopt kiSwahili as its fourth official language of
communication.
The announcement came as the world
celebrated 2019 as the International Year Of Indigenous Languages and was
announced during the SADC 39th heads of summit in Tanzanian at the Julius
Nyerere International Conference Centre to ensure that the marginalization of
African languages as languages of business was dealt with.
“This milestone achievement towards
recognition and elevation of indigenous African languages across the SADC
region forms part of the greater effort in ensuring development, usage and
intellectualisation of our heritage languages,” said the Chairperson of the
Board, Dr David wa Maahlamela.
Existing
official languages of SADC currently are English, Portuguese and French.
Africa
is the only continent where a majority of the languages taught in schools are
international foreign languages such as Arabic, English, French, Portuguese and
Spanish.
“KiSwahili
would be adopted at the level of Council and Summit, first as a language for
oral communication, before eventually being adopted for written official
communication within SADC,” says GCIS.
It
is already an official language of the African Union.
“KiSwahili
is an impeccable point of departure in safeguarding integrative multilingualism
inclusive of indigenous languages,” Maahlamela said.
It
is also the official language of Kenya, Tanzania and Rwanda with over 100
million speakers.
“We
have for long been very much concerned that not only South Africa has
experienced the marginalisation of indigenous languages, but also our SADC
region, where mostly English language took prominence amongst others.
“South
Africa as a member state has a huge responsibility ahead in ensuring that
indigenous language not only becomes communication languages, but also business
languages in all sectors and environment,” Maahlamela concluded.
c) Kiswahili
in AU
The
African Union has joined the campaigns to elevate Kiswahili as one of its
common languages even as it prepares for heads of State meeting on July 7.
The
African Academy of Languages, AU’s specialised institution mandated to develop
and promote African languages, has entered into a partnership with the East
African Kiswahili Commission to “promote wide use of Kiswahili for regional
integration and sustainable development.”
Adoption
of Kiswahili as a continental language implies that there will always be a
Kiswahili translator at all the bloc’s official meetings with documents,
including treaties and agreements also being authored in the East African
language.
“The
AU has partnered with the EAC to set the pace for the recognition and promotion
of Kiswahili as a Language of Wider Communication in the whole of Africa,” the
EAC Secretariat said in a statement on Wednesday.
The
push to make Kiswahili a pan-African lingua franca comes as the bloc moves to
set rules for the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCTA) unveiled in
Kigali last year.
A
committee of experts is working on the rules of origin to be applied by all the
AfCTA signatories.
On
Saturday, President Uhuru Kenyatta is expected to join other African leaders
for the AU Extra-Ordinary Summit and the first AfCTA meeting in Niamey, Niger.
A
common language plays a crucial role in commerce. African countries have
adopted a number of official languages that include English, French, Arabic and
Portuguese, depending on their colonial heritage.
In
a statement, the EAC secretary general Liberat Mfumukeko, said the Kiswahili
push was driven by realisation by EAC policy organs of the importance of the
language in regional integration.
“The
language is a strategic resource for communication and active citizen
participation in development,” he said.
d) Kiswahili
in South Africa
Kiswahili
will, from 2020, become the latest language to be taught in South Africa’s
classrooms. This East African lingua franca, which is also an official language
of the African Union, will be an optional subject.
The news has been greeted with interest and has drawn praise from some
quarters. But practical questions related to South Africa’s current sociolinguistic
and educational contexts must be asked. For instance, why does South Africa
need another language on top of the local 11 as well as the various foreign
languages some schools offer? Has the country done all it can to champion local
languages before adding another to the mix? And is there space on an already
crowded timetable to successfully carry on this project?
These questions shouldn’t be ignored, but I would argue that the benefits of
introducing Kiswahili far outweigh the risks. There are several reasons for
this, among them the chance to prepare South African pupils for rich
interactions in trade, academia and ordinary daily life elsewhere on the
continent.
A
growing language
Kiswahili most
likely originated on East Africa’s coast. It came about as a result of
intermarriage between Bantu-speaking communities along the East African coast
and Arabs who arrived at the coast from as early as before 10th C, AD. It then
spread into the interior through trade, Christian activities such as missionary
work, and exploration activities in the East African mainland.
Today
the language is spoken widely in the larger Eastern Africa region as a lingua
franca, a language used between people who don’t speak one another’s native
language. It’s a national language in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, and an official language of the East African
Community which comprises Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi and South
Sudan.
Its
use is spreading to southern, western and northern Africa. Currently, however,
none of these countries are teaching Kiswahili as a subject the way South
Africa intends to; instead, it is generally a language of trade and
inter-ethnic communication. However, it may not be long until more countries
join South Africa in teaching it in classrooms since the language is spreading
fast and becoming a household language in many of these countries in addition
to its adoption as one of the official languages of the African Union.
Kiswahili
is also a popular research subject at many South African universities. And it’s
studied outside Africa, most particularly in the US and Europe. This global
interest in the adoption of Kiswahili points at its growing international
significance. This implies that its introduction into South African schools is
a good move with multiple benefits.
HOW
TO LEARN A LANGUAGE FAST – PART 6
15. Read wisely, not
widely
There’s value in
narrowing the focus of your reading materials. Focus on choosing the right
books, ideally, some that are related to your hobbies and interests. Richards
says, “If you are really into gardening, for example, then look for books on
gardening in your target language.” The idea is to learn through topics
that already interest you because you’ll be intrinsically motivated to
understand. But contrary to many common suggestions, Richards recommends not
using popular book series, like Harry Potter, to learn a language. Most fiction
books are filled with odd vocabulary you won’t use in real life – unless you’re
a wizard.
Instead, start by
reading nonfiction books because they use practical language you’re likely
to use in your daily life. Nonfiction is written more simply than novels, which
often use more creative vocabulary and complex sentence structures.
As a bonus, if you’re
reading a nonfiction book about one of your interests, you already understand
the topic. That means you can focus on learning the new language rather than
unfamiliar concepts.
16. Start With the 100
Most Common Words
Not all vocabulary is
created equal. Some gives you a better return on investment than
others. For instance, when I lived in Buenos Aires, I met a guy who
had been studying with Rosetta Stone for months (not recommended). I
had been working on and off with a tutor for a few weeks, but I was surprised
by how he could not follow even the most basic of conversations despite months
of study and living there.
It turns out, much of
the vocabulary he had been studying was for kitchen utensils, family
members, clothing and rooms in a house. But if he wanted to ask someone which
part of town they lived in, he had no idea what to say. Start with the 100 most
common words and then make sentences with them over and over again. Learn just
enough grammar to be able to do this and do it until you feel pretty
comfortable with all of them.
17. Prioritise fluency
over perfection
Here’s something else that native speakers can’t manage: completely perfect grammar. Everyone makes mistakes when they speak. So when you’re learning a new language, being perfect shouldn’t be your goal either. It’s much more important to get your point across rather than spend ten times longer completing your sentence, because you want the grammar to be perfect. While you’re in class, yes, the teacher is often going to correct your grammar, and this is a good thing, because it’s how you learn. But in daily life, even at work or at university, the majority of people aren’t going to be listening to your grammar. They’re going to try to understand you so you can have a conversation. So don’t be afraid to put yourself out there and make mistakes. I’ve actually found that the less I worry about making mistakes, the less I end up making them anyways.
mmenisaidia sana nashukuruni
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