| The growing global allure of Kiswahili | Send to a friend |
| Monday, 25 July 2011 21:51 |
 Erick MchomeSuccess Reporter ‘Kenyan pupils perform better in Kiswahili than their Tanzanian counterparts’,read one of the headlines published in one of the local dailies weeks ago.In a survey released recently in Dar es Salaam, Kenya scooped the first 24 slots in a ranking that involved 135 selected districts in the East African Community. According to the report, children in Tanzania were second best in Kiswahili test, a language they are supposed to be more proficient in than their Kenyan counterparts.However though this report sent shockwaves among policymakers and stakeholders, there was something to smile about, the fact that several countries have finally embraced Kiswahili to the extent of beating the master.Though it is claimed that Kenyans are not fluent in Kiswahili, the one year I spent in the neighbouring country told me a different story. Not many Kenyans can afford to speak continuously without chipping in Kiswahili words such as ‘Yaani’, ‘yenyewe’, and ‘sasa’ which are some of the words that every person I met used. Although only 5 million people speak it as their first language, Kiswahili is either national or official language in four countries: Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo and within much of East Africa, it is now used as a lingua franca. At the present, some 90 per cent of Tanzania’s 40 million people speak Kiswahili. In Kenya’s though the prevalence of Kiswahili is comparatively lower, it is still widespread with most educated folks capable of communicating fluently. The five eastern provinces of the DRC are Kiswahili speaking with nearly half of the 66 million Congolese reportedly speaking Kiswahili and therefore, imposing a rivalry to Lingala as the most important language in the vast tropical African country. In Uganda, the Baganda in central Uganda generally don’t speak Kiswahili, but it is in common use among the 25 million people elsewhere in the country, and has become one of the compulsory subjects in primary schools. Early this year, the new version of Oxford Dictionary, one of the respected dictionaries in the world added more Kiswahili words which now include ‘ugali’ and ‘sukuma’. In January, 2008, after being elected chairman of the African Union in Addis Ababa, President Kikwete made his acceptance speech in Kiswahili and it has since been added as one of the official languages of the organisation. According to Prof Yared Magori Kihore of the Univeristy of Dar es Salaam, the language has stood for itself even when the speakers have not pushed for it to move. The Kiswahili academician says it is with no doubt that Kiswahili is going to be the language of Africa. “If it is an official language at the AU forums then what else would I say; it is a great language crossing borders” says the Kiswahili expert. In July, while attending the AU summit in Equatorial Guinea President Jakaya Kikwete was asked by his Gabonese counterpart Ali Bongo Ondimba to help his country to establish a curriculum that will introduce Kiswahili in primary schools in Gabon.Should this move materialise, Gabon will become the first country out of East Africa to have Kiswahili as part of its curriculum. Though colonialists in the beginning referred to it as an uncivilised language, today it is a language that is even taught in universities in the US and Europe. However, Professor Kihore says that one of the problems that is slowing the spread of Kiswahili is the lack of aggressiveness among Tanzanians who are said to own the language.“We were supposed to be the ones going to other countries asking to introduce our language but on the contrary it’s them coming to us asking if we can teach them, the language could help to generate employment for many Tanzanians abroad,” says Professor Kihore who once taught Kiswahili at Khartoum University in Sudan. He adds: Our neighbours Kenya are sharp, we are the ones who taught them the language but now they beat us professionally, this is because whenever they see an opportunity they go for it. Lack of experts in the language is another problem that is impeding the growth of the language. According to Professor Kihore, students are taught Kiswahili by teachers who are not professionals. “We are addressing the situation at the university here where we have established a pure Kiswahili course and so far we have almost 200 students pursuing Kiswahili at undergraduate and masters’ levels,” he says. The use of Kiswahili in other countries is commonly overstated, being common only in market towns, among returning refugees, or near the borders of Kenya and Tanzania. Even so, Kiswahili speakers may number some 120 to 150 million people. Many of the world’s institutions have responded to Swahili’s growing prominence. It is one of the languages that feature in world radio stations such as the BBC World Service, Voice of America, Deutsche Welle, Voice of Russia, China Radio International, Radio France Internationale, Radio Sudan, and Radio South Africa. Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites           |
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