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Rodrick anakipenda kiswahili wewe je? |
KISWAHILI is spoken by more than 100 million people in various parts of the world, placing it in the list of the fastest growing languages across the globe, according to a random survey by Radio France International.
Speaking to the 'Sunday News' in an exclusive interview in Dar es Salaam recently, the RFI Director of International Relations, Mr John Maguire, said that Kiswahili is predominantly spoken in East Africa followed by Central Africa, Middle East, Europe and the United States.
He said that the study had confirmed that Tanzania with a population of over 40 million people was using Swahili as its first language. "Everyone in Tanzania speaks Kiswahili which is considered to be a lingua franca," he said.
He also said that half of Kenya's population which stands at 35 million people can speak Kiswahili as second language, while a quarter of the 25 million people in Uganda, which is not their first language speaks the language too.
However, a fraction of Burundi and Rwandan population speaks Kiswahili while some people in the Democratic Republic of Congo and other Central African states also use Kiswahili though not as their first language.
"These small numbers of Kiswahili speakers in Europe, America and Middle East add up to the aggregate number of over 100 million people, some of whom are using Kiswahili as their second language," he added.
"It is not necessary that a person should be speaking Kiswahili as his/her first language, but it is about one being able to communicate in Kiswahili," he stressed.
He also said that Kiswahili was already recognized by the African Union and in many parts of the world, thus making it popular even in Europe and the United States.
Experts in Kiswahili language have cautioned Tanzanians to be careful when using the language because many people assume that other nationals did not understand the language.
Journalists who were attending a workshop recently remarked that it is no longer the case to think that a Mzungu will not catch up with you when you use Kiswahili.
This journalist has seen a number of western diplomats who are fluent in Kiswahili and according to them, they spent more than a year training while in the United States or Europe before being accredited to Tanzania.
Last month, when celebrating its official inauguration of Kiswahili services in Dar es Salaam, the Chief Executive Officer of RFI, Ms Christine Ockrent, said that Tanzania is where Kiswahili is based and nurtured and developed extensively.
She also said that RFI broadcast in eleven other languages and the latest being Kiswahili service as it launched operations in July in Dar es Salaam in partnership with Tanzania Broadcasting Corporation.
"We surveyed many possibilities before we decided to be based in Dar es Salalam. It was also the quality of partnership with TBC and qualification of good Kiswahili that favoured Tanzania. Of course political stability was the other aspect that led to our decision to pick Dar es Salaam as our base," she said.
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