Federal prosecutors in the US have been trying to prove that Beatrice Munyenyezi deceived the US government about her role in the Rwanda genocide, so that she could be granted asylum in the US. What made the case particularly difficult for the attorney’s and everyone involved, was the language barrier. This resulted in a hang jury during the first trial. The cross examination of witnesses, who mainly spoke Kinyarwanda and did not know English proved to be quite challenging. A complex interpretation system, where 3 interpreters took turns interpreting for witnesses in Kinyarwanda and giving back their responses in English was used. During court proceedings, other interpreters would jump in with their responses and suggestions on how to best communicate something. This resulted in confused exchanges and inappropriate responses from the witnesses. What made the interpretation particularly harder was that English and Kinyarwanda are quite dissimilar.
Kinyarwanda is sometimes also referred to as Rwandan or Rwanda. It is a Rwanda-Rundi language that is largely spoken in Rwanda, where it is the official language. It is also spoken in the neighboring countries of Southern Uganda and Burundi. The Rundi dialect is what is spoken in Burundi. The language is spoken by about 12 million people. Rwanda is one of the few countries where one of the native languages is spoken by all the ethnic groups in that country. There are 3 main ethnic groups in Rwanda. These are the Hutu, Tutsi and Twa, with the Hutu forming 84 percent of the population.
There are various reasons why you should learn Kinyarwanda. For instance, if you are planning on visiting Rwanda, then it will be a good idea to learn the language. This will help you to have a more rewarding experience as you will be able to communicate with a large part of the population. It will also show an appreciation of the language and the culture of the people. This will make them more receptive to you. Even though most Rwandese can speak other languages such as English, French and Kiswahili, they are much more comfortable speaking in Kinyarwanda.
