Multilingualism in Kenya

Multilingualism in Kenya

Kenya is a country where multilingualism is profoundly practiced. There is no true lingua franca in Kenya because neither Swahili nor English can be considered as the true language of Kenya. Swahili is the national language while English is the official language, a situation that seems odd compared to the rest of the world. Surprisingly, not everyone in Kenya can speak Swahili or English. Most people prefer using their mother tongue rather than Swahili or English. It's even strange even on the understanding of the language. People living along the coast speak better Swahili than people living in central highlands of Kenya. This can be contributed to the fact that some primary schools in Kenya (especially those in Kikuyu land), teach vernacular in lower grades(1,2,3) and they are even tested on it. The reason why they are taught vernacular is because all* the pupils come from surrounding regions and speak the same dialect.This is not the case with every school in Kenya. On the other hand, schools in western, Northern, and South Kenya don't do that normally because there are pupils who have different dialects and therefore not possible to teach the regional dialect. This can explain why people in western Kenya and coast speak Swahili fluently than those in central Kenya, especially Kikuyu tribe.There are over twenty different dialects in Kenya today. Most of them are defined into specific regions. e.g., Kikuyu in central Kenya, Luo in western and Nyanza, Kamba in northeastern and so on.


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать курсовую

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Languages of Kenya — Kenya is a multilingual country. The Bantu Swahili language and English are widely spoken as lingua franca, and are the two official languages. According to Ethnologue, there are a total of 69 languages spoken in Kenya. This variety is a… …   Wikipedia

  • Languages of Africa — There are an estimated 2000 languages spoken in Africa. [ [http://www.panafril10n.org/wikidoc/pmwiki.php/PanAfrLoc/MajorLanguages Major Languages of Africa] ] About a hundred of these are widely used for inter ethnic communication. They fall into …   Wikipedia

  • List of multilingual countries and regions — Main article: Multilingualism Countries that are officially or unofficially multilingual   Multiple official languages …   Wikipedia

  • Nigeria — This article is about the country. For other uses, see Nigeria (disambiguation). Federal Republic of Nigeria Jamhuriyar Taraiyar Nijeriya …   Wikipedia

  • 2005 in Africa — 2006 in Africa 2007 in AfricaInternational organisationsAfrican Union* The first summit of heads of state of the African Union s Peace and Security Council was held in Libreville (Gabon) on January 10 and January 11 2005. The summit focused on… …   Wikipedia

  • Guido Monte — Infobox Writer name =Guido Monte caption =. pseudonym = birthdate = 1962 birthplace = deathdate = deathplace = occupation = writer, poet nationality = Italian period = 2000 present genre = Poetry subject = movement = notableworks = spouse =… …   Wikipedia

  • Languages of Canada — Languages of Canada[1] Official language(s) English (58%) and French (22%) Indigenous language(s) Abenaki, A …   Wikipedia

  • 2007 — Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. 2007 was designated as: * International Heliophysical Year. [ [http://ihy2007.org/ International Heliophysical Year website] ] * International… …   Wikipedia

  • South Asians in Hong Kong — Total population 20,444 Indians; 15,950 Nepalis; 11,111 Pakistanis Regions with significant populations Hong Kong, Kowloon Languages English, Urdu, Hindi, Sindhi, Punjabi, Nepali …   Wikipedia

  • United Nations Interpretation Service — The United Nations Interpretation Service is a part of the [http://www.un.org/Depts/DGACM/functions impd.htm Meetings and Publishing Division] ( [http://www.un.org/Depts/DGACM/functions impd.htm MPD] ) of the UN s… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”