French as another African language.
The enthusiasm for learning French in Tanzania is not in doubt.
In Dar es Salaam the Alliance Francaise runs 4 courses of lessons annually, each of which is attended by between 350 and 400 students. In addition, lessons are given outside the Alliance, for example at companies such as TOTAL and KLM, and in schools like IST and the International School of Science. French forms part of the syllabus in the national educational system. The big problem contending with all these favourable factors is a lack of trained teachers.
For Tanzania as a nation, the importance of French is undeniable also. Of the neighbouring countries, several are French-speaking: the DRC (Congo), Rwanda and Burundi on the one side, and the Comora Islands, Mauritius, Reunion, the Seychelles, and Madagascar on the other, in the ocean.
When one considers the important political role that Tanzania plays in the region, especially concerning questions of international security one can recognize the importance of being able to speak French. Tanzania is a continental power, often called upon to negotiate in delicate situations, such as those currently confronting the D.R.C. and the Ivory Coast (Cote d’Ivoire). Even the affairs of the International Tribunal Penal for Rwanda, at present being carried out in Arusha, are conducted in French.
Secondly, there is the big matter of the economic sector, and in particular the expansion of tourism in Tanzania – the hotels need French, and there is a plan on foot to set up a “Grande Ecole Hoteliere” in Dar es Salaam, by 2007, where they can learn it, so as to be able to welcome not only tourists from France (an enormous market of people who love traveling) but also those from Belgium, Switzerland and Quebec. Coming back to our own continent, when tourists from North Africa and West Africa come to visit us, the majority of them will be French-speaking too.
At the same time as the light of such opportunities, we see the darkness of the negative reality, the lack of qualified teachers. The solution is at hand – the Ecole Normale at Cha Ngombe, but inexplicably this has received few students. Why? There must be something missing in the methods of recruitment. Yet the department of Languages and Linguistics at the University of Dar es Salaam has many students learning French.
Moreover, there is no need to go as far as France in order to complete one’s education, there is a Teachers’ Training Institute, “le Tampon”, on the island of Reunion. The French state supports all these initiatives for helping Tanzania to get French as another African language, with equipment, educational material and resources, plus scholarships for able students. Vive la France! Vive la Tanzanie!
In Dar es Salaam the Alliance Francaise runs 4 courses of lessons annually, each of which is attended by between 350 and 400 students. In addition, lessons are given outside the Alliance, for example at companies such as TOTAL and KLM, and in schools like IST and the International School of Science. French forms part of the syllabus in the national educational system. The big problem contending with all these favourable factors is a lack of trained teachers.
For Tanzania as a nation, the importance of French is undeniable also. Of the neighbouring countries, several are French-speaking: the DRC (Congo), Rwanda and Burundi on the one side, and the Comora Islands, Mauritius, Reunion, the Seychelles, and Madagascar on the other, in the ocean.
When one considers the important political role that Tanzania plays in the region, especially concerning questions of international security one can recognize the importance of being able to speak French. Tanzania is a continental power, often called upon to negotiate in delicate situations, such as those currently confronting the D.R.C. and the Ivory Coast (Cote d’Ivoire). Even the affairs of the International Tribunal Penal for Rwanda, at present being carried out in Arusha, are conducted in French.
Secondly, there is the big matter of the economic sector, and in particular the expansion of tourism in Tanzania – the hotels need French, and there is a plan on foot to set up a “Grande Ecole Hoteliere” in Dar es Salaam, by 2007, where they can learn it, so as to be able to welcome not only tourists from France (an enormous market of people who love traveling) but also those from Belgium, Switzerland and Quebec. Coming back to our own continent, when tourists from North Africa and West Africa come to visit us, the majority of them will be French-speaking too.
At the same time as the light of such opportunities, we see the darkness of the negative reality, the lack of qualified teachers. The solution is at hand – the Ecole Normale at Cha Ngombe, but inexplicably this has received few students. Why? There must be something missing in the methods of recruitment. Yet the department of Languages and Linguistics at the University of Dar es Salaam has many students learning French.
Moreover, there is no need to go as far as France in order to complete one’s education, there is a Teachers’ Training Institute, “le Tampon”, on the island of Reunion. The French state supports all these initiatives for helping Tanzania to get French as another African language, with equipment, educational material and resources, plus scholarships for able students. Vive la France! Vive la Tanzanie!
Comments