mzungukazi, 22 October 2010
Rwanda , Kigali 26°

Teaching French in Kigali

The longer I wait, the harder it is to decide what to write.
I've been in Kigali, Rwanda for two weeks now. My entry visa expires today and I have been waiting for my three month visitors visa for a week now but I can only get a fine when I ask my visa too late, not when I receive it too late (I hope). 
This morning I taught French to one of my students. I advertised in a Yahoo group used by expats and Rwandans that I teach Dutch, English, Swahili and French and for some reason most people want to learn French. In the past two weeks I started teaching three Indians and one American. One guy has been in Rwanda for eight years now, he came originally to work in Rwanda's gold mines but found that it was all stolen so he decided to open a shop and now he sells computers. He needs French to talk to his customers only so no need to learn how to read and write. 
A lady from India works for an NGO and also needs some French to talk to people working for her. She takes a completely different approach and I have spend the last two lessons teaching her the alphabet, days of the week, months and counting to 15. She writes everything in Hindi and surprisingly she gets close when it comes to pronunciation. 
My newest student is a young American who will be here for a year. He speaks Spanish already and is very eager to learn. He refuses to learn the sentences as in the book as he wants to be able to produce his own, I love that!