Bastille Day: Ugandans losing out for not speaking French

I speak Rukiga, Runyankole, Rufumbira, English, and French, Dr Agatha Tumwine, a lecturer who holds a PhD in language studies says. 

“I lose nothing by speaking many languages, instead I find advantages. If I learn many languages I find many opportunities,” Tumwine said. 

The current President of the Association of French Teachers in Uganda or Association des Professeurs de Français en Ouganda (APFO), also teaches at Makerere University Department of European and Oriental Languages (DEOL). 

It is under the School of Languages, Literature and Communication, one of the five Schools that constitute the College of Humanities and Social Sciences at Makerere University. 

“Our core value as APFO is multilingualism, in that an individual should be able to speak and communicate effectively in three or more languages whether they are international or indigenous,” she says.

She explains the Great Lakes Countries and the East African Community (EAC) - to which Uganda belongs - are surrounded by Francophone (French-speaking) countries, which is why French was adopted as the third working language for the EAC, having also admitted Francophone countries such as DR Congo and Burundi. 

“It is important to communicate with a neighbour and do business. A Ugandan who can speak French can do business easily in neighbouring DR Congo, they will not need the services of a translator which comes at a cost,” she says. 

French can ease your travel

The French capital, Paris, is often dubbed “the City of Love”, and it's one of the top honeymoon destinations in the world. Furthermore, for many, French is also considered to be one of the most romantic languages.

The challenge

Today we live in a global village and Ugandans are losing out for not speaking French, Tumwine says. 

She adds that most international organisations have multiple working languages that include English, French, Arabic, Spanish, Portuguese and, soon, Kiswahili. 

“If you randomly pick 10 Ugandans, you will find that only one or none at all speak French,” she said. 

In international organisations, most jobs are taken by West Africans from Francophone countries. 

“What is remarkable is that they are bilingual. They get their education from the lowest level to university in both French and English even if they are in a French-speaking country,” Tumwine says.

“However, you find in the Anglophone (English-speaking countries) very few people even know Bonjour (a French greeting used when meeting during the daytime). Interestingly our learners think that we learn French to become teachers, but there are so many other opportunities that come with learning French,” Tumwine says, adding that there is a need to train all professionals to attain a second international language.  

She says a Ugandan journalist who speaks French can move and work easily out of the country. 

“There is better cooperation with a second international language, where professionals are bilingual. The journalist because they are comfortable with the language can write for Le Monde,” she says naming the French daily newspaper published in Paris, and one of the most important and widely respected newspapers in the world.

Tumwine also says a Ugandan lawyer who speaks French can have clients beyond the national borders and stretch to places such as Goma in DR Congo and beyond or even Burundi. 

“The EAC is opening borders to labour mobility, but we Ugandans who are only Anglophone are missing opportunities because of the language barrier. For a Uganda engineer, for instance, you can even get contracts in a French-speaking country. For UN jobs one has to speak both English and French,” she says. 

French is both a working and an official language of the United Nations, the European Union, UNESCO, NATO, the International Olympic Committee, the International Red Cross and international courts. 

According to the Organisation of International Francophonie, French has an estimated 220 million native speakers, and around 320 million total speakers, it is the language of instruction for 93 million students. 

French is spoken by about 3.6 percent of the world’s population, and it is the 5th most spoken language in the world.

 Where the future lies for French learners

"For Uganda, unless we make an intentional effort to learn French or a second international language, we shall always be lagging," Tumwine warns. 

Currently, there are about 350 teachers of French under APFO spread out across the country and French is being taught in over 300 schools in Uganda from primary, secondary to university. 

However, there may be a need to increase effort and numbers in teaching French in Uganda. 

Tumwine says there are jobs for translators and interpreters from French to English and vice versa. 

“Workshop or conference interpreter is one of the most paying jobs in the world,” she reveals. 

“At the UN level, they are paid at least $800 per day, at the African Union level they are paid at least between $500-$600 and at the Ugandan level they are paid at least $400 per day. All these are opportunities but Ugandans don’t know,” she said. 

“We are committed to sensitising Ugandans on learning a second international language so that our children are not left out.”