One of the things that has surprised us here in Rwanda is that the majority of people speak only Kinyarwanda. Returned missionaries and public officials are most likely to speak English and young people are learning it in school. Very few speak French, but if they do, they're usually over 50. So we almost always need a translator.
Meet Joshua Ndara, translator extraodinaire. Yesterday was our district conference, attended by about 500 people. They set up a huge tent on the Church grounds, since each branch individually fills the chapel and "overflow". But even with so much going on, the district provided translation for as many of us English-only speakers as they had headsets for.
Most of the conference was in Kinyarwanda, but there were three speakers who spoke in English and someone translated it into Kinyarwanda from the pulpit.
Joshua served his mission in the Liberia Monrovia mission. I was curious about him because his English was so clear and he kept up completely with the speaker without pausing. It was obviously a good translation because it made sense.
My curiosity doubled when the Sister Mavinga, (our mission president's wife) gave her talk in French and the translation continued in the same voice, no pauses or hesitations!
After the meetings, I complimented Joshua on his excellent English and told him that I was impressed that he had an equal command of French as Kinyarwanda and English.
"I actually speak 7 languages, but I'm not fluent in Spanish because I've never been around people that speak Spanish."
It turns out that Joshua knew that languages came easily to him before his mission. But once he was set apart as a missionary, (a blessing that is given by laying on of hands at the beginning of a new Church assignment) he noticed it much stronger. He requested that his mission president give him American companions so that he could work on his accent. Ahhhhh, that explains it! He must have had some very well-spoken companions!
His languages are Kinyarwanda, English, French, Swahili, Spanish and two other African languages that we weren't familiar with and I can't remember.
He explained that he learns languages naturally by listening to the people around him. It's baffling to me how he could learn a hard language like English complete with a complex vocabulary just by associating with native speakers. He says English is his favorite language because English has so many words that it's easy to say exactly what you mean. "English is the language of the Restoration because the Book of Mormon needed to be translated into a language that could say all that it needs to say. I love the language of the Book of Mormon!"
He also has a complete understanding of Chiasmus, an ancient Hebrew/middle-eastern form of poetry that is found throughout the Book of Mormon.
I couldn't avoid being charmed by his thoughtful, ready smile and his self-deprecating manner. Whomever catches Joshua will be ONE LUCKY LADY!
He's in his junior year through BYU independent Study program majoring in "Applied Health" (sometimes called 'Public Health.")
He is eager to go to work in his field and intends to eventually get a doctorate degree so that he can teach in a university.
In case he doesn't have enough to do with the 15 credits he's earning per semester, he's also a service missionary, supporting and facilitating BYU Pathways students here in Rwanda.
What a treat to meet such an affable fellow with such a brilliant mind!
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