Language Information

Rundi, or Kirundi, is the national language of Burundi, in east--central Africa. It is spoken by the entire population of the country, or some 6 million people. A Bantu language, Rundi is closely related to Ruanda of neighboring Rwanda—in fact, the two are little more than dialects of the same language.

Burundi, Congo (Zaire).

Family: Niger-Congo
Subgroup: Benue-Congo
Branch: Bantu

Writing Sample

Translation

Since Burundi became independent, many things have improved within the country. And since the advent of the Republic, progress has been made in many fields, especially in the state's economy. But the reason I am writing today is to try to see how education has progressed. You already know that human progress depends on many things: on education, on health, on spiritual values. I once wrote in Ndongozi [a magazine] how the gap between the educated people and the illiterate is growing wider and wider. This is understandable, since the former continue to learn while the latter remain in their illiteracy.