The country is slowly changing from a dominantly French speaking country to a more or less bilingual country. Even in late nineties one would find it really hard to get by with English alone. French was used in almost all government offices. It was really difficult to communicate to a government official in English. The police men spoke only French in short Rwanda was a Francophone country. From the early 2000′s the government committed itself to in getting integrated to the EAC(East African Community), this meant that businessmen need to speak English or Swahili at least. The government also decided to take the difficult step of changing the country from a country dominated by French speaking population to a country speaking English. The initial steps where to include English as an official language and ensure that government officers took English classes. Then came the change in schooling language to English.

Today most government officers speak at least broken English, most government business is conducted in English. All government schools teach lessons in English. The police men speak English and can also the police department more or less uses English.

One can find boys in the local markets can even communicate in English. The main reason for the younger population bieng able to communicate in English is the transition at schools from French to English.

It would be however advisable to carry a French-English dictionary when in Rwanda because even though the situation is changing rapidly, you can find yourself in a situation where English does not suffice. There are English – Kenyarwanda dictionaries also available now, however they are difficult to find.