(The introduction, "This is my wife.")
My chief reason for writing this blog is having a happy home life. One way to achieve this is with words of love. What better way than by speaking my wife's native language? There are several phrases that are important, & several others that are completely useless. Let me give you an example:
Yego (or yee) - yes - essential knowledge - especially when not listening.
Oya - no - completely useless, as wives simply cannot hear the word.
Nyabuneka - please
Urakoze - thank you
Mbabarire - excuse me
Nda gukunda - I love you
If you over-use these, you can't go wrong. They come up so often that it sounds like you're mastering the language with very little effort, & it's probably important to concentrate on pronunciation with a smaller vocabulary anyway.
Speaking of pronunciation ...
http://kinyarwanda.net/page.php?name=pronunciation-letters is one of the better explanations. I often find that the guide is incomplete or inconsistent. Knowing that there are regional differences is a start, but it doesn't help me in my quest for conversation.
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