Where He leads...: Learning the language

Learning the language

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[This is a post I wrote for FHM's blog.] Haitian Creole (Kreyòl Ayisyen) is the official language of Haiti. Technically, French is a second official language, but only about 10% of the population speaks it. Creole is spoken in the homes, but many schools teach in French. French is commonly spoken by government officials and business leaders. It's interesting to read about these two languages in relation to the history of Haiti. If you'd like a brief introduction, try this article. Creole and French have similarities in vocabulary and pronunciation, but differ greatly in spelling in grammar.

One of the questions I get asked most often is, "How long did it take you to learn Creole?" One answer to that question is that I'm still learning. I consider myself mostly fluent, but I'm continuing to expand my vocabulary with time and my listening comprehension is still not perfect. An example of that happened over the weekend when I was at a church with a sound system. The pastor had the microphone close to his lips and the volume was high, making his voice sound muffled. If he had been speaking English, I would have likely understood every word, but deciphering the Creole was difficult. I picked up on the basic content but would not have been able to translate word for word. In normal conversation, however, I do well. I've been conducting meetings on my own for over a year now. Before that, I would always have a Haitian with me, even if he or she didn't speak English, they would still be able to help me understand something I missed.

It's difficult to answer the question of how long it took me to learn the language. But I typically say that around the 3-4 month mark I was getting pretty confident. And by the next couple of months after that I really had a good handle on it.

"Did you learn Creole before you came to Haiti?" is another question I get a lot. No, I didn't. Although I did download a free program on my laptop called Byki and went through as many of those lessons as I could before my first trip. The rest of my learning came from the few books I found, online websites, sitting down with Haitian and expat friends, and just being in Haiti.

I first came to Haiti for a month in August/September 2011. I came back for a short trip in November of that year. And then in January 2012, I moved down for about three months and managed a guesthouse in Croix des Bouquets. It was during that time that I progressed most rapidly in Creole as I was the only expat and the three Haitian employees spoke little to no English. It was sink or swim! Then I was back in Leogane for three months that summer and during that time I expanded my vocabulary tremendously and by the end of that summer, was pretty confident in my speaking and had progressed immensely in my listening comprehension. I've lived in Haiti an additional 16+ months since 2012, and again I have a job where I'm the only English speaker. I'm thankful that most of the organizations I've served with do not rely on translators and expect you to master the language. That has forced me to hone my language skills and has made my experience in Haiti so much richer.

"Do you know French?" Another question I get asked often. No, not really. I studied French all four years in high school, but I graduated from high school 14 years ago and never really used it. After college, I lived in Mexico and learned Spanish, not super helpful here although some Haitians know Spanish from spending time in the Dominican Republic. I suppose my French background helped a little bit. Some of the vocabulary is similar. And I am able to have some moments of comprehension when listening to French conversations and I still have some reading comprehension. But for the most part, I've just dived into learning Creole for what it is, and I've found that it is the simplest language that I've ever encountered. Unlike French, Spanish, and English, Creole does not have verb conjugations. So it doesn't matter who's eating and when they ate, the verb is always "manje". No endings are changed or added. It's just "manje". Thus, learning Creole is basically a matter of learning a few grammar rules and then just memorizing vocabulary.

If you do know some French, it might help you in some regards. Here are some examples of vocabulary similarities:

Haitian Creole French

bonjou (good morning) bonjour

orevwa (goodbye) au revoir

Mèsi (thank you) merci

pen (bread) pain

liv (book) livre

bouch (mouth) bouche

manje (to eat) manger

mache (to walk) marcher

Haitian Creole is a phonetic language, meaning the words are spelled as you would pronounce them. Once you learn how to pronounce the letters, you will be able to read the words aloud. Unlike English where many letters can be pronounced many different ways based on letter combinations and context (i.e. "read"), the Creole alphabet is always pronounced the same. Try sounding out the word for goodbye, "orevwa", and you'll see what I mean. It's pronounced very similar to the French "au revoir", and in terms of phonetics, the Creole version makes more sense. When I'm explaining Haitian Creole to someone, I sometimes refer to it as "redneck French". I'm from the South, so I can get away with that. With Creole being spelled as it sounds, and with it often being a shorter/simpler version of many French words, I think it's a good description. :)

And you might be surprised to find many similarities to English as well. Sometimes if I don't know a word in Creole, I'll just "Frenchify" the pronunciation of an English word and sometimes it works! Here are some examples:

Haitian Creole English
deside decide
preparasyon preparation
mesaj message
pwoblèm problem
konfyans confidence
obeyi obey
ranje arrange
chanje change

If you're planning a visit to Haiti, go ahead and study up a bit. I'll be happy to sit down with you here at the guesthouse as well and give you a Creole lesson! Click here for a decent list of Creole vocabulary and phrases. Creole Made Easy is a good place to start for easy grammar lessons and a dictionary. Pimsleur also offers an audio course. And according to their website, Rosetta Stone is in the process of producing a Creole course.

My friend is married to a Haitian man and told the story about an injury he had recently. She called his family to let them know about the accident and they were very confused at why he needed stitches after a suitcase fell on his head while working on a construction project. Turns out she had confused the word "malèt" (suitcase) with the word "mato" (hammer).

I am convinced that once you spend time with Haiti and fall in love with the sweet people here, you will be motivated to want to learn the language. Learning any new language is an adventure. Just remember that it's good to laugh at yourself to keep from becoming too frustrated throughout the process! You will make mistakes, but don't let that stop you from trying. The Haitians you meet will be very excited that you're putting forth the effort. Bon chans!