Kreyol Ayisyen

Bonjou!

I took the leap of faith and tried Haitian Creole, and in all honesty, I love it. Why do I love it? Because I know French!

For those of you who don't follow, here's what I mean. Haitian Creole sounds like a dialect of the French language. There are lots, and I mean LOTS of borrowed words taken from French. Part of me wonders if someone who knows is fluent in French and knows zero Haitian Creole could survive in Haiti based on their knowledge of the French language. I honestly want to say yes.

Here are some examples of the similarities.

Hello/Good day
French: Bonjour
Haitian Creole: Bonjou

Good evening
French: Bonsoir
Haitian Creole: Bon aswè

I understand
French: Je comprends
Haitian Creole: M/Mwen konprann

So as you can see, there are lots of similarities, and I won't even get into the rest of them, as there are many. But if you already have a base in French, I think Haitian Creole would be a breeze. Once I become semi-efficient, I'd love to take a trip to Haiti and try speaking to the people there in their language. I can't wait for my next lesson...In the meantime, here's hoping there are some Haitian people in my city that I can practice with or some followers on Twitter who can hit me up in Haitian Creole!

Before I conclude, there's a reason why I always try to say "Haitian Creole", and that's because there are a few different kinds, such as Louisiana Creole. I wish I could name more, but I'm not able to right now. I just know that the various Creole languages are mixes, so to try just say Creole would require me to be more specific! Kreyol Ayisyen!

Orevwa,

Your Favorite Polyglot
Twitter: @mistercapoeira