I have never seen an exception to this—-Yes!

A lot of English speakers (many, white Americans) have visited over the years. So if you don’t arrive speaking French, and you’re a “blanc” (that is, white, for the monolingual Anglo-centrists reading this ;)) you’ll be taken for an English speaker.

Most Haitians know a few English phrases, like “Miee frrrend, gude moNING!” (The r in “friend” will roll like a Spanish r, and the “morning” will be close enough that you’ll hear and understand it; but it will be distinctly Haitian in cadence. It might also be late in the afternoon. But you won’t likely care what time of day it is when a Haitian child greets you this way.)

Given the proximity of the Dominican Republic, if you happen to be a Spanish speaker, that will be immediately ascertained. And then a different set of phrases (at least) will be tried out on you.

Having known French first made acquiring Kreyol a quick endeavor for me. And, at the time, the orthography was still more or less French; so reading and writing it made sense too. But those details aren’t exactly relevant to the question or the current iteration of Haitian Kreyol.

It’s a beautiful country filled with engaging people who speak a fun language to learn. I recommend it highly. Haitians love to laugh—-and if you learn their language you’ll be laughed at a little. But stop taking yourself so seriously, and get on with it. It’s good to stretch, and understand and even speak well what hasn’t yet come out of your mouth. Before you know it, you’ll be laughing with your Haitian friends, and greeting them with “Mez ami, m’ kontan we ou!” (Basically, “My friends, it’s good to see you!”)

Yes we like it. We feel like despite the negativity surrounding Haiti foreigners are interested about our language and culture and brave enough to visit Haiti.

It validates our fight for Creole to be recognized as a language instead of a dialect as many believed.

yes we love it and you’re automatically invite yourself to drink our Turban Squash/pumpkin Soup with us in January 1st .

I would say, it depends on the person and on which journey they’re at. Some people would interact with you just because they want to improve their English. In this sense, they wouldn’t have that much interest in you using Haitian Creole with them. Other people like it when they see people trying their best to speak their language and to develop a relationship with them. Other people just don’t speak a foreign language to begin with. But I would say this, always try to learn the culture in which we intend to spend some time in. Most people would appreciate that. You could start here:

As a Haitian who left Haiti in at 17 years old and i was in “Seconde”, equivalent to 10th grade in US High school. Throughout my education from 1996–2009 in Haiti, schools has made significant progress in teaching in Creole. The years prior to that it was believed that Creole isn’t a language and isn’t sophisticated enough to be taught in. This belief has been debunked when Haitian writers started to translate European literatures to prove it and starting to publish their work in Creole and created grammatical rules on how it should be written, but the education system which was run by the elites, usually French descendants, wanted Haiti to reflect its French heritage, and thus French remains, and speaking french is regarded as being educated because you can only be fluent in French if you attended school.

The year prior to the 2000s many Haitian kids drop out by 6th grade because it was too difficult for them to learn French and be able to pass the Department Exams (State regents).

When I was in school there was only one book written in Creole from 1st - 6 grade it was “M’ ap Li ak Kè kontan #1 to 6”. After that Creole was taught as a language to its native speaker like Spanish is taught to American kids in High school. Can you believe this mess?

Teaching in Haiti today and when I was there as well is double work. You have to translate what you are teaching in Creole in order for the students to fully understand what they read.

Many activists want French to be banned in school and they claim the school system doesn’t prepare Haitians for Haiti, but rather for foreign countries and for that to happen our books must be printed in Creole and there should be a overhaul in the system and obviously many don’t want that.

Haiti had made progress on having Creole as a language like English or French or German, etc.

In 1986 they constitution mandated every document to be print in both languages one side french and on side Creole and usually the creole side don’t get printed to save money. How ridiculous?

The impact of having Creole in school meaning having our books in Creole would significantly reduce illiteracy rate. If I know Quantum physics in Creole and I cannot read French it doesn’t mean that I am illiterate—this is what Haiti’s leaders don’t understand.

Here is some attempt to introduce Creole on official things like our money bills:

That was in 2004. First time creole was on our money.

99% of Haitian Households speak creole most of the time, like whyyyyyy Creole isn’t our way of life?

Haitians trivialize Haitian Creole because we are ashamed of it. We were taught by the French slave masters and the “elite”, from slavery days to today, that Creole is not a real language.

The fortunate few, about twenty percent, love to use French to show they are members of an exclusive elite club where the poor uneducated masses are not welcomed. Haitians continue to believe today that speaking French, being a Catholic, and having a white or light-skin are superior attributes and speaking Creole, practicing Voodoo, and having a dark skin makes one inferior in Haiti.

Haitians trivialize not only their language but also their religion and their ethnicity.

Haitians are very proud of Creole which is their mother tongue. English is nonetheless very popular. Like in many parts of the world, it is considered the default international language and is learned in school at an early age. It should also be added that there is a strong Haitian diaspora in the USA (nearly 2 million people) and in Caribbean islands such as the Bahamas. The three major English-speaking countries (USA, Canada & UK) are not seen as angels though. The USA occupied Haiti between 1915 and 1934, a century after the departure of the French.

Creole is derived from French and African languages. So it's relatively easy to switch from Haitian Creole to Standard French. Haitians also make-up a large portion of the populations of French Caribbean territories like French Guiana, Guadeloupe, and Martinique and in Quebec. The desire for rapprochement with Africa where French is spoken has remained very strong. You will be surprised to learn that Haiti enjoys relative popularity in French-speaking Africa. Here, a candidate for The Voice Francophone Africa performs a popular Haitian song:

Unfortunately, the literacy rate remains the lowest in the Americas. Many intellectuals left the country under Duvalier and thereafter. Rural Haitians usually neither speak French nor English unless they have gone to school. The majority of young Haitians simply want a better future and live away from the hell of gangs and other natural and political disasters.

Thinking about which language to speak, when there is already a native language, is the least of their worries.

Literacy rate in the region: Cuba 100%, Dominican Republic 94%, Puerto Rico 93%, Jamaica 89%, Haiti 61%

We wrote about this on our blog of Haitian Creole audio phrases, but here are my top recommendations. I learned Creole in 2014 and have lived in Haiti 2 years.

Quick translations: Google Translate app is very good with simple one word responses but gets really bad with longer phrases or common slag.

Full Courses:

1. Haiti Hub (paid but in 8 weeks you’ll know most all the grammar and lots of the most important vocabulary)
2. How To Creole (free) and has very high quality videos for learning grammar, doesn’t offer vocabulary lists.
3. Pimsler: Can be expensive but really great for practice/learning in the car or while doing sports.

Phrases, Vocabulary, Conversation:

1. Sweet Coconuts (free and large collection)
2. Haitian Creole Net (my free website - every post has audio)
3. Duolingo is adding Haitian Creole / English (updates here)
4. Download the free language guides from the University of Kansas
5. Byki Mobile App (not perfect and it’s paid but helps with vocab)

Real World Practice: With any language this is essential to build confidence, train your brain to hear & anticipate the language, and grow your vocabulary.

1. Move to Haiti and live without a translator
2. Make friends online and chat them up in Creole with Whatsapp
3. Watch lots of Creole YouTube. I’ve found Joel Trimble most helpful even if you don’t like religion.
4. Practice along in the Creole Bible while listening to the Haitian Talking Bible
5. Read Wikipedia in Creole + Google translate
6. Ask me anything and we’ll reply by email

Bottom line - it will take lots of practice to learn a new language, these resources are a starting point but real life talking is what leads to real life fluency.

I hope that helps!

Public schools in Haiti teach mainly in Creole since the Bernard reform of 1986. In these schools, French is just a subject

Only private schools have kept French as main language (they represent 70% of the offer but parents have a choice). Haitian parents are rarely in favor of monolingual education in Creole.

Children who enter private establishments have generally undergone French immersion from the 1st year of Kindergarten. Teaching is done in French and Creole can be introduced from the age of 10, when the mechanisms of the language of instruction are well integrated. All educational material is at least bilingual.

Speaking English did not prevent Guyana from being an undeveloped country. The same goes for South Sudan, Liberia, Sierra Leone or The Gambia, which is completely surrounded by a Francophone country that is doing way better than itself. Cote d’Ivoire is also a pretty good exemple of successful Francophone country when compared to its Anglophone neighbors. Developement and underdevelopment has little to do with the official or spoken language of a country. It is more about the culture and the history of a people, their identity and the way they perceive themselves.

Being linked to such strong feelings, language-shift only take place when the linguistic situation in a given place becomes unsustainable. Even after the language ceases to be used as a coomunitary tool for communication, however, some limited knowledge persists, which demonstrates how deep-rooted can a language be. Take Cornish as an exemple: despite of having disapeared in most Cornwall by the begining of the 18th century, prayers, simple sentences and others traditional pieces of language were kept well into the 20th century.

P.S.: Few things are more annoying than the anglophile supposition that English is the only language in the world that worth being spoken. Advises to switch a country’s official language as a mean of “saving” it from underdevelopment are almost commonplaces, even journalistic circles. Please, leave your confort zone for while and see that English is only more language within a huge group of pretty viable languages.

You know what you call a person who speaks two languages?…..bilingual . you know what you call someone who speaks three languages?,,,,,,trilingual. You know what you call someone who speaks only one language? …..American!!!!

I have been to haiti enough that its time to bite the bullet and learn creole. I too have noticed that French is the “classy” language and creole is looked down on even though its the most common language in Haiti . I also am a full fledged history nut and know the history of the romance languages which includes French. They are are a creole of Latin . Now Haitian creole has more than just french in it with the mixture of other languages…..just like English .

The point is Haitian creole is Haiti. Haitians should be proud of it

It’s best for young kids to develop basic literary skills in the language that they speak at home. Almost all Haitian kids speak Haitian Creole. Learning reading, writing, and arithmetic in Creole is a win/win ideal for all involved. Students feel liberated being able to speak and learn in their language in school. Teachers are more creative in teaching student-centered lessons. Parents who only speak Creole are able to help their children with homework.

French possibly could be introduced in the elementary grades. Students simply transfer literacy skills they’ve learned in Creole. This would be a great opportunity for Haiti to produce truly bilingual students. Research says the best way to do this is by using first the language the student speaks at home, then gradually transition to the target language.

Haiti has been using French in education for more than two hundred years. Perhaps it’s time to try what the research is saying when it comes to what language should be used to teach a child. The answer is simple. Teach the child in its own language. For Haitian kids that language is Haitian. For French kids that language is French.

Haiti needs to educate its people naturally, economically, and rapidly in order to compete globally. Haitian Creole in education is the best way to reach that goal. When that happens the country will simply contract language interpreters to help it in exporting Haitian goods and services throughout the world.

And~What’s the difference between Hatian Creole and Parisian French?

by Linguist: James A Jaramillo Du Bray!

In Haiti, French is spoken in school, business, and in their government but outside of these sectors, the majority speak creole. Moreover, only about 5 - 7 percent of Haitians speak French fluently.

What exactly is A Creole? This phenomenon occurs when a mother tongue developed from the contact of a European language (especially French, Spanish, Portuguese and English) with local languages (especially African languages spoken by slaves n the West Indies).

Now-the vocabulary of Hatian Creole is mostly composed of 17th Century Classical French (which constitutes about 80 %) while the grammar is West African but-nevertheless-some of these words went on through time to take on other meanings.

“For example, the old French word bailer, or to give in French, has not been used in French since the end of the 17th century. Today, the Haitian Creole word bay still means to give” (Julien 2021)!

In any case, here are some greetings that appear in French and Hatian Creole.

Bonjour! Bonsoir! Bonne nuit! Comment Vas Tu? Ciao!

Bonjour! Bonswa! Bòn nui! Komon ou ye? Ciao!

References

Julien, M. (2021)

“What is the difference between French and Haitian Creole”

ps: Mainland French has several varieties/dialects: Parisian, Norman, Picard/Ch'ti, Occitan and Lorraine.

Well- The main reason is because of the prominence of the French language. French is the language of education in Haiti, and because of that, we view Creole as a language for uneducated people. There have been recent movements including the rise of the ‘RAP CREOLE’ that really display the beauty of the language.

Also, I think there is also a phonological reason. Since there are thousands of Haitian Creole words that are similar to French (either the exact same or a cognate of a French word), we tend to compare ‘psychologically’ these words- and usually our words sound dry compared to the French ones. Some people go as far as laughing when someone pronounces a Haitian word in a phonologically correct way- hoping them to use the French pronunciation instead as the latter sounds fancier.

And of course, you have the elite that use French to discriminate against, belittle, and take advantage of the less educated. So, there’s that… If you want to learn more about Haitian Creole, check out my YouTube Channel, ‘Haitian Creole With Luciano’

No one is telling Thailand to stop speaking Thai. Likewise, we should not be telling Haitians to stop speaking their national language. Kreyol is the only language fully understood by the whole population. Haitians will swear up and down that they are fluent in French, but that’s not always the case.

Should Haitians learn multiple languages? Definitely. Spanish and English are ideal. Learning French is a tradition due to history, but there are very few French speaking countries in the western hemisphere and France is far away.

Kreyol should always be the first language of Haiti. Strengthening the educational system in Haiti so that children can learn a second and third and perhaps even a fourth language will open up doors for the students later on.

There are many affects from the age of colonism. Most colonists began their conquests with the thought of being superiour to the natives of the country they invaded. Some thought to bring Christianity. Most felt their language was superiour. So began the long journey of recognition of one's own language in one's own country.

Haitian Creole and it's problems with their language being accepted as a national language is an example of this problem.

When the super powers of the 17 and 18th centuries sailed the oceans of blue they landed on islands and countries and planted their flags on them.

England colonized the most countries although not the first contendor in the game and France, Spain, Portugal and the Netherlands also set sail to bring home the vast wealth of foreign lands.

Haiti was one of those islands. France was the country who exerted dominion.

In Haiti now students speak French in school and Hatian Creole at home. Hatian leaders are not on Hatian monetary notes. The French are on those notes.

Some interesting experiments have been made, such as translating Eurpean books into Hatian Creole to see if the Grammer and Syntax work well and if Haitian Creole is both expressive and expansive enough to include the ideas presented in those European novels.

There are certain things about human beings that appear to surface generation after generation. One of them is; who has the right to govern?

There is a trendy little Mandarin series entitled ‘The Untamed.’ Watch it for awhile you may find the idea forming in your mind; who gets to say what is right and what is wrong?

The Hatians should be able to speak their own langauge in their own schools. Since revolutions are costly, both in money and blood; most people wait as time passes and times change. Someday they will be speaking their own language in their own school.

Most of them will appreciate but there are exceptions. I speak Spanish fluently and Turkish almost fluently and when I still was learning these languages, I noticed some immigrants in the Netherlands were so keen to learn Dutch that they didn’t want to speak their own language with me. Most of them however didn’t see it as a problem and said “there are still enough Dutchmen who don’t want to learn our language so I can practise it with them”. When I started to work as a social worker for immigrants generally we would speak the language that was the most practical for a good communication and without being arrogant my Spanish and Turkish quickly turned out to be better than the Dutch of many of my clients so it usually would be Spanish our Turkish. However some of them, who had a medium level of Dutch and had been working hard to learn it, could be a little bit frustrated and would make unnecessary translations into Dutch when I was talking to their compatriots. The only real exception are some Sinti and Roma families (often known as “gipsies” but they don’t like that term themselves) Especially Sinti often will not appreciate very much that outsiders learn their language.

I am not a professional linguist but I have substantial exposure to Kryol from living in Florida, and personal trips to Martinique and Guadeloupe and Sainte Lucie. Having spoken proper European French (100% of my mother’s family) first, I was totally fascinated by Kryol. I also have a niece who is married to a native born Haitian. It seems to me like a 90% simplified reduction of the fairly complicated, conjugated-verb, European French language. Very simple grammar and pronunciation, no verb conjugation. I can’t get enough of it !!! Seriously, I love it, but would not try to speak it in Paris, or anywhere else in France.

2I do not know the language, but I can give advice on learning any language.

(1) If you can live for some time among the people who speak it, first try listening to them for about a week and try to (a) pick out a few words and phrases and write them down, (b) try to get some idea of the rhythm of the language. (A good way to do (b) is to tap your finger, foot or a pencil in time to the stressed words or syllables - though you may have to do this quietly so that they don’t notice and ask what you are doing.)

(2) As your ears get more attuned to their speech, try repeating some of the words and phrases you hear and ask someone who knows another language what they mean. You should also ask someone - preferably several people - to tell you the words and phrases you think will be most useful to you. (Start with everyday phrases like “What is this?”, “This is a …” “Please give me …” “Thank you”, “How do I do this?” “I like this” “I do not like this” “I understand” “I don’t understand” “I can…” “I can’t” “What am I doing?” (This last - with gestures - is useful for learning action verbs!)and so on. When you have between 100 and 200 phrases, try to break them down and analyse them to find how the language works by comparing similar phrases with small differences - often changing only one word in the phrase. Also try to spot words that sound nearly the same but which have completely different meanings - this will help you to attune your ears and get an idea of the most important sounds in the language.

I could say much more, but these few hints will give you a good start in any language - especially one for which there are few good textbooks or written literature.

Yes. There are up to 3.5 million in the Haitian diaspora around the world, with the largest numbers in the US (e.g., Florida), and in the Dominican Republic. But Haitians have literally fled to many other countries around the world (sadly including some people who tried to do so and perished on the seas in small vessels).

If immigrants were raised in Haiti, of course, most of those would still use Haitian Kreyòl fluently in speaking to other Haitian immigrants, and probably to some degree, with their own children. In addition, there are undoubtedly relatively fewer people outside Haiti who are not Haitian but have learned to speak Kreyòl well.

OK, this answer is only based on personal experience, not on studies. But it may give you some ideas on the Haitian Créole language. Please read also the answer supplied by Allan Taylor, former Retired professor, PhD linguistics, Anthropology (1964-1998). His answer is way more elaborate!

A long time ago, I traveled to Haiti and to Saint Lucie, two island-States in the Caribbeans. Both Islands’ inhabitants speak a créole based on French influence. These two languages, when I listen to them, seemed different to me. I write “seemed” because basically I could recognize many French words and even partial sentences. But the non-French part of the sentence was totally new to me. When I asked my Saint Lucie friends I met on the Island if they could understand Haitian, some said yes, others said no. Next story, I had a baby-sitter from The Dominica Island, a former British Colony located between 2 French Islands, and I mean French like a French department, The Martinique and the Guadeloupe. Well, my baby-sitter, when speaking to her family on the phone, used a Créole Language where I could detect English words, French words and unknown words, unknown for me that is.

My conclusion, at that time, was that the Créole Language was basically a mix of the speaker’s original language with whatever colonial influence was left in the mind of the speaker.

That would mean, if this conclusion was right, that an Haitian, born and raised in Haiti, would speak a language made of grammar, words and expressions coming from the original land where the slave traders snatched their ancestors, (Wolof, Haoussa, Yoruba, Fulani and many more …), and the main colonial influence they had to face at one time in their existence.

Jump in time…. I now live in the USA and speak English a little better and I have access to Internet and Wikipedia. Therefore I read the article on the Créole Language: Creole language - Wikipedia

And I discovered that my empiric conclusion was not so far from reality!

I should just add, to make things even more interesting, that the Haitians living on the Santo Domingo eastern border must have some Spanish words in their Créole the same way you can find Portuguese influence in the Brazilian créole!

Now: What Créole do they speak in the Island of La Réunion, in the Indian Ocean east of Africa:

Réunion Creole or Reunionese Creole (Réunion creole: kréol rénioné, French: créole réunionnais) is a creole language spoken on Réunion. It is derived mainly from French and includes a number of terms from other languages (Malagasy, Hindi, Portuguese, Gujarati and Tamil). See? Colonial and COMMERCIAL influence! Same in Ile Maurice! Réunion Creole - Wikipedia

What a symbol we are now exploring! Is the Créole Language a prototype of what will happen to every single language when the Earth will become too small to host close to 200 Hundred countries?

No wonder some people switch to Esperanto!

Kreyòl is the name of the language in the language itself and using its own spelling. Créole is the French name of the language using the correct French spelling, which is also used in English. Note that the relation between a Créole language and a Créole identity is not automatic and one does not assume the other. Also note that there are Créole languages all over the world and so it matters to specify which one you mean.

Both are correct spellings but not in the same language. Trying to figure out which is more correct would be playing a came of the egg and the hen, since fundamentally Haitian Créole is drawn from French, but also languages like Fon, Bambara, Wolof, Kikongo, Yoruba, Igbo, etc. Therefore the French spelling of things is not irrelevant to the context of this Créole language but this language has also its own autonomy and since relatively recently a spelling, so I guess the choice would be a political one.

Isn’t it a silly question if you suggest that foreigners wouldn’t speak French to the French in France?

Of course, French people appreciate foreigners speaking French, or at least trying to speak French to them in their country!
It is a matter of showing respect/politeness and putting your hosts in France at ease.

Don’t you appreciate foreigners like me speaking English to you in your English-speaking country?
Wouldn’t you feel embarrassed if I would complacently speak my mother tongue to you in YOUR English-speaking country?

Similarly, one appreciates you speaking italiano to italiani in Italia.

And one appreciates you speaking Deutsch in Deutschland, Österreich, Liechtenstein und im deutschsprachigen Teil der Schweiz

And one appreciates you speaking español to los españoles in España.

And one appreciates you speaking Nederlands in Flanders and Nederland.

And so on.

This is irrespective of your proficiency in the respective languages, your respect / your effort count!

Of course, one should feel free to speak one’s mother tongue among fellow foreigners in any country.

Yes, at least in the early grades. And in some schools that’s what they have started doing. Other things being equal, it’s been shown to hugely improve comprehension and participation on the part of the students. For many of the teachers, it’s been a big shift away from rote instruction in a language (French) which they often are not actually very comfortable themselves.

There was a great deal of opposition to the change, though, both on the part of the upper class, for whom French was always their first language and from others who really only speak Creole but insist that they speak French, and for whom “we’ve always done it this way” was a powerful argument for a long time.

I’m not sure how the issue is progressing but it has not been a speedy change-over. Where the change has happened, though, Haitian students tend to learn as quickly as their Dominican counterparts, enjoy their studies more, and become much better at such things as critical thinking.

French Africa and in the Caribbean (Haïti) have been carrying (pushing) the burden of France and its legacies worldwide..

Over half of French speakers live outside of France and Canada.

French-speaking Africa are now the bodies being used by Paris to carry out its soft power worldwide. Paris' biggest assets worldwide is the language and French culture itself.

Macron said it during a speech in Ouagadougou (West Africa):

We are a generation whose destinies are interwoven – whether we like it or not – since we have this shared history because our parents, our brothers and sometimes our children made the choice to cross continents and oceans. And like you, I am from a generation convinced that African diasporas in France are also key to our opening up to the world. And I am also convinced – as are many of you in this room – that we cannot simply consider ourselves to be thousands and thousands of miles away from each other, but also often interwoven through our blood, history and destinies.

(Emmanuel Macron's speech at the University of Ouagadougou)

What an insult! France only sees Africa's strength in numbers: the number of African youths who will be able to speak and carry French world wide.

Who wants to share destiny with France into the 21st century?

Anyways, on to substantial stuff:

This is the list of top 10 Universities worldwide as of 2019.

In 50 years, I predict China and Singapore (India not top 10 but will make a dent)

French offers Haitians of North America zero competitive advantage on a global or regional stage. We are doing Paris a favor by increasing the global count of French speakers (however big or small).

Haitians go to the US, Bahamas, Chile, DR…and they are seen as cheap commodities.

Their Franco-language limit their ability to be trained. So they end up working low-wage jobs with little to no instructions (agriculture, dishwashing etc.).

It's more than languistic. It's also an economic issue. Haiti economy is highly dependent on remittances. The more Haitians earn overseas. The more they send to Haiti.

I don't believe French should be our burden. France hasn't done much for the island under the premise: they don't owe us anything. We don't either. In fact, over the years we became a burden for them. And they are a burden to us.

But the question is how does one change the soul of a country?

Some Haitians in Haiti as some mentioned might be too proud (especially the ones who speak French because they might enjoy a high social status given that French is spoken in high places. Yep. Linguistic Apartheid. It also gives them enhance their ego sitting in their home reading out 18th century French and quoting dead philosophers) but Haitians in America, Chile etc.. - who have had to work their way up repulsive jobs, pay hundreds of $ to learn English or Spanish see it differently. Once they leave Haiti to anywhere in THEIR continent (except Quebec), French is no longer relevant.

So yes. We should jump off this bangwagon. I don't believe this is an overnight task.. I don't see our beautiful language: Haitian going away. But I believe Haitians should be well rounded and learn a regional dominant language.

I do fail to see why a ticket to join the Commonwealth would do much.