Bonjou! Learn to Speak Haitian Creole

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Tuesday, April 17, 2012

I'm writing a children's story and the main character will be a Haitian child. Can you tell me a good source for proverbs? I want to weave some proverbs into the dialogue to give my story a Haitian flavor!

The best source I've come upon so far is Maks Maniga's Sajès Ayisyen (it's all in Creole)
But it might be best to collect the Haitian proverbs by googling the same name. You'll find a lot of websites with long list of proverbs. Many of these sites offer an English equivalent to these idioms. It might take some time before finding the perfect proverbs that you want to use, and the fact that they are spread out on different sites does not make it any easier, but you'll get acquainted with many of them in this way.

3 comments:

  1. "Hidden Meanings" by Wally R. Turnbull , a book of Haitian proverbs with english translation. Excellent. Available at Amazon.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you, Mandaly AND Anonymous... I'll let you know how my story develops.

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    2. I did find the book on Amazon; the copyright date is 2005. I wonder if the author is related to Wallace Rupert Turnbull (died 1954) who invented the variable pitch propeller!

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