I'm confused about 'from.' How do you say 'I'm from the US' and 'This is from me to you?' Mesi anpil!

I am from the US.

Mwen soti Etazini (I come from the US)

or

Mwen se moun* Etazini (I am a native of the USA)

The word "moun*" above specifically translates "being a native of".

I am a native of New York.

Mwen soti New York. (I come from New York)

Mwen se moun New York. (I'm a native of New york)

She's a native of the town of Omaha.

Li se moun vil Omaha.

She's from Haiti.

Li soti Ayiti.

or

Li se moun Ayiti.

Where do you come from?

Where did you originate from?

or

Where did you just come from?

Ki kote ou soti?

We come from Jamaica.

Nou soti Jamayik.

or

Nou se moun Jamayik.

Also.

I came from the store, and I saw your friend .

Mwen soti nan magazen an, e mwen te wè zanmi w la.

We just came from the church.
Nou fèk soti legliz la.

I just came from her house.  I saw her crying.
Mwen fèk soti lakay li.  Mwen te wè l'ap kriye

You may also want to check the prepositions nan, to, ...
prepositions in, at, and from
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If i were a bird, i could flap my wings to give GOd glory. If i were a tree i would sing my branches to give GOd glory. Im not a tree and Im not a bird, but with my hands I will give GOd glory.

Yes, it’s a very short song

Si m te zwazo, mwen ta vole
Ak zèl mwen yo m’ap bay Bondye glwa

Si m te pye bwa, m ta balanse
Ak branch mwen yo m'ap bay Bondye glwa

Mwen pa zwazo, mwen pa pye bwa

Ak men mwen yo m’ap bay bondye glwa

Ak pye mwen yo m’ap bay Bondye glwa

Mèveye, Mèveye, Sovè mwen mèveye
Wonderful, wonderful, my savior is wonderful
or
Mèveye, mèveye, Sovè ou mèveye
Wonderful, wonderful, savior you're wonderful
or
Mèveye, mèveye, Jezi ou mèveye
Wonderful, wonderful, Jesus you're wonderful

Jezi ou merite glwa
Jesus you're worthy of glory
Pou m ba ou glwa
To give you glory

Jezi ou merite vre
Jesus you're truly worthy
Pou m ba ou glwa
To give you glory

El shaddai ou merite vre
El Shaddai you're truly worthy
Pou m ba ou glwa
To give you glory

Sovè mwen merite vre
My savior is truly worthy
Pou m ba ou glwa
To give you glory


There's also another Creole song (Michael Benjamin's Si m te gen zèl)  which is somewhat similar to the one above.  Truly beautiful lyrics by Renond

http://youtu.be/iJQb4-9MexQ


audio button ...you may pause to learn lyrics

Vole, vole...
fly, fly...

Vole, vole keyi zetwal nan syèl
fly, fly, gather the stars in the sky
Vole, m ta vole...
Fly, I would fly...


Si m te gen zèl,
I I had wings,
tankou yon zwazo, m ta vole, al keyi zetwal nan syèl.
like a bird, I would fly , to gather stars in the sky
Si m te lapli,
If I were the rain
Mwen ta jete dlo, pou m wouze flè k pouse anba solèy.
I would drop water to spray the flowers growing under the sun
Si m te lajwa,
If I were joy.
M ta antre nan kè, tout malere pou yo kapab jwenn lespwa.
I would enter the heart of the unfortunates to give them hope.
Si m te lanmou,
If I were love
M ta met ajenou, devan Bondye pou lèzòm kabab sispann goumen.
I would kneel before God so that humanity would stop fighting
Yo ta renmen.
They would love

M ta fè tout mòn blanch yo rebwaze,
I would reforest the barren hills
Tout sous ki seche, rekòmanse koule,
All dried up springs, start flowing again
Si m te gen pouvwa pou mwen chanje,
If I had power to change
Tout sa m dezire.
Whatever I desire
Mwen ta bani tout trayizon,
I would bannish all treason
Tout sa ki malad ta jwenn lagerizon,
All the sick would find healing
Tout sa ta pwouve saj yo te gen rezon.
All that would prove the wise were right

M' ta fè tout sa k' grangou jwenn manje,
I would give food to the hungry
Sa k' nan lesklavaj, ta va jwenn libète,
The captives would go free
Si m te gen pouvwa pou mwen chanje,
If I had power to change
Tout sa m dezire.
Whatever I desire
Mwen ta fè tout zam tounen jwèt,
I would turn weapons into toys
Move zentansyon, santiman disparèt,
corrupt intentions and ambitions disappear
Si m te ka chante pou m chase mechanste
If I could sing to chase away naughtiness

Ask me anything

Making progress with Creole, but I have no one to practice with so I can barely improve. I'd love to chat over IM/email if you're interested/have time :) If not would you know where else I'd find lang partners? I tried sites like italki, but no success :/

I'm glad to hear of your progress.
I'm not too big on chatting, but if you can catch me on FB, Skype, or IM I would be happy to exchange some Creole greetings with you :)

How long have you been learning Creole? and
What are your main goals in learning the Creole language?

Kenbe la Brian

Keep it up Brian

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Could you write about use of k ap and also bó. Thanks. SAre you going to post any audio lessons soon? They are great!

Thanks :)
Yes , I will.   I plan to continue uploading audio post by second week of January.  The recordings on my computer has been full of loud staticky noise even though I replaced my headphones.  I finally took care of that :)

K'ap is a contraction for ki ap.

Ki is the relative pronoun that, who, which, whom

Ap is the marker for progressive and / or future tense.

This is the woman who is carrying my baby.

Sa se fanm ki ap pote bebe mwen an. (uncontracted)

Sa se fanm k'ap pote bebe m nan. (contracted)

The girl who's dancing is my girlfriend.

Ti fi ki ap danse a se menaj mwen. (uncontracted)

Ti fi k'ap danse a se menaj mwen. (contracted)

Who is knocking at the door?

Ki moun ki ap frape pòt la? (uncontracted)

Ki moun k'ap frape pòt la? (contracted)

The cup that is leaking is mine.

Gode ki ap koule a se pa m nan. (uncontracted)

Gode k'ap koule a se pa m nan. (contracted)

Bò (with an accent on the "o") means side, place, location, area...

Bò is a synonym for the creole words kote and plas

You could ask the question "where..." by saying "kibò..."

Bò also means near, next to, close to

You could say:

Ki bò ou prale?

Literally:    What location are you going?

meaning:    Where are you going?

You can also ask in Creole:  Ki kote ou prale?

Ki bò ou rete?

literally: What location do you reside?

meaning: Where do you live

You can also ask in Creole:  Ki kote ou rete?

Ki bò ou vle chita?

Literally:  What location do you want to sit?

meaning:  Where do you want to sit?

You can also ask in Creole:  Ki kote ou vle chita?

Bò as next to, near, close to.

Vin chita bò kote m

literally: Come sit near my side.

meaning: Come sit near me.

Li abite bò kote nou.

literally:  She lives near our side.

meaning:  She lives next to us.

Mwen te wè yon chyen bò dlo a.

I saw a puppy by the water.

Li te mete liv li a bò kote liv mwen an.

He placed his book next to my book.

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you don't miss me

Ou pa sonje m.

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back

back (as in a body part) → do

My back hurts.

Do m fè m mal.

Back (n.) → ke, dèyè

He's way in the back of the line.

Li jis nan ke liy la.

back (v.) → sipòte, ede, bay lebra

Back me up.

Ede m.

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How do I find lesson 1?

To the right top of screen, FEBRUARY 2010 have lesson 1 thru 19
Here's the link:
http://sweetcoconuts.blogspot.com/2010_02_01_archive.html

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how do you say phrases like, "you look good" and "you sound sick"

You look good is not such a good example of these type of sentences.
You look good is a different expression.
You look good. → Ou chèlbè, Ou anfòm, Ou anpenpan, Ou bòzò, etc...

But in general you would used "genlè" or "sanble" to translate such sentences.
genlè literally means to have the air of...
sanble literally means to seem to...

Examples:

You look / sound sick.
Ou genlè malad.

(Literally:  You have air sick)

You look mad.
Ou genlè fache.

(Literally:  You have air mad)

You sound scared.
Ou sanble pè.

(Literally:  You seem scared.)

He sounds sad.

Li genlè tris.

(Literally: He has air  sad)

They look ripe.

Yo sanble yo mi.

(literally: They seem they're ripe)

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how do you cat daddy?

I think that's a question for Chris Brown.
He must know some Creole...

Cat daddy does not translate to Creole.

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lol yes please ..what is your email addy..it is going to be a long night

lol :)

Limanecasimi@aol.com

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What is "ki lot sa.........."

Send this long note via e-mail :)

Is it standard to answer "yes" and "no" with "men" preceding them? I saw this in a Kreyol course I'm using, e.g. "Men wi" for "Yes"

Yes it is.

Men wi! (is literally But yes!) is the equivalent of But of course!

Men non! (is literally But no!) is the equivalent of But of course not!

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I love your site so much :)

Thanks Brian :)
Keep up the good work!

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If pa yo means theirs and pa mwen means mine, how do you say not mine? pa pa mwen?

Actually yes :)

Does it sound weird to you :)

This is not mine.

Sa se pa pa mwen an. (uncontracted)

Sa se pa pa m nan. (contracted)

This is not yours.

Sa se pa pa w la.

Can you just imagine all the beautiful puns you can create with verbiage like these!

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What's the difference between "You have beautiful eyes." and "Your eyes are beautiful"?

Are you asking for the difference in the Haitian Creole diction?

You have beautiful eyes.

Ou gen bèl zye.

Your eyes are beautiful.

Zye w bèl.

Eyes can be zye or je.

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