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Tuesday, December 8, 2015

How is the dialect in Port-Au-Prince different from the rest of the country?

It is pretty much the same. Although there are regional variations in some of the terms that are used, the Creole spoken in Port-Au-Prince is the same as anywhere in Haiti.

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Sunday, November 29, 2015

Avantaj ki genyen lè òtograf timoun lekòl yo ap aprann nan baze sou lang matènèl yo

Kòm pwofesè Michel Degraff di, "Nou gaspiye richès lengwistik lè timoun lekòl Ayiti yo koumanse aprann fè lekti avèk yon òtograf ki pa baze sou lang matènèl yo".
Richès yon peyi se nan kilti li, nan kalite manje li fè, nan tradisyon mizik li, e nan lang li tou.
Ameriken yo p ap janm fè timoun kindergarten yo koumanse li nan lòt lang pase angle sèlman.
Franse yo p ap janm kite timoun klas anfanten li yo koumanse li nan okenn lòt lang pase franse sèlman.
Timoun panyòl yo toujou koumanse aprann li nan lang matènèl yo.
Aktyèlman, tout timoun tout peyi toujou koumanse aprann li nan lang ke yo konnen depi yo piti.
Nou espere timoun Ayisyen yo va suiv menm egzanp sa a.
Pou nou gen "lekòl tèt anwo, nan yon peyi tèt anwo", fòk nou eksplore richès lang kreyòl la nan aspè syantifik li. Suiv tweets @MichelDegraff yo pou nou rete konekte avèk dènye nouvèl sou avansman lang kreyòl la. Enpi gade e pataje videyo sa:


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Friday, November 27, 2015

Chef Rafi kuit yon soup joumou Ayisyen byen gou! / Chef Rafi makes a tasty Haitian squash soup!

It's been our tradition for more than 200 years now, soup joumou on January 1st, Haitian independence day. Haitians have celebrated their independence every year since 1804 by eating and sharing this tasty soup. Chef Rafi, the young chef who's brought us so many international and exotic dish is bringing us a delicious soup joumou in his usual playful cooking show on his cooking channel.
The section of young  Chef Rafi's cooking show that he dedicated to this Haitian delicacy is aired in both English and Creole, so you will even learn the name of the ingredients in Creole. Each show ends with some sayings and proverbs, and you will definitely learn some Haitian wisdom in this portion of the show. Haitian independence day without soup joumou is like celebrating Thanksgiving without the yummy turkey and stuffing. Be sure to check out Chef Rafi cooking show and make the soup with him in honor of Haitian Independence Day.


Haitian Creole ↔ English Reference, Look up Haitian Creole and English Words

Tuesday, November 24, 2015

Bonjou Mandaly! Mwen websayt ou anpil! So my question is: Many times I hear my family ask questions in creole without the "ye" Example: Kote Mandaly? Whats the difference in using ye and not using it? Also, in sayings such as "Sak ap fet la?" Sa gen la?" Whats the difference in saying it with or without the "la"? Mesi anpil!

Bonjou. Mèsi anpil.

In asking questions with the verb to be in Creole, yes, you can get away sometimes with not using 'ye' in a few instances. There's not much difference then.
Some examples other than yours are:
Kote li?
Kote li ye?
Where is he/she?

Konben li?
Konben li ye?
How much is it?

Or
Kilè fèt la?
Kilè fèt la ye?
When is the party?

Other times you have to use it, and the question will not make any sense without it. Some examples are:
kisa li ye?
kijan ou ye?
kilè li ye?
kimoun ou ye?

So when in doubt use 'ye'.
*****************************
And, in saying 'Sa k ap fèt la?' or "Sa k genyen la?", la retains its meaning of there, over there, around here. So some people say Sa k genyen? or they say Sa k gen la? . It's really similar to the difference between What's going on? and What's going here?




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Tuesday, November 17, 2015

what does "jofre" mean? P.S. I believe there's an accent on the O. Mesi davans!

jòfre - sneak a peek, watch, take a look.

There's also bay jòf and pran jòf
pran jòf - to sneak a ppek, to take a glimpse
bay jòf - to let s.o take peek (at something that would otherwise remain hidden from view)

Haitian Creole ↔ English Reference, Look up Haitian Creole and English Words

Tuesday, November 3, 2015

Thursday, October 29, 2015

Surtab et MIT-Haiti Initiative s'unissent pour la promotion du créole

Surtab et MIT-Haiti Initiative s'unissent pour la promotion du créole

Haitian Creole ↔ English Reference, Look up Haitian Creole and English Words

let me write this in Creole :) question: is 'rele apre you moun' and 'rele apre ko (body) ou' menm bagay?

Rele apre yon moun vle di repwoche oubyen reprimande moun nan.
Nou p ap ka itilize men kalite vèb repwoche a pou 'kò w'.
Rele apre kò w vle di menm bagay avèk ranmase kò w. Lè ou rele apre kò w se lè ou pran swen kò w pou kapab fè tèt ou pli atiran. Se lè ou gen sousi pou aparans ou. Se lè ou pa kite kò w lage nèt.

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Wednesday, October 28, 2015

Does pa chat always mean "an extramarital affair"?

No. Not always. Yon ti pa chat could also be other 'reckless exploits'.

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What flour or wheat product is used to make akwa or akra? It tastes like potato cakes. thanks

It's 'akra'.
We use the root vegetable 'malanga' or 'taro' to make akra.
To my knowledge, we do not use any type of flour.

Haitian Creole ↔ English Reference, Look up Haitian Creole and English Words

Jodia se jounen entenasyonal lang kreyol vre? Kiyes ki te chwazi jou sa e poukisa?

Yon gwoup lengwis te mete tèt ansnam nan mwa oktòb, ane 1983 pou rekonèt lang kreyòl ak pou fè plis rechèch pou benefis lang lan. Yo te deside chwazi jou 28 oktòb la pou selebre eritaj kreyòl la chak ane – se te premye selebrasyon jounen entènasyonal kreyòl la. Tout peyi ki pale kreyòl vin patisipe nan selebrasyon sa a. Malgre genyen ki obsève li nan yon diferan dat, yo toujou rezève mwa oktòb la pou sa.
Selebrasyon kreyòl la se pa senpleman fete lang ki ini nou kòm yon ras, ... yon pèp, se ta dwe okazyon ki nan kalandriye nou tout tan pou fè nou sonje li lè pou nou klase lang lan nan plas li, kòm lang prensipal kominikasyon nou nan tout aspè.
M ap mande tèt mwen, nan tout peyi sa yo ki ap selebre lang kreyòl la, konben nan yo ki bay lang kreyòl la premye plas nan kilti yo vrèman?
Konben nan peyi sa yo, lè tan an rive pou prezante yon bagay ofisyèl, se franse onswa yon lòt lang yo chwazi?
Kisa ki gani tab ou? Franse onswa kreyòl?
Si yon moun k ap selebre lang kreyòl la panse kreyòl gen ti mank, pou se lòt lang l ap chwazi pou regle koze ofisyèl, moun sa a nan gwo ipokrizi.


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Tuesday, October 27, 2015

Podcastle - The Half Dark Promise: A little Creole in the Fiction makes it real interesting.

This week's work of fiction by Malon Edwards in the Podcastle, The Fantasy Fiction Podcast, is a thrilling story, The Half Dark Promise, narrated by yours truly :)
Be sure to check it out.
Here's the link: The Half Dark Promise
Podcastle: The Half Dark Promise

Haitian Creole ↔ English Reference, Look up Haitian Creole and English Words