How to Study Haitian Creole Independently
Parts I - III
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Part I BACKGROUND
I am a unique learner;
I have reasons to study
Creole,
but they are not the same reasons as anybody
else's.
Unfortunately, I do not have
Haitian neighbors
to practice with.
I want to have fun
when I study.
Oh, how I wish to feel smart
and to see progress,
even if I am only learning
a few new words at a time.
I'm a senior citizen;
often I have to learn the same words
over and over.
It has taken me
a long time,
a long, long time
to speak Creole,
just a few sentences
with pronunciation
Haitian speakers can understand.
As a retired teacher
and a former student
of other languages,
I began studying Creole
with an expectation
that the right learning materials
were out there,
if I could ONLY find them!
I had to learn the hard way
that there are not many books
about learning Creole
which are designed
for the independent student
like me...
I learned that this is
because
Creole was NOT
a written language
until the 1960's
or by some accounts
the 1980's.
I was not looking
for a phrase book;
I was not planning
to visit Haiti.
There are migrant camps
here in New Jersey.
Every summer the camps fill
up
with workers who travel here
from Florida.
They come to pick
blueberries,
to earn money,
to sustain themselves
and their families
down in Florida
or back in Haiti.
Many of these workers
speak Creole,
but do not speak
enough English
to communicate.
I wanted to learn
to speak and read and write
CREOLE,
to connect
with these migrant workers.
If I could listen to
recordings,
(cassette tapes or CD's)
I would learn
how to pronounce things
ACCURATELY -
so my voice
would rise and fall
at the right times
in a word, a phrase
or a sentence,
as I spoke...
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Part II WHAT I DISCOVERED
I can recommend to you
three things,
even if
your needs and interests
are different from mine.
*****
FIRST, go to the library.
See if they have the CD
packet:
Pimsleur's Haitian Creole.
It will have only the first
ten
of the thirty lessons available.
Each lesson is 25 - 30
minutes long.
You might listen more than
once.
When you finish the first ten
lessons,
you'll have to decide
whether to buy the 30-lesson set.
Try to get it second-hand.
I recommend the
Pimsleur Program
because it goes at a nice pace,
introducing vocabulary
and grammar
a little at a time.
This program ALSO
repeats new words
at intervals
PROVEN by research
to ACCELARATE learning.
You will see, it really does!
*****
SECOND, go to Amazon.Com
and order yourself the book
Haitian Creole for Speakers of English.
I endorse this book
absolutely and wholeheartedly!
The lessons take you
step by step
along the path
to learn how to say
the things you want to express.
The exercises help you learn.
Use the answer key in the
back.
A terrific glossary
will help you
when you want to compose
sentences.
The author has posted on line
recordings of the dialogs
and some of the exercises
in this book.
I like this book;
it's my favorite one!
*****
THIRD, go to Amazon.Com
and order yourself the materials
by Wally Turnbull: Creole Made Easy.
The CD has SHORT SHORT
lessons,
some only six to ten minutes long.
That's great when you're driving;
you can coax yourself
to at least
listen to ONE lesson.
Studying one lesson a day,
day after day,
adds up.
The book will help you
picture the words,
so you'll begin learning
how to spell things.
If you like,
buy Betty Turnbull's
Creole Made Easy Workbook,
which expands on the material
covered in the book and CD.
*****
You might want to explore
these things, too:
The only dictionary I like to
use
is expensive, but
WORTH EVERY PENNY,
IF
you can afford it -
and definitely cheap
when compared with the cost
of tuition for a college course
or the cost of a personal translator...
This is it: Bryant
Freeman's Haitian-English Dictionary,
which is one gigantic volume,
and a companion three-volume
set
comprising his English-Haitian
Dictionary.
*****
It's nice to have something
small
to carry around
like the McGraw Hill
Haitian Creole Phrasebook,
but just use that for dessert
-
especially when you're looking
for topical word lists.
You shouldn't begin your
studies
with only a phrasebook,
because your pronunciation
will suffer!
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Part III WATCH OUT!
CAUTION!
Here are some more things
I want to tell you:
(Forgive me please
for this unsolicited advice.)
*****
Some books I used
although they made me grumble.
Ann Pale Kreyòl (with
accompanying CD's):
I got to Chapter 20,
of 25 chapters.
Maybe I'll study it again one
day.
But not today.
AND I KNOW WHY!
It's because I'm an older
learner,
and my brains are so mature
they've gotten TIRED.
I'm no longer capable
of learning so many new words
gallopy-trot, at a VERY quick pace.
Ann Pale Kreyòl
introduces words and words and words.
Maybe that'd be okay
if I were a lot younger.
At this stage in my life,
it's just discouraging,
and discouragement is to be
avoided
if I want to stay motivated
and focused.
But you may find this book
suits
your taste and your needs.
Pawòl Lakay (with accompanying CD):
I got half-way through Chapter 4,
out of eight chapters.
Once again,
vocabulary came at me
at a terrific pace
to which
I was not equal.
But you may find this book
suits
your taste and your needs.
*****
Guide to Learning
Haitian Creole (with accompanying
CD):
I
got only as far as the first lesson.
The authors must have thought
that no one would study Creole
without a teacher,
or that students would be
willing
to look up translations
for all the Creole vocabulary words.
That takes too much time for
me.
I want the vocabulary lists,
PLEASE.
If you have a teacher,
you might want to try this book.
*****
Spoken Haitian Creole
For Intermediate Learners:
Really, I may almost be ready for this
book...
after three years
of introducing myself
to Creole.
I cannot grumble, since I
have not yet
tried the lessons.
It is assumed that,
as an intermediate student,
I will already have
some basic vocabulary.
There's a good glossary in
the back.
I'll use it.
*****
There are other books, too,
for when I have acquired more vocabulary.
Mosochwazi Pawòl Ki
Ekri an Kreyòl Ayisyen:
This pleasingly thick book
appears to contain
poems and short stories
and essays and more.
Everything is in Creole.
Maybe I could dip into it
just a little at a time,
sitting at my kitchen table
with my Creole-English
dictionary.
Maybe.
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AND NOW, IN CLOSING
Let me say:
As an older learner,
but indefatigable,
I find
I can study
the same lessons
over and over.
Each time through,
I get a little faster,
a little more sure of myself.
Each time through
I build a stronger conduit
for the words
in my brain -
so that I might retrieve them
with less difficulty
when expressing myself
or when listening to others.
I'm on my way!
*****
By Dory Piccard Dickson
Haitian Migrant Worker Outreach
New Jersey
May, 2013
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Haitian Creole ↔ English Reference, Look up Haitian Creole and English Words
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