So this last week (Tuesday) I had my first full hour of tutoring in kreyòl, and zanmi m, it was glorious! We spoke almost entirely in kreyòl, with just a few lapses, mostly by me when I was trying to ask a question (and I can and should ask them in kreyòl!) or when I was fumbling for the right word or reacting to my mistakes. (I mumble to myself that I should know the word!) My tutor a few times jumped in to explain a new word or word usage on some tricky parts, but really, as horrible as my accent is, and as hacky as my grammar is, I’m able to converse and talk about the past and the future.
It still takes me time to warm up. I find that I am practicing in the hour before my lessons because it feels like the set of the language skills that I have in kreyòl just likes to go back into the corners, and I have to coax it out by calling to it. But then I get into it, and I’m okay.
Now understand that I am not at all fluent. I must say “Pale dousman, souple!” several times or even “Tanpri souple, èske ou ka repete sa pi dousman. M pa konprann ditou!” (Well, to be honest, I love saying “ditou!” with all the emphasis of my Duolingo instructor Nyall.)
But I’m feeling confident that I’ll get to the point where I can have conversations at any time. I suspect it means I’m going to have to practice and listen and speak every single day. Unlike English, which I might not speak during the day but still retain the skill, I don’t yet fully think in kreyòl. I will think in the sentences as they fall into place. My goal is to be fluent to the point that I am thinking in kreyòl and not just arranging the words in my head. It’s not quite English first, kreyòl second–I’m really mostly taking words-as-meaning and assembling them–but I’m not yet really thinking and imagining and contemplating in kreyòl.
E sa, zanmi m yo, se objektif la!