Some more thoughts on learning a new language . . .
About 170 days ago I began learning a new language: Haitian Creole, or kreyòl aysiyen, lang la ki pale nan tout Ayiti.
I knew nothing about the language before I began. Well, to be honest, what I “knew” was wrong. I had picked up the idea that Haitian (as a language) was simply a derivative of French.
Reader, it is not simply a derivative! Much as English is the conglomeration of Anglic roots with a Danish and French vocabulary (from the conquests of England by the Danes and later the Normans) combined with Latin and Greek from classical education and since the time of colonizing also acquiring many new words from conquered peoples, Haitian is also a language that uses French as a starting point but then picks up grammar from West African roots in Fon and Gbe as well as words from Spanish, English, Taino/Arawak, and others. Haitian is a language created by Haitian from many roots, and is unique & separate from French as English is unique and different from Frisian or Dutch (two of the more closely related relatives of English).
As in the ways we learn any language, learning Haitian is a matter of learning vocabulary, pronunciation, grammar & syntax, and idioms/figures of speech. So many figures of speech! Language as a set of words and grammar is one thing, but language as a vehicle for communication is going to take those words and that grammar and combine them together in many interesting ways—often ways that are baffling to the outsider who is trying to learn that language!
With my experience and practice, I’m able to confidently read children’s literature at the fourth-grade level. Children’s literature, especially for primary students, constrains the vocabulary and the grammar so that children can learn the structure of a language, and so for my purposes, it is comfortable to learn the cadence, emphasis, and ways to say things that are more complex than just “Bonjou, kòman ou ye?” (As an aside, it is very important to greet people when you meet them in Haiti and then check in with them regarding their state of being. So, it is customary and socially connecting to greet people with “Bonjou” or “Bonswa” upon meeting them, and then ask how they are doing. There are many ways to ask these questions, all which have certain expected answers. You cannot learn Haitian as a language and not learn these social behaviors.)
I’m at sea when it comes to middle-grade literature. I can just barely understand the Voice of America’s Haitian broadcast and reporting. It is written simply but the vocabulary is wider than what’s used in children’s literature.
And don’t give me something from a book just yet! Or a newspaper. Or a TV or radio show. Even music is still hard to understand because lyrics are usually, well, lyrical, pushing the boundaries of both vocabulary and grammar.
But with all that said, I’m having conversations with people in Haiti about two or three times a week, people whom I don’t know but who are willing to have a conversation with someone they “know” only through the intermediation of a third party who’s trying to teach me both formal Haitian and “street” Haitian. (Reader, these ways of speaking Haitian are different!) I have lessons four or five days a week with my tutors (one who is volunteering, and one whom I’m paying for), I have daily homework in reading, writing, and speaking, and now I’m translating and recording that children’s literature I wrote about earlier. (This is something I’m doing entirely on my own to practice speaking smoothly & with an emphasis on the style of storytelling. It’s also something I let my tutors hear so they can correct me in my pronunciation.)
I’m far and away more capable of communicating than when I first started back in March 2022. I can get along with simple conversations, and invariably I wander into the thickets of wanting to say more but having neither the vocabulary nor the grammar to do so. (Prepositions! Why do you come to torment me before my time!) And I’m closer to my goal of being able to speak confidently about difficult topics as well as understand those who are speaking with me as well.
There is no such thing as “fluency” in a language in a sense that you reach a point where you’re fluent when you once were not. It’s a matter of being able to communicate with adults about any topic at hand, form an opinion, and together with them that most intriguing and fascinating and enjoyable creation of the human mind: the conversation. Competency is rated in a spectrum running from A1 (rank beginner) to B2 (can engage in a conversation, understand it, and respond accurately to the topic under discussion).
I’ve come pretty far in five months. My goal was to reach that B2 competency. My tutors think I can get here in a year. I am far from convinced of that! But I’ll keep trying. Gaining proficiency in new language does more than give me a new thing to know. Learning to speak/read/write/hear Haitian has not only opened a door to a new language but also opened a new world of culture and history and social organization and food and music and art and religion that I simply wasn’t aware of. And of course, the best thing is opening up the world of new friends who are a delight and a challenge and an inspiration to me.
As the saying goes, a friend is a stranger you haven’t met yet. And I’m all for making new friends.