Remember from a few months ago when I quoted the Haitian proverb Dèyè mòn gen mòn?
Well, yes, it’s still true.
The more I dig into this language the more I find that I do not know anything at all. My initial appraisal of the language and the way to learn it is nearly entirely false. The initial methodology of saying simple phrases is helpful to build confidence, but Haitians do not talk like that.
Which of course is not surprising to the people who speak a language. Of course we don’t speak like three-year-olds. Language is subtle and complex and interesting, and so there is a lot of meaning packed into words that appear to mean something entirely different.
It’s just so frustrating right now. I can see the next plateau from here, where I am speaking at about a fifth- or sixth-grade level. Right now I’m just babbling. My pronunciation is horrible. I know it. I do not sound Haitian. I sound like an American reading words in a language he doesn’t understand and I just mangle it. I hate that feeling. I set a high bar of speaking fluently as well as a native Haitian speaker when it comes to vocabulary, idioms & proverbs, and even intonation, emphasis, and rhythm. I do not want to sound like a tourist who took a crash course in Ten Days to Fluency in Haitian Creole.
There is a history of that kind of language instruction connected with the American invasion of Haiti in the last century where “well-meaning” people in the military decided to formalize the Haitian language to their own understanding and then told Haitians to use it to speak their own language. Some, if not much, of the resistance to formalizing/regularizing Haitian Creole comes from this invasion and the rebellion against it.
It’s part of the mix of reasons why the elite Haitians who speak both French and Creole (about 3%) do not want to give up on French because their resistance to the invasion by the Americans resulted in an embrace of the Haitian-Gallic connection and culture. Which means that the elites who are trying to hold onto their power in culture and politics hold on to French as the language of government, justice and law, and instruction, while the common Haitian who speaks only Haitian Creole is locked out of participation because of the language barrier where the rulers do not speak a language that they understand. Some government schools have teachers who teach and speak French to children who do not speak French. Haitian culture and politics are complex.
Anyway.
I was supposed to have a conversation last night with one of my Haitian friends but lordy, I was so, so tired. I rescheduled it to today. Let’s hope I get the energy to call later.