I’ve dropped off the radar for a bit posting publicly about my language journey in Haitian Creole. But rest assured, you few readers, that the process continues apace.
I’m back to using Duolingo (third time through) and it’s been updated (thank all the gods) to have more content and more contemporary content at that. Some of the old-fashioned words and phrases are still there, and some of the bizarrely and laughably wrong “translations” are still there. But there’s more to it now, and I’m enjoying the challenge of new words, phrases, and grammar.
And just for fun or maybe just because there’s a configuration file on the backend that’s not set up correctly, it throws in words from other languages into the mix of possible choices for a translation. Well played, Duolingo! Not only do you teach me incorrect grammar at times, you also add non-Creole words just to keep me on my toes!
But even though I’m not as heads down in Duolingo as I was, I have multiple conversations with Haitian friends on the phone daily – sometimes I get three, four, or five calls because they just want to chat for a while.
I appreciate their willingness to interact with me, to correct my grammar or pronunciation/speed, and even to push me to speak faster and more confidently “tankou rat” (literally, like a rat, but akin to “like a street rat” or a native urchin who will blast a torrent of words at high speed).
There are all sorts of complexities with the interactions. Very often the signal is poor. Or there is an incredible amount of ambient noise in the background because they’re on the street or in the market or a few times it seems they are riding a carousel that entertains the crowd with a cacophony of musical instruments.
But slowly slowly I gain more mastery of hearing the words that are spoken in haste or with an individual accent. And I’m beginning to “hear” the meaning without hearing all the words, so even if I can’t keep up I can get the gist.
I even recently found myself listening to Wilky Toussaint on YouTube and wishing he’d speed up and stop talking so slowly! IYKYK.
Well, I’ll keep on with my lessons.
One day I’ll be good enough to interact with native speakers who don’t know me and who don’t give me grace for my mistakes.
Apa yon jou m ap pale tankou rat, non ?!