Gaining Familiarity with Haitian Creole

    Topic: Haitian Creole Grades K 12.

Objectives: Review prior knowledge and gain familiarity of Haitian Creole and its origins. Mastery of Survival Creole phrases for the classroom. Compare and contrast three languages English, French and Haitian Creole.

Competency Link:

Materials/Resources: Haitian Days... Ti Djo Remembers, Diksyon Kreyol Vilsen, Haitians: Their History and Culture. Overhead projector and transparencies, audio tape and recorder

Procedures/Activities:

1. Distribute prior knowledge survey and correct.  

2. Read dictionary definition of Creole with translation and discuss.  

3. Recite and practice survival phrases and answer questions on variations and vocabulary not provided.  

4. Compare and contrast projected transparency of childrens' book in three languages while playing accompanying audio tape. Teachers listen and repeat French and Creole translations.  

Assessment:

1. Acknowledgement of new information gained from survey discussion. Teachers list changes of prior assumptions/perception of Creole.  

2. Participants write an accurate definition of Creole and its origins in their own words.  

3. Teachers demonstrate an acquisition of basic Creole survival phrases by memorizing and practicing in pairs 5 10 expressions that they'd be most likely to use frequently in class with newcomers from Haiti.  

4. Participants are able to identify the phonetic resemblance between French and Creole, noting the disparity between the syntax of each and the similarity of vocabulary.

  Resources:

Burtoff Civan, Michele, Haitians: Their History and Culture . Washington DC:(refugee fact

 

Sheet No. 10):The Refugee Center for Applied Linguistics.

Plaisimond, Marcus, 1994 Haitian Days ...Ti Djo Remembers. Miami: Sundance Publishers and Distributor.

Valdman,Albert,l988 ann pale kreyol An Introductory Course in Haitian Creole. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University.

Vilsaint, Fequiere, 1990 Diksyone Kreydl Vilsen. Temple Terrace, FL: Educa Vision Inc.

 

Survival Creole: Prior Knowledee Survey

Kreyól se langaj d'Ayiti, lang tout Ayisyen (Creole is the language of Haiti, the language of all Haitians)

Circle the best response based on what you already know about the languagels of Haiti.

1. The language spoken by the nationals of Haiti is called... a. Haitian French b. Haitian Creole c. Ayisyen(Haitian) d.both b+c  

2. The two official national languages of Haiti are... a. Creole and English b. Creole and French c. Creole and Spanish  

3. The term "Creole" means .... a. a typically spicy culinary style b. a mixture of French and another language in a colonial setting c. the language of a person of European ancestry who was born and raised abroad  

4. Haitian Creole is... a. a pidgin type of language b. a full fledged linguistic system c. Broken French  

5. A pidgin ... a. is never spoken as a first language b. evolves from a creole c. is never written d. is viewed a "trade" language e. both a+d  

6. List any examples of creole languages you already know

  7. Which do you link is a possible contributor to Haitian Creole?

a. African languages b. Portuguese c. French d. Spanish e. English f. all of the above  

8. Pidgins and creoles.. a. have always been looked upon as bonafide languages b. have been considered corruptions of "higher", usually European, languages c. are dialects  

9. Creole is spoken... a. by an entire speech community b. for business purposes between speakers from different cultures c. often by those whose ancestors were displaced geographically d. both a+c  

10. Creole is largely the phonetic spelling of French vocabulary because... a. slaves learned the language too quickly to record it b. slaves were not permitted to learn to read or write c. slaves resisted learning a new language  

11. Circle the answer that's NOT true Recently linguists have realized that pidgins and creoles.. a. used to fill an urgent need for communication b. very different from their lexical source of base language c. can be considered as a dialect of their base language d. influenced by the same linguistic forces that shaped English and other "proper" languages

     KEY to Prior Knowledge Survey(with answers underlined and some comments):

1. The language spoken by the nationals of Haiti is called... a. Haitian French b. Haitian Creole c. Ayisyen(Haitian) d. both b+c Some in linguistic circles refer to Haitian Creole as "ayisyen ", not only to distinguish it from the generic term "Creole, "which refers to a number of languages, but also as a symbol national identity.  

2. The two official national languages of Haiti are... a. Creole and English b. Creole and French c. Creole and Spanish

  3. The term "Creole" means ....

a. a typically spicy culinary style b. a mixture of French and another language in a colonial setting c. the language of a person of European ancestry who was born and raised abroad  

4. Haitian Creole is... a. a pidgin type of language b. a full fledged linguistic system c. Broken French Creole is not just a simplification of the base language, but a complete language conducive to serving all aspects of a language social, emotional, intellectual, etc.  

5. A pidgin ... a. is never spoken as a first language b. evolves from a creole c. is never written d. is viewed a "trade" language e. both a+d: a) when a pidgin becomes the native tongue of an individual, a creole language is resultant d) since a pidgin is only used for certain kinds of communication, it is restricted inform and usage, hence artificial and hardly flexible  

6. List any examples of creole languages you already know: some possible answers follow: Afikaans, aDutch based Creole of South Africa Chamonro,a Spanish based Creole Neo Malenesian or Malenesian Pidgin English(Tok Pisin,talk pidgen)used in Papua New Ginea  

7. Which do you think is a possible contributor to Haitian Creole? a. African languages b. Portuguese c. French d. Spanish e. English f. all of the above  

8. 8)Pidgins and creoles.. a. have always been looked upon as bonafide languages b. have been considered corruptions of "higher" usually European languages c. are dialects  

9. Creole is spoken... a. by an entire speech community b. for business purposes between speakers from different cultures c. often by those whose ancestors were displaced geographically d. both a+c

  10. Creole is largely the phonetic spelling of French vocabulary because...

a. slaves learned the language too quickly to record it b. slaves were not permitted to learn to read or write c. slaves resisted learning a new language   Circle the answer that's NOT true

11. Recently linguists have realized that pidgins and creoles.. a.used to fill an urgent need for communication b.very different from their lexical source of base language c.can be considered as a dialect of their base language d.influenced by the same linguistic forces that shaped English and other "proper" languages

  The definition below was taken from the Diksyoné Kreyól Vilsen. The transparency image has been scanned onto a document.(see file Kreyol scan 6)

Kreyól. n. ; 1.Lang tout Ayisen. Pandan lontan, franse to considere tankou lang ofisyel peyi a. Anpil obsevate pa janm kapab eksplike kouman yon ti gwoup moun tou piti ki pale franse fe kenbe res moun yo ki pa konn franse anba yon ilizyon ke peyi yo a frankofon. Jodi a Kreybl la se yon lung ofisyel tou epi tou lekbl kapab montre timoun li ak ekri nun lung Kreyol. Men pa gin use liv pou timoun aprann kbrekteman. Gen anpil travay ki gen pou fet pou timoun yo kapab pwofite epi tou devlope nun lung yo pale tout bon vre a. Lang Kreyote komanse devlope le afriken, franse, espanyol,angle, amerendyen ak potige ap kominike youn ak lot depi nun tan lontan sou to peyi Ayiti. Kounye a li konsidere tankou lang apa, ki fome, ki maje epi ki gen grame, otograf ak literati li. 21ang lot peyi. Matiniken ak moun ki soti nun Lwizyan pale yon lang ki rele krey6l ki sanble al krey6l ayisyen an. 3. Estil kreyol. gen manje kreyol, gen kwafi kreyol, gen zanno krey6l tou.

Below is the translation of the dictionary definition of the word kreyol

Creole.n. : 1 Language of all Haitians. For a long time, French was considered as the official language of the country. Observers have never been able to explain how such a small group of French speakers were able to hold back the rest of the people who didn't speak French, under the illusion that their country was Francophone (French speaking). Today Creole is an official language and all schools are able to show children how to read and write in the Creole language. But there aren't enough books in order for children to learn correctly. There's a lot of work ahead so that children will be able profit from their language and develop their knowledge for total mastery. The language started developing when Africans, French, Spanish, English, Amer Indians, and Portuguese started to communicate amongst themselves a long time ago in the land of Haiti. Now, it's considered to be a major language complete with grammar, unique spelling, and literature.2.Language used in other countries. Martinicans along with people who went to live in Louisiana speak a language that is called Creole, resembling Haitian Creole. 3. Creole style. Some examples are Creole cuisine, Creole hair styles,

and Creole earrings.

Survival Creole Lesson

Haitian Creole is relatively easy to learn as a foreign language due to the absence of verb conjugation. Tenses vary according to the placement of a simple tense marker before the verb. It is helpful to have a knowledge of French, but not essential. If you do know French, you will recognize much vocabulary, since approximately 80% is taken from French. What may make it challenging to follow aurally is the use of contracted and elided forms. Reading can seem complicated due to the use of hyphens and apostrophes, while it is in some ways simple due to its pure phonetic spelling.

Below is a list of common classroom vocabulary followed by stock phrases to use in the classroom. (Note that without the use of an article, a or the, the word is considered plural. Also note that the indefinite article, a, comes before the verb, while the definite article, the, follows the verb).

a boy, the boy= yon gason, gason nan a building, the building=yon bilding a classroom, the classroom=yon sal de klas, sal de klas la the cafeteria= yon kafeterya/kantin, kafeterya a, kantin nan a counselor, the coulselor=yon konseye, konseye a a desk, the desk/ an office, the office =yon biwo, biwo a an eraser, the eraser yon gonm, gomn nan/ yon chifon, chifon an classwork=devwa nan klas homework=devwa la kay a girl, the girl= yon fi, fi a a grade, the grade=yon not, not la grade(level)= klas a mess, the mess= yon desod, desod la music=mizik a pen, the pen= yon plim, plim nan/ yon bik, bik la a pencil, the pencil=yon kreyon, keryon an a principal, the principal=yon direkte, direkte a a vice principal, the vice principal= yon soudirekte, soudirekte a a student, the student=yon elev, elev la a teacher, the teacher =yon pwofese, pwofese a a test, the test=yon egzamen/yon tes, egzamen an,tes la

imperatives: Note: make these negative by placing the word "pa " before them begin/start=kómanse come=vin/vini copy= kopye destroy=kraze do=fe draw=desine drink=bwe eat=rnanje

help=ede give=bay listen=koute, tande look=gade put away/hide=sere please=silvouple/souple read=li repeat=repete see=we sit down=chita show=montre speak=pale stand up=kanpe stop(enough) talking =ase pale study=etidye take=Aran thank you very much=mesi anpil touch=manyen wait for=tann work=travay write=ekri

useful phrases + questions You need to ...= ou beswen, fok ou Come see me=vin we m How are you?= Ki jan ou ye?/Kouman ou ye?

Verb tense markers are put before the verb to determine the tense. If no marker is added, the tense can be either present or simple past. present continuous= ap      ex. Map travay (I'm working) future=pral,a                        ex.Ma travay (I will work) or Mpral travay (I'm going to work) conditional= te                    ex M to travay (I would work) past perfect= te                  ex M to travay(I had worked)

Ann pale Kreyol by Valdman is excellent for independent learning w/tapes or CD's

An excerpt from Haitian Days...Ti Djo Remembers by Marcus Plaisimond

My name is Joseph. I was named after my dad. My nick name is Ti Djo, meaning "Little Joe." I live with my parents and sister in Miami. I want to share with you my beautiful memories of Haitian Days.

Je m'appelle Joseph comme mon pore. Mon sobriquet, c'est Ti Djo qui veut dire "Petit Joe." J'habite avex mes parents et ma scour a Miami. Je veux partager avec vous mes beaux souvenirs en HaYti.

Mwen rele Josef menm j an ak pap mwen. Ti non j wet se Ti Djo ki vle di pi piti Joe.

Mwen rete ak paran mwen ak se mwen nan Miyami. Mwen vle pataje ak ou pi bel souvni moman pase en Ayiti.

Evaluation Document + Needs Assessment for Continuation of Creole Instruction

For the last ten to fifiteen years Florida schools have been experiencing an increase in enrollment of Haitian nationals. Because most of them arrive without a functional knowledge of English, a course in survival Creole and its origins has been designed. Teachers can participate in this in service, then further their knowledge with more comprehensive language instruction through formal teacher led lessons or with independent practice by using a Creole series with audio such as ann pale kreyol; An Introductory Course in Haitian Creole by Albert Valdman

The following survey is for circulation during the in service, later to be collected by a school administrator.

Please answer the following questions regarding the Haitian Creole In service given at your school.

1) Did you learn anything from the the prior knowlege survey and its discussion? If so, pls give examples.

 

 

2) Do you anticipate using any of the survival Creole you learned. If so, please note the most useful expressions below. If not, please explain.

 

 

3) Did you find the audio portion comparing and contrasting the three languages beneficial?

 

 

4)Would you be interested in continuing your study of Haitian Creole... a. by attending future language instruction in Creole b. through attendance of classes weekly after school c. independently with books and tapes available through the school d. No. I'm not interested at this time.

 

5)Please provide feedback as to how to improve this in service.