Bonjou nan kreyòl ayisyen

Bonjou tout moun! (You’re not crazy, I’m trying to write in Haitian Creole. Scroll down for a translation…) Kom m’ te poste anvan, m’ pral ale nan Ayiti nan kat jou pou m’ pase youn semen la. Donk, m’ te panse, fòk m’ aprann yon ti kras kreyòl ayisyen (ou “ayisyen” tou senpleman). M’ renmen aprann lang yo, e kom m’ pale deja franse e gen anpil mo nan ayisyen ki sanble a mo franse, pètèt se pi fasil. Pou antrene m’ nan ayisyen, m’ te deside ekri kèk mo pou m’ prezante e pou pale sou efò mwen pou …

La boîte de nuit

The best English mistake I’ve come across so far: the nightbox. Sample usage: Vincent: “So, class, what did you do this weekend?” Student: “Zees weekend, I go to zee nightbox. I have drink lot.” Nightbox is simply a too-literal (yet somehow wonderful) translation of la boîte de nuit (nightclub). Since, according to their accounts, my students’ lives are primarily occupied by two activities — (1) drinking and (2) sleeping — if I can get them to talk correctly about those things, I’ll have to consider it a success.

Learning Haitian Creole

Haitian Creole for Disaster Relief My friends Julie and Johnny at Women in Construction are leading a volunteer trip to Haiti next week, and asked me to give a presentation on the language. I should be clear that I don’t speak Haitian Creole. I speak passable French, so I spent some time researching and compiling the following materials. Haiti has two official languages. French is the official language of the government, spoken by educated Haitians, business people, and elites, but not by many common Haitians. Haitian Creole, on the other hand, is the language spoken by nearly all Haitians. Although …

La primera tertulia fue un éxito!

Por varios meses, he intentado de empezar un grupo de conversación en español, y estoy muy satisfecho que hoy hemos hecho el primer “Tertulia” de Biloxi. KC, Yvonne, Dylan, y Will han venido y fue muy interesante de hablar con varias personas con varios niveles de español (incluyendo mi español podrido…). Creo que vamos a hacerlo cada viernes aldredor de las seis de la tarde; esta vez lo hicimos a Kokopelli’s y era muy bien. ¡Que exciting!