So I wanted to share a song with you, which is rather well known in France, though it is particular for not actually being sung in French, but rather in creole, though not quite the same creole as in Haiti!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqCUudtvfR4
It's in Guadeloupe Creole if I'm not mistaken, but looking back at it with what I learned from the Haitian course a lot of it seems surprizingly familiar! I guess French based creoles from different areas have a lot in common, even Réunion Island Creole on the other side of the planet, which I had the opportunity to hear a bit of last year: although it is definitely distinct, the similarities were striking nontheless. Anyway, to learners of Haitian and native speakers alike, I'll be interested in hearing how much of this song you can understand
Thanks for sharing.
Your comments reminded me of this video of four speakers of different French based creoles trying to understand each other: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEaPGyoswSk
Resources:
Here are a few additional resources for Haitian Creole language learners on the DUO platform. These
Voice of America in kreyòl ayisyen: audio, video, text. Latest news from Haiti and the world: https://www.voanouvel.com
Cheat Sheet for kreyòl ayisyen grammar (beginner level): For some reason, includes articles (a/an, the) only in the singular, but I found this really handy with the DUO lessons. https://www.lunionsuite.com/hacking-haitian-creole-beginners-grammar-cheat-sheet-for-learning-kreyol/
University of Kansas Scholarly Works on Haitian Creole & Haiti FREE downloads including a 1024 page Haitian-English Dictionary (or the 2010 edition in 3 volumes), a 62 page Grammaire Haitienne, and a reader for beginners called Chita pa bay: elementary readings. I'm not giving individual links -- to encourage y'all to browse the entire (extensive) catalogue of works available. https://kuscholarworks.ku.edu/handle/1808/10885
RadioBox has links to a number of online radio stations with Haitian Creole programming, including lots of music. https://onlineradiobox.com/genre/haitian/?cs=us.kompalakay
Radio Lumière For some reason, this isn't in the RadioBox list (possibly because it is faith-based?): http://radiolumiere.org/en
Sweet Coconuts Haitian Creole Resource & Learning Site:
This is from a post by VeeDrawStuff (of which more below), but I'm pulling it forward in time because I found it a really rich resource. Explore all the sidebars! http://sweetcoconuts.blogspot.com
VeeDrawStuff If you missed (or haven't clicked "follow discussion") for VeeDrawStuff's posts about resources for Haitian Creole, here are two links. Yes, I'm repeating them, but they are worth repeating and bringing forward in time.
VeeDrawStuff : GREAT resources for Haitian Creole https://forum.duolingo.com/comment/56517588
and https://forum.duolingo.com/comment/56316021
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Thanks for these links! Yes, Sweet Coconut is an excellent resource. I don't think she's updating her blog as often but the archives are very informative. Mandaly (SweetCoconuts) worked on the Kreyòl Alphabet Song with tenured MIT linguistics Professor Michel Degraff, Director of @MITHaiti Initiative for Kreyòl-based & technology-enhanced active learning. DeGraff is a founding member of the Haitian Kreyol Academy. You can follow him on Twitter @MichelDeGraff. He participated in DuoCon2020 and other Duolingo-related events.
The Duolingo VeeDrawStuff Links:
The DLIFLC (Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center) is a United States Department of Defense educational and research institution consisting of two separate entities which provide linguistic and cultural instruction to the Department of Defense, other federal agencies, and numerous customers around the world.
The DLIFLC currently offers classes in French, Spanish, Indonesian, Japanese, Chinese Mandarin, etc. They currently do not offer classes in Haitian Creole, however in 2004, they published the Haitian English Basic - Language Survival Guide. If you look through their website, you will find resources for other languages. I do know that they did publish a Haitian Spanish Language Survival Guide, but I can't locate it at the moment.
Here's a link for an older DLI (Defense Language Institute) resource published in 1973, revised in 1994. There's accompanying audio, but it was recorded with old equipment so the audio is really terrible. The course is called Haitian Creol Basic Course. If you take the time to look through the Yojik Website, you will find a treasure trove of resources in many other languages.
The Yojik Website apparently uploaded the entire old FSI Languages Courses which includes text and audio. These courses were developed by the United States government and are in the public domain. That's great! Unfortunately, Haitian Creole was not available on this old site.
Ti Koze Kreyòl Is a great resource that contains text and audio. It is a Haitian Creole Conversational Manual. This free resource is hosted by the University of Kansas.
The ERIC website host a copy of Ann Pale Kreyòl. This book was published in 1988. If you're looking for grammar, I'm sure this book will provide far more than Duolingo.
If you search online, search through university archives you'll find more free resources that will practically help you with any language. Many universities offer free beginner classes. For example, Peking University offers an introductory course to Chinese via Coursera.
More Resources: Haitian Creole Course on Duolingo and other resources
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Quick Reminders
The course is still in beta, so it currently has some glitches. They're frustrating. There are growing pains. Duolingo currently doesn't offer tips. If you want to learn a bit about grammar there are plenty of resources online.
With that said, thanks to the team that brought the language to this platform
French vs. Haitian Creole, what to do first?
I would go for Haitian Creole First. It's much easier for English speakers and it's much faster to learn and easy to pronounce/spell. The verbs to conjugate are a piece of cake because they mainly stay the same. There are much more to say than "SAK PASE?" ! Thank you for your support!!!
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Learn whichever you want first. Haitian Creole has fewer resources, but it doesn't have verb conjugations, gender for nouns, difficult spelling or a few of the other features that many English speakers find difficult about French. However, I don't know if there is a good reason to learn the easier language first.
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This is a bit like asking if one should try learning French or English first. :D Yes, French contributed a lot of vocabulary to English, but it did so onto a German base, so the languages are very different. Learning one will only tangentially "help" you with the other. (False friends abound in both cases, as far as I can tell.)
If you just want easier, Haitian Creole appears to have been originally developed to communicate between people who speak different languages natively, so the grammar seems very straightforward so far. The spelling certainly is easier. I didn't get beyond the beginner level when I last studied it, so I can't tell you if it stays this straightforward all the way through. Most languages don't, but it might be the exception.
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I've been doing french for awhile now while waiting for the haitian creole course, and now I'll do both at the same time, not always easy and sometimes I get some stuff mixed up but the similarities between both is definitely something to take advantage of (in my opinion).
My quick notes:
M: I
L: They, she, he
W: You
Y: They
N: We
Let: Milk
Dlo: Water